Interpol at the Tower 9/15/07

The lady and I zipped up to Philly last night to catch Interpol at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby. Despite putting out two recent records that I thought were a little lackluster, I've definitely been anxious to see them live. To be honest, I've haven't heard much of the most recent record. But I thought that "Antics" was full of forgettable songs, save for two that are quite amazing. Friends have said the same for their recent album as well.

The show rocked. They played with The Liars, who we missed. We walked into their second song and were treated to a long list of favorites for the night. They have a great stage presence. They look at each other and play next to one another like a band that actually likes one another. As always, they were dressed to the nines in black suits. While I've always dug Interpol's highly rhythmic sound, I was quite impressed with their drummer. On the records he provides a low key, yet powerful presence to the melodies and interesting lead guitar work. Live, he came through with hard hitting, straight ahead technique, but also little fills that I don't recall being on their recordings. Very tasty.

In all, a great live show. Maybe not worth a whoping $35, but I don't feel too cheated. You can definitely tell that Interpol has been playing for almost 10 years. The show was energetic and professional, but not overboard, rehearsed and fake.

Like the old farts that we are, we bounced before the encore...

The National at the TLA - Philly 9/4/07

Caught The National last night at the TLA on South Street (which is now known as the "Fillmore" TLA). The show was a little slow going at the beginning, but picked up after a few songs and ended on a high note. A quick Wikipedia search just informed me that they really didn't do a whole of live playing until their first release in 2001. While six years is a long time to improve, it may just be that they are a studio band. I came across them this summer after hearing their recent release "Boxer" and was quite impressed. In fact, I acquired their record and the Arcade Fire's most recent release at the same time and found myself playing The National much more often (not to denigrate the Arcade Fire, who are living Gods and who I am seeing in NYC next month). In all, pretty good show...wish I had stopped at Jim's on fourth and South and grabbed a cheese steak though.