Celebrating 15 years of their acclaimed debut album, Interpol took their anniversary tour of Turn On the Bright Lights to the magnificent Alexandra Palace and it still sounds as fresh now as it did in 2002.

Whilst Antics took them to a wider audience, the first record has always been their most flawless as a body of work. Dressed in their typical business-like suits, Paul Banks and his gang looked as stylish as ever as they ran through the album in its entirety, along with a mini greatest hits set for the encore.

Backed by the always-superb rhythmic pair, Paul Banks’ signature baritone voice and Daniel Kessler’s sharp work on guitar sounded mesmerising all night. Interpol have always been a post-punk band, but their music carries facets that are more theatrical and ambient, and you need to witness them in a live environment to appreciate this. Particularly in celebratory fashion such as this.

The majestic, almost krautrock-esque ‘Untitled’ kicked things off before arguably their most popular song off the record ‘Obstacle 1’ ignited the audience and created substantial movement in the sold out Palace. ‘NYC’ then allowed audience members to lose themselves in the passionate disassociation that track brings, before ‘PDA’ brought the room back to life, particularly with its awe inspiring instrumental finale.

The intense rush of ‘Say Hello To The Angels’ and the refined elegance of ‘Hands Away’ then made for a seamless combination as they blended into each other before the assertive ‘Obstacle 2’ caught the room off guard with its momentous riff. Fan favourite ‘Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down’ then gained a huge reaction and was the only track to not sound identical to the record, with an elongated ending.

‘Roland’ then sounded slightly more aggressive than usual, whilst the propulsive bass playing in ‘The New’ still resonates like it did at the beginning of the century. Everyone’s favourite Viking track, the sinister ‘Leif Erikson’, ended the main set as the enigmatic five-piece walked off stage to rapturous applause.

The seven-song encore then displayed how exceptional Interpol’s back catalogue is. Underrated at the time but now an established live favourite, ‘Not Even Jail’ along with indie dance floor favourites ‘Evil’ and ‘Slow Hands’ gave Antics a showing, whilst El Pintor’s ‘All The Rage Back Home’ made the cut along with the tight ‘Heinrich Maneuvre’ from Our Love To Admire and new track ‘Real Life’ to give hints about the slightly pop-esque sonic landscapes the band are exploring for the next record.

Turn On the Bright Lights was the reason the capacity crowd turned up, and Friday night proved it’s still an emotionally dense, euphoric album, which still sounds every bit as potent as it did at the turn of the century.

Paul Hill

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