With Julian Plenti live, as on record, if you are expecting a watered down version of Interpol you are sorely mistaken. Quite bluntly put, Paul Banks as Julian Plenti simply rocks harder live than he does with his other band. This is not a knock on Interpol (who are one of my favorite live bands around), but their music is just not the kind that you “rock out” to. On that note, with one of the common misconceptions about Paul Banks’ other band being that live they are rather unengaged, I don’t think anyone can make that mistake about Julian Plenti as a live entity after seeing him at Chop Suey in Seattle.
The show opened with an instrumental cover of the song “Mythsysizer” by J Dilla, which was a suitably ominous way to start the show (naturally). Julian Plenti then – with his band (which he mentioned were all friends from Brooklyn, with the solid opening act I’m In You being from Brooklyn as well) – went on to play through the entire album, along with a cover of the America song “Horse with No Name” and what looks to be a new original song titled “Goodbye Toronto.” This song was preceded by the first few lines of “Let it Snow” (yes, the Christmas song) before Plenti and company jumped into what is easily the heaviest thing that Banks has ever done, which had Plenti moving around what little bit of the stage there was and jamming out to it (check out my video below to listen to the song – sorry for the basically non-existent video quality, but the sound is decent).
The fact that he opened this new song with “Let It Snow” is a good demonstration of the atmosphere of the show. It was a rather informal affair, one where Mr. Plenti constantly engaged the crowd (not exactly what he is known for) by saying thank you after every song, as well as even having conversations with fans on two occasions. He almost seemed taken aback at points by the crowd’s reaction and mentioned at least once how happy he was to be back playing at smaller venues again (and Chop Suey is tiny, which just added to the intimate atmosphere of the show). As the show ended, all the fans front and middle pushed forward reaching their hands out, and at first Plenti looked at this, not really knowing what to do, but he soon stepped forward and gave everyone he could a high five before leaving the stage.
He would not have gotten this reaction if the music wasn’t good and the band weren’t tight, which they were. Many songs were improved live, with the overall set highlight easily being the album opener, “Only If You Run.” While this is a standout on record, it is a different beast entirely in person. The song is transformed from a smooth, mid-tempo opener on record to an in-your-face rocker live. I was surprised that they simply improved on what is already a very good song. A more surprising set highlight for me was “Madrid Song,” which Plenti and friends changed from a mellow piano/sample-ridden track to a straight up droney guitar song. Other songs that were improved were “H,” “Fun That We Have,” and “Games for Days.” “H” seemed even more like a great little Mogwai jam in person, while rockers like “Fun That We Have” and “Games for Days” seemed to benefit from the rawness of the performance and the setting. The mellow songs like “No Chance Survivor,” “Skyscraper,” and “On the Esplanade” sounded great as well (the last of those benefitted from the drums and great cello parts), but it is clear that Julian and friends are a rock band at heart in a live setting.
In the end, Julian Plenti showed another side of himself live (much like he did with his album), one that proved that he cannot be pigeon-holed into the reserved monotone lead singer of a well-dressed New York post-punk band (granted he was still well-dressed last night). I have to say that when I got tickets to this show I expected that only fans of Plenti would be interested in this show, but now I will say that if you are even just a casual fan of Paul Banks in any way, either as Plenti or with Interpol, I suggest you catch this show not only because it was a great gig that surpassed my expectations, but with Interpol’s recent rise in fame, you won’t get to see him in this setting (a small, intimate club) again for a while, if ever.
