I had never really listened to Interpol before I decided to attend their performance at the Honda stage on Saturday of Austin City Limits. Now I’m glad I didn’t, because their live performance impressed me much more than their recorded songs did.

Interpol burst onto stage with their first song of the set, “Say Hello to the Angels.” The band had an enormous amount of energy that transmitted to the crowd as they head bobbed as if they were being controlled by

Contrasting the first song, the second song, “Evil” had a decidedly sinister tone to its music and lyrics coupled with lead singer’s Paul Bank’s lilting voice that was eerie but very catchy. The crowd cheered as it started playing, and you could tell that the band was absorbed in their task of creating this music.

The audience cheered yet again as “C’mere” started playing, and Bank’s clear vocals rang out through the air. The band stood in front of a purple backlit stage, rocking out hard. The crowd was still head bobbing.

The band’s fourth song, “Breaker 1” started off slowly and then took off quickly. The bass thrummed through the air and ground so I could feel it in my chest and feet.

Later in the set, Interpol began to play “Obstacle 1,” making the crowd go crazy. “She can read, she can read, she can read, she’s bad,” the audience sang along, jumping along to the infectious beat.

Most of the people that made up the crowd at the back weren’t singing along but they were moving along to each song, a sign of a good band. Even though many of the audience members might not have been huge fans of Interpol before seeing their performance, they obviously appreciated the band’s high energy.

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