Interpol w/ Hundred Waters at First Avenue (14 Nov 2014)

Hundred Waters

Florida's Hundred Waters started the show. Singer Nicole Miglis confessed that she was a massive Interpol fan, having seen them live ten years ago in the front roll… now she's sharing the stage with them and she couldn't be any happier.

Hundred Waters' Nicole Miglis

The thing about Hundred Waters is that their music is blending of electronic and traditional organic sound, produced live by Nicole Miglis (vocals, keys), Paul Giese (electronics, guitars), Zach Tetreault (drums, percussion, trumpets), and Trayer Tryon (electronics, guitars, production). Miglis' lyrics are deeply personal and emotional, sometime you think she's too shy and awkward to perform live… except, of course, Miglis is pretty happy as she's seen dancing and taking off her jacket for "Xtalk".

The majority of their set was from their latest The Moon Rang Like a Bell (OWSLA) album, including "Show Me Love", "Murmurs", "Cavity", "Out Alee", "Chambers (Passing Train)", "Down From the Rafters" (one of the mic didn't work for this song), "[Animal]".

If there is one thing to know about Interpol, it's that the band is always nicely dressed up for their show.
Since the New York band came on the music scene with their critically acclaimed 2002 album Turn on the Bright Lights, the band's been widely accepted as a top act on NME and Pitchfork's list. They eventually signed to major label Capitol Records, but since 2009, the band is back with Matador Records… a move possibly for creative control and direction.

After the band's appearance at Reading and Leeds in 2011, Interpol decided to take a long break. Now back with a fifth studio album El Pintor (an anagram for Interpol) for 2014, the band seem rejuvenated and excited to be back performing.

Time Out

Singer Paul Banks addressed Dengler's departure, as well as the new tour and returning back to the music scene, in the latest issue of Time Out (featuring the band on the cover).

As expected with a tour for a new album, about half the set were devoted to El Pintor ("My Blue Supreme", "Anywhere", "My Desire", "Everything Is Wrong", "Breaker 1", "All The Rage Back Home"), with the majority of the rest of the set for their beloved debut Turn on the Bright Lights ("Say Hello to the Angels", "Untitled", "PDA", "NYC", "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down").

The stage setup had the band playing with a movie projection, custom-made to sync with their live set. However, the first few songs, only the image of their El Pintor album was used, making sure we all knew what the new album looked like.

Banks had little to say between their songs, but when he did talk, it's usually to compliment the audience for their big cheers, "You guys are f***ing awesome."

Despite being absent from the music scene in three years, with the strong audience attendee response… it felt like Interpol never really left. Look for both Hundred Waters and Interpol on this sold out US tour, ending at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, on December 1st.