I saw Interpol last January, shortly after the release of their excellent album, Turn on the Bright Lights. With only one album to choose from, I was satisfied at the time to hear what was essentially a live rendition of their CD, because they sounded great doing it. The second time around, I was hoping they'd have used the past few months to get started on some new material that they could test out on the road. I was intrigued to see if they would be branching out from the trademark sound that made Turn on the Bright Lights so good, or if they'd be continuing in the same manner. Unfortunately, this hope was not exactly fulfilled.

But first, the opening band. The Stills are a four-piece band from Montreal that sound surprisingly like, well, Interpol. Sporting the exact same instruments and a similar style (that New York, post-rock sound that's all the rage these days), they were just missing the voice and delivery that I believe makes Interpol sound so unique. A poor man's Interpol, perhaps, but they were still enjoyable as an opener.

30 minutes later, Interpol came out to massive cheers and kicked things off with Untitled, the first song off their album and also the first song they played nine months ago. I started wondering if I was going to be treated to the exact same set list as I'd heard in January; in fact, it virtually was. If Interpol is busy writing new songs, they sure aren't letting us know. Unfortunately, they only played one song that they prefaced as "brand-spankin' new;" it had some chords that struck me as different, but overall it still sounded like Interpol as we know them.

Let's pretend, though, that this was my first time seeing Interpol, and that I was content to hear the songs that have been in rotation on my disc changer for such a long time. Their stage show isn't elaborate or showy; aside from a few lighting effects, Interpol basically just takes the stage and rocks out. Unfortunately, the sound at the Riviera wasn't ideal from where we were sitting, high up in the balcony; it came out a bit muffled since we were so far away. I would have preferred to see them in a smaller setting where I could have felt more like a part of the music. Still, Paul Banks' voice comes across extremely well live, and the band was consistently strong throughout the show. After a short 40 minute set, Interpol wrapped things up with a brief encore that included PDA and Obstacle #2. Maybe it's just because I hold such high expectations for a band of this caliber, but I was definitely left wanting just a little bit more.

-Nicole