Well, it was a very late night to be out on a school night. Needless to say I called in today. The show was really good. Opening bands...errgh another story. First band sounded like an Erasure cover band and they were really bad. Lots of posturing and finger pointing to the audience. I had no idea who they were. Second band, Certainly, Sir. Pretty bad as well, all their guitars sounded out of tune and they had one fat bearded bald guy who played the cowbell. "I got a fever and the only cure is more cowbell baby." They almost put my friends and I to sleep. Finally around 11:30 Interpol came on. Great crowd reaction when they took the stage. Very good stage presence. They thanked te crowd quite often which I like to see. Not so much Ian Curtisey live. All around great show. Only problem was the Middle East was so crowded and hot and I think they may have oversold the show. I couldn't move a bit. No arm band for the bass player which was a plus. an extra Interpoler played keyboards. Out of ten stars i give it a 7 for starting late, and the choice of opening bands, plus the rather large crowd. Also t-shirt selection was rather weak. sleeveless red shirts with interpol written diagonal in white. Rather "new wave" if you ask me. I thought the should have said "Relax" on them. They did have another which I ended up getting black on black, not sleeveless.
― Chris V. (Chris V), Tuesday, 1 October 2002 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)
who would you have rather seen open?
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http://go.to/stevek
― steve k, Tuesday, 1 October 2002 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)
who really cares about what tshirt you bought? really now. is this a review on the interpol set?? or what...?
i am glad i missed the show as i heard it was nothing but the album note for note.
btw: often,opening acts are not picked out by the headliners.
pardon the flame, but i am sick of all the idiots at the middle east
― kephm, Tuesday, 1 October 2002 17:26 (twenty-two years ago)
Off-topic...please tell me "Certainly, Sir" is a reference to a Craftmatic adjustable bed TV commercial.
― Ernest P., Tuesday, 1 October 2002 19:36 (twenty-two years ago)
I see Vic beat me to my own response.. I'll follow up anyway..
I was there too, and I really don't get off on a band replicating their recorded sounds right down to a tee like Interpol did. I love the songs and that record, but talk about a lackluster performance. if that's "very good stage presence" then I'd hate to see the other bands you've seen that have less. I mean, they moved around a tiny bit, they wore all black, but its not like they were engaging the audience much at all.
Lifestyle (the first band, aka "Erasure Cover Band") have a tremendous sense of humor about what they do, so even if the stuff's not my cup of tea, I have fun seeing them. Certainly, Sir are friends of mine, so I'm clearly biased, but the guitars sounded fine to my ears, or at least no less in tune than Interpol's. At least they do interesting and different things live (they're a duo in the studio, they're a quintet live so as to expand the fun. more bands could stand to be that flexible). also, last I checked, having a "fat bald guy playing cowbell" doesn't really qualify as a judgment call on the music. But then again, you never really mentioned the music, just that the bass player was armbandless, lots of thanking the crowd, the t-shirts were weak, and it was hot.
I think "Certainly, Sir" is a reference to a muffler commercial.. but maybe craftmatic.
― tinobeat (tinobeat), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 00:28 (twenty-two years ago)
I did think that Certainly, Sir would have sounded better to me if I wasn't exhausted and just wanting to see Interpol by then. I mean they had a nice groove going on, but I was hot, and miserable and wanted to be in bed at that point. As far as Interpols sound went, sure it sounded like the cd (not to a tee though), but what do you want them to do completely change their sound? I wouldn't want them to stray from the sound of their cd, its too good.
― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 11:40 (twenty-two years ago)