Photos + Article by Anthony Bauer
At the beginning of December, New York’s own Interpol returned to the city for a sold-out three-night hometown run at Brooklyn Steel as part of their celebration of their groundbreaking second album, Antics. That album, a seminal album for many people (especially in the NYC area) somehow turned 20 this year and the band was out on the road playing the album in full as part of the celebration. Kicking things off for the night was fellow New York band, Monobloc.
Somehow within he past year or so, we’ve seen an absurd amount of albums turn 20 which doesn’t seem possible or make sense. One of those albums is Antics, the critically acclaimed follow up to Turn On The Bright Lights that avoids the “sophomore slump” and absolutely demolishes that mindset. Antics is a truly a monumental album that is all killer, no filler: every track could be a single and every track builds upon that classic Interpol sound and expands it tenfold.
When the band announced they were going to tour this album and play it in full with an entire second set of hits, there was absolutely no way I was missing this show. This album means so much to me personally and growing up listening to the album, I never thought in a million years I would get to hear it played live (in full!). So, with all of that being said, of course the anticipation was extremely high.
What was also insane was the second set and encore where, the band was having some fun playing some deep cuts and songs they don’t normally play. For a band like Interpol to have such a deep back catalog and NOT be doing this more is silly because… imagine an entire set of deep cuts? Rarities? B-sides? I would pay good money to see that.
I also want to give a massive shoutout to the other unsung heroes of all shows (and especially this tour): the sound and lighting design. Not only did this show sound fantastic, but the show was lit beautifully from start to finish with amazing flourishes and touches throughout the set. After the Antics set, songs played from TOTBL had that classic red hue to them which was a great subtle nod to that album cover.
One song I was 100% not expecting to hear them play (but was 100% very excited) was “Pace Is The Trick” off of 2007’s criminally underrated Our Love To Admire. According to Setlist.fm, they’ve only played it a handful of times (ever!) so being in the building hearing one of my favorite Interpol songs being played live was an amazing moment I won’t forget. A few people in the crowd also collectively lost their mind when they kicked into playing it looking at each other going “WHAT?!?!” and I mean, same dude, same.
The reason why I love seeing Interpol is that their shows always deliver and never disappoint. Paul’s voice is just as good as ever, and Daniel somehow is aging backwards while still playing flawlessly with insane footwork like never before. The band means a lot to me personally and I am always endlessly grateful when bands continue to make music and tour, especially ones celebrating milestone albums like Antics. While there are no scheduled tour dates for Interpol at the moment, we can only hope this means they are back in the studio recording new music and hopefully back out on the road sometime later in 2025.
Find a full gallery from opener Monobloc as well as a full gallery + setlist from Interpol below.
Monobloc:
Interpol:
Interpol setlist:
Antics:
1. Next Exit
2. Evil
3. Narc
4. Take You on a Cruise
5. Slow Hands
6. Not Even Jail
7. Public Pervert
8. C’mere
9. Length of Love
10 A Time to Be So Small
Set 2:
11. Into the Night
12. The Rover
13. NYC
14. Obstacle 1
15. My Desire
16. Rest My Chemistry
17. All the Rage Back Home
18. Pioneer to the Falls
19. Stella Was A Diver and She Was Always Down
Encore:
20. Pace Is The Trick
21. PDA
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