Review: Interpol, Main Stage

Atmosphere: Murky, mechanical and you could even say ever-so-slightly evil...

Atmosphere: Murky, mechanical and you could even say ever-so-slightly evil...

High: A euphoric rendition of C'mere.

Low: Ah, c'mon lads - give us some sense of personality!

Quote: None.

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Verdict: Interpol are probably one of the tightest bands to grace the main stage this weekend, but is it to their detriment?

The cool New Yorkers are indubitably a well-oiled machine, as heard on the CD-perfect versions of modern indie classics Evil, C'mere and Obstacle 1; but when your frontman's between-song banter consists of basically naming the songs, you know you're missing something.

Perhaps the loss of bassist Carlos Dengler has had a bigger impact than anticipated - at least the lanky George McFly lookalike provided a vocal point.

Things chug into second gear with the languid swing of Rest My Chemistry, but don't really progress from there. It's a neat and tidy end to day one, but doesn't quite capture the euphoria necessary for a headline act.

Star rating: ***