Interpol (London)

New York City’s Interpol are the rarest of things - a band that stands to lose, rather than gain, impact from their live performance. You could almost say that their carefully structured brand of propulsive post-punk has already found its spiritual home on the bass-boosted bedroom stereos of the introspective. North London’s cavernous Alexandra Palace, then, presented Interpol with a huge challenge. Could these urbane, sharply-attired boys rise to the test of their biggest UK show to date? The answer, disappointingly, was not really.

Opening promisingly with the stately ‘Pioneer To The Falls’ and following up with the locked, angsty groove of ‘Obstacle 1’, the gig got off to a good start. As song after song came and went, however, a few things became apparent. The enigmatic stillness which suits Interpol in smaller venues was jarringly out of place in a such a daunting venue, and came across as insolent rather than untouchably cool. This was hardly aided by a huge video screen which projected cheap, Matrix-style effects above the heads of the performers. Surely a more considered light show would have had a greater effect?

More damagingly, the set list suffered from a lack of modulation - the casual observer may have been led to believe that Interpol are far more one-paced than they really are, such was the dank mid-set trough of ‘Mammoth’, ‘No I In Threesome’ and ‘Slow Hands’ - pulsating on record, pedestrian on this occasion.

Perhaps the biggest culprit onstage was Carlos D, the 80’s bad-guy-bearded bass player, who narrowly fended off competition from singer Paul Banks for title of ‘least interested‘. The pair were only partially saved by Daniel Kessler’s bizarre orgasmic shuffling and drummer Sam Fogarino’s determined pounding. Fogarino, unfortunately, was so determined, that his bass drum ultimately colonised Carlos’ bass giutar, which remained mostly inaudible throughout the set.

Thankfully, there were also peaks. The epically-inclined ‘Rest My Chemistry’ worked well, despite the most hackneyed lyrics this side of ‘Life’ by Des’ree - “like a daisy in my lazy eye”, anyone?! An unexpected performance of the ghostly ‘The Lighthouse’ sent chills down the spine. And the ‘Pol treated fans to a wonderful encore, comprising of the blissful, shimmering ‘Untitled’ from debut 'Turn On The Bright Lights', the superbly gothic navel-gazer ‘Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down’ and the pounding closer ‘PDA’ (with a strange Police-style cod reggae jam thrown in for good measure).

Nobody needs (or expects) to see Banks springing forth from a giant lemon, clad in a leather jacket and wraparound shades, howling about “stabbing yourself in the neck” - but if Interpol are to join the premier league of live bands, they will need to learn to capitalise upon the drama and tension inherent in their best songs, such as ‘Not Even Jail’, on the bigger stage. There is no doubt as to their talent and knack for creating atmosphere on record, but whether they really want to finally make it big or not remains to be seen.

Alexandra Palace, London, 29th November 2007.

Written by Ashley Clark.