A Thunderstorm For Interpol’s Concert At Arena Wien

There were 2 things I kept in mind while plotting out my European itinerary. The first was to be in Morges for the Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy exhibition. The second was to be in Vienna for the Interpol concert, celebrating the 15th anniversary of their debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights.

Interpol is one of my favourite bands in the world, and I was hella excited to be at this sold out gig. I have seen them in New York, Toronto, Vancouver and now, Vienna!

Arena Wien is an open air venue, and the space reminded me of when I used to go to concerts in the 90s. Arena Wien is industrial and gritty, with graffiti laden brick walls. being there, you can feel its alternative and punk rock roots – never mind that it also used to be a slaughterhouse before becoming a concert and outdoor cinema venue.

I got there after the opening band was finishing up, snagged a spot up by the railing (with unobstructed view) and cozied in to watch Interpol. And they were awesome! I had an ear-to-ear smile the entire time as they started to play all the songs from the trailblazing Turn on the Bright Lights album.

And wouldn’t you know it, 30 minutes into the set, rain started falling and the wind started picking up. I knew that there was a thunderstorm warning in effect all day, but had really hoped by some miracle, it wouldn’t start until after midnight, like the last couple of nights.

NOPE.

Splashes of rain became a sheet of rain in a matter of minutes. The wind started blowing so furiously that the trees were swaying from side to side, as Interpol finished singing Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down. Myself and a ton of other fans whipped out our yellow or clear plastic ponchos to prevent being soaked. (I had picked one up at the zoo just in case and it was a good call)

And then the thunder and the lightning started, right above our heads. That’s when the promoter pulled the plug. The stage, control panel, the instruments and the band were getting soaked. And to continue playing, with the risk of electrocution, would’ve been dangerous for the band, the fans and the venue.

Singer Paul Banks told everyone to stay put (after finding cover of course) and see if the storm passes. The venue’s capacity is around 3,000 and even though some people went home right away, that’s still a shit ton of people coming indoors and to the stands to wait it out.

Some tweets from my fella fans:

After about 45 minutes standing pretty much side to side with people, I called it a night. This lightning and thunderstorm didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon. And it didn’t.

When I got back to my hotel, it was still going. A couple of hours later, it was just starting to ease off. There would be no going back to finish the concert.

As a fan, I was disappointed we didn’t get the full set, because what a set it would’ve been! But what are you going to do? Raise your fists up to the sky and curse mother nature?

Here’s what the Turn on the Bright Lights 15th Anniversary Tour set ended up being:

And what it should have been:

That is a frickin’ ace set. I’ll give it this though. The gig was hella dramatic. That’s for sure. And that’s why I will always remember this concert above all the other ones I’ve been fortunate enough to go to!