Friday, February 18, 2011

Show Review: Interpol live @ Radio City Music Hall 2/17/2011

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing Interpol live at Radio City Music Hall. Before the show, they were playing random music that compliments their sound, and one of the songs was Caribou’s “Odessa”, which left me and my group dancing. Alone. School of Seven Bells were the opener, and they were fantastic. Their atmospheric, experimental sound was a perfect compliment to Interpol’s style. Their single “Windstorm” was done brilliantly. I’ve been a fan of Interpol since Antics came out, and my favorite song of all time happens to be “Obstacle 1”, so, needless to say I was very excited and anxious to see them. After 45 minutes of waiting following School of Seven Bells, the lights finally dimmed and my friend and I jumped up screaming. Paul Banks greeted the audience with a “Howdy!”, then proceeded dive into “Success”, as predicted. It was very nicely done, and only got me more pumped for the rest of the concert. It really didn’t take much to put me into frantic mode, for after “Success” they launched into a wonderfully brilliant sequence of “PDA”, “Evil”, “Hands Away”, and “Barricade”. It slowed a bit for “Rest My Chemistry”, but even that was executed grandly and emotively. After that, it’s kind of a blur of overjoyed happiness (and crying) and blood-curdling screaming because from “Narc” to “The Heinrich Maneuver”, it was nonstop mind-numbingly excellent song after breathtakingly gorgeous melody. I felt like I was having heart failure during “Stella Was a Diver”. Just soaking in that moment of everyone simultaneously yelling “STELLA! OH STELLA! STELLA I LOVE YOU!” was beyond powerful. They closed their set with “Obstacle 1”, my favorite song to ever exist. I was reduced to tears. The whole beginning set was one of the most beautiful things my ears have ever heard and the encore provided the most perfectly gorgeous end possible. A song like the “The New” is so painfully beautiful live, but the only thing it was lacking was Carlos D., for their new bassist doesn’t provide the same presence or showmanship. Quite possibly the most inspiring performance of the night was the closer, “Not Even Jail”. Note: My group were the only ones standing in our section, let alone dancing. “Slow Hands” and “Evil” didn’t motivate people to move from their seats, but it was “Not Even Jail” that had everyone standing and ferociously clapping. I’ve never, in all the concerts I’ve been to, seen such a large group so in sync and into a song.

If you are a huge Interpol fan, not a casual fan, I would suggest you go see them. This concert has changed my life. Interpol are a magnificent band that makes agonizingly beautiful music, and if you are in deep appreciation of this, their live show will move you to tears of utter awe and joy. I know for a fact I will be seeing them the next time I can.

Setlist:

Success
PDA
Evil
Hands Away
Barricade
Rest My Chemistry
Narc
Say Hello to the Angels
Lights
Summer Well
Stella was a Diver and She’s Always Down
NYC
Heinrich Maneuver
Memory Serves
Obstacle 1

ENCORE
The Lighthouse
The New
Slow Hands
Not Even Jail

"I wish we could play here every night."-Paul Banks


Saturday, February 12, 2011

LCD Soundsystem and their last show

A few days ago, LCD Soundsystem announced that they were going to have their last show ever on April 2nd at Madison Square Garden. Any and all fans of the band were falling over themselves at this prospect, and for a venue that can accomodate most of the bands fans, choosing Madison Square Garden was only a logical choice. But yesterday, when the tickets went on sale to the general public through Ticketmaster, seemingly every fan who just wanted a ticket or two did not arrive at their goal. Apparently, scalpers, in droves, somehow got a hold of the large majority of tickets, and the show sold out absurdly quickly. This left to the only other option of Stubhub where you could find tickets for the low price of $40,000.

Needless to say, James Murphy, the main guy of LCD Soundsystem, was not pleased. Last night he published a wonderfully expressive and very worth your time message on his website. He has graciously decided to play 4 shows, from March 28th-31st, at Terminal 5, which he says "will include most if not all of the songs we play at msg."

Tickets for these dates go on sale on February 18th and I hope all the fans who try get their tickets.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Panda Bear and The Strokes released the artwork for their albums!

This is the cover art for Panda Bear's Tomboy and it's absolutely glorious and beautiful. It comes out on April 12th.

And this is the cover for The Strokes album Angles. I think it's, um, homely. It should be a very fun album. You can also listen to the song "Under the Cover of Darkness" on their website and on iTunes. Angles is due out on March 21st.

The world should know this song.



This is Two Door Cinema Club's new single and video called "What You Know" and it's magical.