Interpol have announced a smaller replacement show in London after their co-headline gig with Bloc Party in the capital was cancelled. The New York band will now play a single date at the 3,800-capacity British Airways Arc at Olympia on Friday, December 4, without Bloc Party.
The original plan was for the two bands to play two nights at the 7,000-capacity Grand Hall at Olympia on December 4 and 5, as the final dates of a joint UK and European tour. That run was due to support Interpol's eighth album, ‘This Mirror Weighs A Ton’. The tour was set to end in the capital, but a series of shows featuring Jamie T and Royal Blood also had to be moved or cancelled after what the venue described as “unforeseen planning issues”.
In a statement to fans, Interpol said they were disappointed that circumstances beyond their control meant the two Grand Hall shows could not go ahead as planned. The band said they had been working to deliver a show for London fans in the same timeframe, and that the intimate date was a way to celebrate the new record with listeners before touring further in 2027. Tickets for the new date go on pre-sale at 9am on Thursday, November 5, before general sale opens at 9am on Friday, November 6.
The album has drawn strong attention from critics. In a four-and-a-half star review, NME described ‘This Mirror Weighs A Ton’ as capturing “the whole journey of Interpol's sonic past, present and future”, and called it the band's most unified and experimental effort in years. Frontman Paul Banks told NME that the record's higher-energy, rock-leaning sound was a reaction to its predecessor, ‘The Other Side Of Make-Believe’, which was written in isolation during the pandemic. “This time I said, ‘I need us to be loud in a room together’,” Banks said. He added that the songs were written in a live setting where he could shout over the drums again.
The joint tour with Bloc Party continues in mainland Europe before returning to the UK. Dates include Copenhagen on November 10, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, followed by a run of UK shows in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Brighton, Sheffield and Dublin, ending with a show in Glasgow at the OVO Hydro on December 2. Banks has also said he is working on an album with a new band he formed with Aaron Hemphill of Liars, in his new home of Berlin.