WUVT Business Manager Stephen Goode reviews an Interpol show from last week.

It's a pretty bold move for a band to open a set with a new song that no one in the audience can sing along to or immediately be in sync with, but that's exactly what Interpol did on Friday, July 30th at The NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia.

"Success," a song from Interpol's upcoming and self-titled fourth album held its ground as the set opener. Capturing the audience from the start would have been a sure thing with fan favorites like "PDA," "Slow Hands," or "The Heinrich Maneuver." However, it's not surprising that Interpol saved those for later and didn't take the easy route.

Very little has been easy for Interpol over the past few years, who took some heat from critics when they left their record label, Matador, for Capitol to release a third album. Most listeners seemed to appreciate the previous two more, and many blamed it on the move to the major label.

Interpol then announced their return to Matador for the release of their fourth album. However, after they finished recording, the band announced that figurehead and bass guitarist, Carlos D., was leaving Interpol and would be replaced for the upcoming tour.

Part of that tour included opening for U2's world tour. However, it was cancelled and rescheduled because Bono had sustained a back injury, and Interpol’s worldwide live return took another hit. As a result, they also had to reschedule their headline dates.

They pushed through all of the adversity, though. They finally got their tour started after replacing Carlos D. with David Pajo, formerly of the band Slint.

And what a show they put on! "Success" was followed by "Evil" and "Say Hello to the Angels." At this point, every person in the venue had their focus directly on the band. No one was talking to a friend or looking at the venue's chandelier hanging above them. The bar a few feet to my left even looked relatively empty. Lead singer, Paul Banks, and the rest of the band had complete control of the crowd.

The band played 16 songs with a good mix from every album, including four from the new one, set for release in September. There was a run of five songs where I forgot about everything except the band, even that my old high school Latin teacher was standing to my right. I felt no need to text friends that the band just played "NYC," one of my favorite Interpol songs. The only thing I could do was lean over to my friend between songs "Barricade" and "Take You on a Cruise" and say, "This is fucking awesome!"

The band ended the main set with "Not Even Jail" and walked off the stage with the crowd clapping and yelling louder than ever.

The encore confirmed this show as the best I have ever seen to date. They played three songs off of their first album, Turn on the Bright Lights (2002). After playing "Leif Erikson," I was getting nervous that they wouldn't play "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down." Then, they did! It was on point and I could not have been happier until they followed it up and ended the show with "Obstacle 1."

The only less than spectacular part of the show was when it ended, but even then, everyone in the venue had to have been left with a feeling of sheer amazement. I know I was.

Right now, there is no room for anyone to question Interpol because of their label, their bass guitarist, or even the fact that they will be touring with a mega-band like U2. Interpol is presently an unstoppable musical force, and I will not waste any time picking up the new album when it hits shelves on September 7th.