"The International Criminal Police Organization"

Interpol 10/23, originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

Questionably, I stayed up a bit later than usual and headed on over to Inglewood for the New York quartet, Interpol. At a decidedly bigger venue, the Great Western Forum, than where I had seen them last, The Wiltern, I was faced with the reality of arena floor tickets, long lines, hipsters, and a horrid opening act. Yes, I said Liars were horrid. I don't care if Pitchfork thinks they're super-fantastically-awesome, I think they sounded like some high school Freshman attempting to play At The Drive-In without having ever picked up an instrument before. They were not the main event though, so I should be happy I didn't waste my money.

The best drive to any venue I will ever have while living in the South Bay has to be to the Great Western Forum. While it isn't my favorite venue, the floor is spacious and the acoustics aren't half bad. The screaming nails-on-chalkboard feedback of Liars hung in the air for about 10 minutes after they left the stage and we waited for a good while for Interpol to show, which sucked, seeing as I had to be up early. When the lights dimmed and Paul Banks and company strutted on stage to open with "Pioneer to the Falls" from their latest album, Our Love to Admire, the anxiety melted away.

In my previous experience I had noted that the band blazed through their songs as tightly as any professional band would, but it still amazes me how clean and balanced their sound really is. The set itself was a good mixture of strong singles packed around the middle with a few of their lesser known songs here and there, but it struck me that the band was a bit more conversational than before. That being said, they still don't interact with the audience very much. I don't really believe they need to do so, anyhow, as the crowd was just moving in time to the pulsing rhythms of each song in time, oblivious to the world around them.

My one disappointment was that I couldn't stay for the entire set. It's the first time I've left a show early and for that, I'm truly sorry. There was no encore to be heard and no exiting traffic to fight. One thing I will admit is that I loved them at the Wiltern, but it was surprising to me that their music would translate so well in the arena context, a definite symbol of their success.

As far as this one goes, it was fantastic! It really seems like the only concert I've been to all year, but I know I've been to more. It serves as a reminder that I'll be on the lookout for more until the end of this year and the beginning of next one.