Pitchfork

Photos by Joseph Mohan, text by Amy Phillips

It's really weird watching people have a good time at an Interpol show. I mean, Interpol's whole steez seems to be the pursuit of some sort of Platonic ideal of coolness, where expressing any sort of emotion except for slight brooding and vague malaise is uncalled-for, and even sweating on stage is taken as a weakness. This isn't a bad thing, of course. Their melodramatic misery is why we love them. A happy Interpol song would probably suck.

But the band has reached a stage in their career where (gasp!) normal (scream!) people like them. People who listen to the radio and wear khakis and work jobs not related to the arts actually go to Interpol concerts to have a good time with their friends. What a concept! In fact, about 60% of the audience members at last night's show at Chicago's Metro looked like they'd just wandered in off the street from the bleachers at nearby Wrigley Field.

Once again, not a bad thing. An Interpol show attended by just cool kids is pretty boring. There isn't much to look at besides Carlos D's preening (now with added mustache power!) and Daniel Kessler's occasional headbang. They play their set, they say "thank you", and they leave. People clap politely at the new songs and kind of stare off into space and nod their heads and wait for them to play "NYC" (which they didn't this time... bastards!).

But an Interpol show with people dancing stupidly, making out, and shouting "WOOOOOO!!! CARLOS!!! WOOOO!!! YOU ROCK!!!! PLAY STELLA!!!"? Pretty awesome. An Interpol show where there's an old lady standing outside afterwards selling $10 bootleg t-shirts on the street? And people are actually buying them?! Even awesomer.

So when there were hundreds of people with their hands in the air singing along to "Evil", and a girl in a tube top and Bacardi Mardi Gras beads teetered by on platform heels with a full beer in each hand, it reminded me of when I saw the Polyphonic Spree and I was in a really bad mood, so the more and more exuberant the songs became, the more I wanted to murder everybody...but in reverse. The mopier Interpol get, the happier everybody around them seems to be.

More photos, as well as Interpol tour dates, below.

Interpol dates:

06-05 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
06-07 Toronto, Ontario - The Guverment
06-09 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre (Live 105 BFD 07)
06-10 San Diego, CA - Devore Stadium (94/9 Independence Jam)
06-21 Dusseldorf, Germany - ISS Dome *
06-23 Scheesel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-24 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
06-25 Dresden, Germany - Dresden Alter Schlachthof
06-27 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
06-28 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06-29 Stockholm, Sweden - Accelerator
07-01 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-05 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
07-07 Naas, Ireland - Punchestown Racecourse (Oxegen)
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-19 Rochester, NY - Harro East Ballroom #
07-20 Atlantic City, NJ - Music Box @ Borgata #
07-21 Norfolk, VA - Norva #
07-23 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues #
07-24 Pittsburgh, PA - Byham #
07-25 Columbus, OH - The LC Amphitheatre #
07-27 Grand Rapids, Michigan - Orbit Room #
07-28 Detroit, MI - State Theater #
07-30 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave #
07-31 Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room #
08-01 St. Louis, MO - Pageant #
08-03 Covington, KY - Madison Theatre #
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (V Festival)
08-11 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-12 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-20 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Academy
08-21 Newcastle, England - Newcastle Academy
08-22 Edinburgh, Scotland - Edinburgh Corn Exchange
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-25 Leeds, England - Leeds England
09-09 Montreal, Quebec - Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
11-28 Blackpool, England - Empress Ballroom
11-29 London, England - Alexandra Palace

* with Pearl Jam
# with Calla