The Michigan Theatre: an interesting venue for Interpol. It is a classic theatre turned independent movie cinema and concert hall. With it’s flashing vertical sign extending well over the sidewalk, it looks ripped straight out of the 1950’s – no doubt a landmark to Detroit’s heyday. The inside of the building has all the trimmings and lights one would expect from an upper-class production hall. Indeed, teenaged ushers line every aisle, eagerly waiting to take you to your seat. Not what one would except at a rock concert. Perhaps the only thing ruining the illusion is the popcorn stand right outside the main lobby. Nothing's perfect.
The opening act, Boom Bip, is one Bryan Hollon, hailing from Cincinnati, plus a band. They provided a good instrument-only introduction to the evening. Interesting, layered guitar rhythms accompanied by plenty of synth and bass worked well as a prelude to Interpol. It whetted your appetite without making you full before the main course. Overall, Boom Bip was a tolerable opener, but probably would not make a terribly entertaining main act.
An aside: hats off the concert's sound man, who played non-stop Ted Leo before the show and during the set change. [Sure, it was just a CD, but it still rocked.]
After five songs or so, Boom Bip made way for the evening’s feature. During the half hour set change, the theatre filled to capacity -like hell there would be an empty seat. Interpol entered the stage in complete darkness and played their opener, "Next Exit", shrouded in purple haze. The song finished as the lights faded back to black. Without a word, Interpol exploded with "Slow Hands", and the stage exploded along with them. Although no pyrotechnics were involved, none really needed to be. The band’s lighting equipment alone left little to be desired. I half expected to see singer Paul Banks with his famous aviators, but really, the crowd could have made better use of them. The lights were blinding, but continued to dazzle and awe for the whole show, providing perfectly choreographed illumination for every song.
Interpol sounded solid. They were enjoying themselves, and the audience knew it and fed off of it. Despite the forced seating [the Majestic Theatre is a theatre, after all – no floor exists], it was a great atmosphere. Each song remained faithful to its album version, but there were several subtle changes that kept one from thinking that the album was being played straight up. The band never stopped playing. Between songs, either Daniel Kessler [on guitar] or Carlos Dengler [on bass] would do some solo work, keeping the crowd’s heads nodding while the band retuned. As soon as the instruments were ready to go, the band would seamlessly flow into the next song. Looking into the crowd from my nosebleed vantage point, the crowd was just one head nodding mass, all rocking together to one of the best bands out there.
At the end, Interpol waited almost too long to come back out for an encore, but, as they did eventually, no real harm was done. We even learned that it was Daniel’s birthday. The crowd began singing him happy birthday, but Paul cut them off with "Obstacle 1". Ouch. Maybe he couldn’t hear us.
If you hadn’t have gone deaf already, you would’ve by the final applause- an applause that was rightly deserved. The music was brilliant, but the lighting’s role in making it a great show cannot be overlooked either. It added another dynamic element to the atmosphere that complimented the music perfectly. Turn on the bright lights indeed.
Merchandise available: t-shirts, CDs, hoodies and long-sleeved t-shirts.
-Ludwik A. Sobiesiak
