Interpol (continued)
... but I didn't recognize anyone. We could hear the opening band, Spoon, doing their soundcheck. Around 7:00 or so, the security staff started letting people in. There were lots of signs indicating that camera equipment was interdit (prohibited), so we were a little worried Ezra's camera would be confiscated, but security let him through no problem. The first people in the lines ahead of us ran across the patio area and into the venue. I thought "Why not?" and we ran after them to stake out our spot.
Le Zenith has a large pit or floor area and then probably 50 rows of seats that rise up around the pit and the stage, sort of like an amphitheater. We positioned ourselves roughly in the center/center-right, in the second row of the pit. Food and drink vendors were roaming the small crowd of hardcore fans assembled in the pit and calling out things like, "Vous jeunes filles passionate sont tres soif!" or something... I nibbled on a chocolate PowerBar in preparation for the night's activity, and Ezra got a sandwich off a vendor.
Some of the kids in the front were pretty crazy. There was a girl wearing a "Paul-style" hat (fedora) who kept going back and forth through the crowd (before the bands went on). She shows up later on in our story as well.
Two girls standing behind us (one French and one living in London, it turns out) were chatting about various Interpol songs and U.S. cities. After a bit, the French girl said, "Terri?" She turned out to be Alexiel, a girl I've corresponded with on the Interpol message board. She was there with Kate, a moderator on the board. They said hello and we chatted a little.
About 6 photographers set up in the area just in between the pit and the stage for Spoon. (Later on, for Interpol, there were about 10.) Spoon took the stage around 8:30. Ezra and I have agreed that they were OK; they played well, but their music just isn't that exciting to us. The best songs were the really poppy one, which I think might be called "The Way We Get By," and a cover of a Wire song (can't recall the name, but that was the best part of their set in my opinion). Daniel stood on the right side of the stage, in black suit and white tie, watching the beginning of their set, and he clapped politely at the end of songs. Then he disappeared. Sam showed up over there next, by the sound guy, snapping photos (as usual). Then he disappeared, too. Then, during "The Way We Get By" (or whatever it's called), I looked over and saw Paul by the sound guy, smoking, wearing the fedora, and sporting newly dyed pinkish-orange hair. I looked back at Ezra, made a face, and yanked on my hair.
Then we waited another half hour or so, during which time a great push toward the front gave a sign of things to come. When Interpol took the stage around 9:30, the place went bonkers. The whole show is a bit of a blur... here's what I recall, in no special order. They played: Next Exit, Slow Hands, Narc, Stella, NYC, Public Pervert, Leif Erikson, Not Even Jail, C'Mere, Evil, PDA, Take You on a Cruise, Obstacle 1, The Specialist, and Roland. Ezra and I agree that it was one of the best sounding Interpol shows we've seen. Every song was a really good performance. Paul wore a funny little hat that looked like it might have been one of the Interpol "trucker hats." It reminded me of the little hat Rik wears in one episode of The Young Ones. Carlos was in full romati-goth suit attire. Paul spoke a little bit of French, but mostly English. When he introduced The Specialist he said that he wasn't sure how to say it in French. He blew a smoke ring in (I swear it) the shape of a heart. At the end of Take You on a Cruise he sang "We leave tonight" or something instead of the final "You treat me right." He looked over toward Daniel's side of the stage and seemed to be asking if he had a cigarette (maybe he was really asking if he had the ebow for Take You on a Cruise). At the beginning of the encore, Sam took Paul's face in his hands and gave him a kiss! I think he said something like, "Paul, eh?" Very cute. At one point, Daniel got really into whatever he was playing and shot down onto his knees--at least, I assume he was playing on his knees, because I couldn't see him down there over Paul's monitor. The between-song fiddling continues to develop. This time at the end of the main set (or was it at the end of Roland?--maybe so) Paul, Daniel, and Sam played this little bit without Carlos that descended into a wash of feedback.
The French fans are moshers, it seems. What this mainly meant for me, at the front, was that I was squashed much of the time, especially during the fastest songs/the singles, and especially during the encore. I told Ez afterward that I should have taken some names, since I thought after that I was probably pregnant. [Ezra] At other Interpol shows, I've been worried that fans were going to tear the band's clothes off; at this one, I was worried they were going to tear MY clothes off.[end Ezra] I saw the hat-girl waving her hat in the air. The security guys poured water into the mouths of some of the kids near me. Sam threw out two sets of drumsticks. The first two, after the main set, went toward the front. One drumstick was coming in my direction, but landed in front of the barrier, and the security guys didn't pick it up for us. The second set he threw way back into the pit after the encore.
Afterward Ez and I gathered ourselves, got some drinks, and set out on the adventure of finding Truskel, the bar/club were I'd been told the afterparty would be happening. Unfortunately for the tons of concert-goers who were crammed onto the train, the line we were on closed early for maintenance, so we had to seek an alternate route. We did eventually get there.
At first there was a guy blocking the entrance to the room where the band members were hanging out with their friends, but after a while he moved and people could come and go. While we were hanging around wondering if we'd get in, if some friends I was hoping to meet/had met were in there, etc., Sam and his girlfriend walked up right next to me. They left almost right away, though. Once we got inside, we saw that Kate and Alexiel were in there, along with Daniel (and girlfriend), Paul (in the usual hat and hoodie), and Carlos. I also met the very wonderful Emilie from Toulouse. I know her through the Interpol message board, and I think she also helps run a French Interpol board. She was super nice to both me and Ezra. Glad I met her! She introduced us to her friend Marie Laure, too. [Ezra] You forgot to point out that they were afraid to leave the room for fear of not being able to get back in. Since I could live without getting back, I volunteered, and brought them back two bottles of Eristoff Ice, a sweet lemonadey vodka drink.[end Ezra]
We didn't talk to the band this time, but that was OK. It was fun just to be there with nice people who were sort of into the same vibe... and everyone was really nice. It still felt like kind of partying with the band, and we had a good time. There were funky lights (see our pictures) and people were dancing. I particularly remember dancing to the Pixies' "Gigantic" and Kim Wilde's "Kids in America." Hat-girl was there. She put the hat on Paul's head (on top of the hat and hood he was already wearing) and he kind of danced with her, bopping his head up and down.
Daniel left after a bit, and then Paul left, telling a girl standing next to me that he had to go because he had other friends to see. Carlos was still there partying away when we left around 4AM. He must have closed the place down!
When we left the Metro was indeed closed, so we took a cab back to our hotel and crashed our happy partied-out butts.
Le Zenith has a large pit or floor area and then probably 50 rows of seats that rise up around the pit and the stage, sort of like an amphitheater. We positioned ourselves roughly in the center/center-right, in the second row of the pit. Food and drink vendors were roaming the small crowd of hardcore fans assembled in the pit and calling out things like, "Vous jeunes filles passionate sont tres soif!" or something... I nibbled on a chocolate PowerBar in preparation for the night's activity, and Ezra got a sandwich off a vendor.
Some of the kids in the front were pretty crazy. There was a girl wearing a "Paul-style" hat (fedora) who kept going back and forth through the crowd (before the bands went on). She shows up later on in our story as well.
Two girls standing behind us (one French and one living in London, it turns out) were chatting about various Interpol songs and U.S. cities. After a bit, the French girl said, "Terri?" She turned out to be Alexiel, a girl I've corresponded with on the Interpol message board. She was there with Kate, a moderator on the board. They said hello and we chatted a little.
About 6 photographers set up in the area just in between the pit and the stage for Spoon. (Later on, for Interpol, there were about 10.) Spoon took the stage around 8:30. Ezra and I have agreed that they were OK; they played well, but their music just isn't that exciting to us. The best songs were the really poppy one, which I think might be called "The Way We Get By," and a cover of a Wire song (can't recall the name, but that was the best part of their set in my opinion). Daniel stood on the right side of the stage, in black suit and white tie, watching the beginning of their set, and he clapped politely at the end of songs. Then he disappeared. Sam showed up over there next, by the sound guy, snapping photos (as usual). Then he disappeared, too. Then, during "The Way We Get By" (or whatever it's called), I looked over and saw Paul by the sound guy, smoking, wearing the fedora, and sporting newly dyed pinkish-orange hair. I looked back at Ezra, made a face, and yanked on my hair.
Then we waited another half hour or so, during which time a great push toward the front gave a sign of things to come. When Interpol took the stage around 9:30, the place went bonkers. The whole show is a bit of a blur... here's what I recall, in no special order. They played: Next Exit, Slow Hands, Narc, Stella, NYC, Public Pervert, Leif Erikson, Not Even Jail, C'Mere, Evil, PDA, Take You on a Cruise, Obstacle 1, The Specialist, and Roland. Ezra and I agree that it was one of the best sounding Interpol shows we've seen. Every song was a really good performance. Paul wore a funny little hat that looked like it might have been one of the Interpol "trucker hats." It reminded me of the little hat Rik wears in one episode of The Young Ones. Carlos was in full romati-goth suit attire. Paul spoke a little bit of French, but mostly English. When he introduced The Specialist he said that he wasn't sure how to say it in French. He blew a smoke ring in (I swear it) the shape of a heart. At the end of Take You on a Cruise he sang "We leave tonight" or something instead of the final "You treat me right." He looked over toward Daniel's side of the stage and seemed to be asking if he had a cigarette (maybe he was really asking if he had the ebow for Take You on a Cruise). At the beginning of the encore, Sam took Paul's face in his hands and gave him a kiss! I think he said something like, "Paul, eh?" Very cute. At one point, Daniel got really into whatever he was playing and shot down onto his knees--at least, I assume he was playing on his knees, because I couldn't see him down there over Paul's monitor. The between-song fiddling continues to develop. This time at the end of the main set (or was it at the end of Roland?--maybe so) Paul, Daniel, and Sam played this little bit without Carlos that descended into a wash of feedback.
The French fans are moshers, it seems. What this mainly meant for me, at the front, was that I was squashed much of the time, especially during the fastest songs/the singles, and especially during the encore. I told Ez afterward that I should have taken some names, since I thought after that I was probably pregnant. [Ezra] At other Interpol shows, I've been worried that fans were going to tear the band's clothes off; at this one, I was worried they were going to tear MY clothes off.[end Ezra] I saw the hat-girl waving her hat in the air. The security guys poured water into the mouths of some of the kids near me. Sam threw out two sets of drumsticks. The first two, after the main set, went toward the front. One drumstick was coming in my direction, but landed in front of the barrier, and the security guys didn't pick it up for us. The second set he threw way back into the pit after the encore.
Afterward Ez and I gathered ourselves, got some drinks, and set out on the adventure of finding Truskel, the bar/club were I'd been told the afterparty would be happening. Unfortunately for the tons of concert-goers who were crammed onto the train, the line we were on closed early for maintenance, so we had to seek an alternate route. We did eventually get there.
At first there was a guy blocking the entrance to the room where the band members were hanging out with their friends, but after a while he moved and people could come and go. While we were hanging around wondering if we'd get in, if some friends I was hoping to meet/had met were in there, etc., Sam and his girlfriend walked up right next to me. They left almost right away, though. Once we got inside, we saw that Kate and Alexiel were in there, along with Daniel (and girlfriend), Paul (in the usual hat and hoodie), and Carlos. I also met the very wonderful Emilie from Toulouse. I know her through the Interpol message board, and I think she also helps run a French Interpol board. She was super nice to both me and Ezra. Glad I met her! She introduced us to her friend Marie Laure, too. [Ezra] You forgot to point out that they were afraid to leave the room for fear of not being able to get back in. Since I could live without getting back, I volunteered, and brought them back two bottles of Eristoff Ice, a sweet lemonadey vodka drink.[end Ezra]
We didn't talk to the band this time, but that was OK. It was fun just to be there with nice people who were sort of into the same vibe... and everyone was really nice. It still felt like kind of partying with the band, and we had a good time. There were funky lights (see our pictures) and people were dancing. I particularly remember dancing to the Pixies' "Gigantic" and Kim Wilde's "Kids in America." Hat-girl was there. She put the hat on Paul's head (on top of the hat and hood he was already wearing) and he kind of danced with her, bopping his head up and down.
Daniel left after a bit, and then Paul left, telling a girl standing next to me that he had to go because he had other friends to see. Carlos was still there partying away when we left around 4AM. He must have closed the place down!
When we left the Metro was indeed closed, so we took a cab back to our hotel and crashed our happy partied-out butts.
posted by Ezra | 10:59 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home