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Interpol’s “Antics” shows lit with Ayrton Cobra

NYC post-punk band Interpol concluded the penultimate leg of its world tour with five dates in the UK at the end of 2024. The tour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the band’s “Antics” album, which the band played in full. Ed Warren’s stripped back lighting design employed 21 Ayrton laser-sourced Cobra fixtures - Warren’s only moving lights - in what the LD terms an “extremely considered and precise” show.

“There was a lot of symmetry going on between all the elements, and paramount to the geometry of it all was to have clean straight beams emanating from above and below”, he explains. “Fifteen Cobras were flown on a staggered array of truss fingers over the band and six remained on the deck between and flanking the drummer and keyboard risers.”

“I chose Cobras because we needed a clean, crisp, bright, narrow beam for a number of key looks”, he continues. “We spot-lit the bandmembers, especially lead singer Paul Banks, from above with a single spot for many parts of the show. We also used the floor Cobras to backlight the band members and produce wide silhouettes which projected to the back of every room. I also chose Cobra for the mirrorball moments.”

Warren has worked with the band for fourteen years, and been a fan since their first single 22 years ago, so his feel for the design came naturally. “It’s hard to pinpoint what the concept for the ‘Antics’ tour was inspired by, as it just came together in an hour while I was on a flight in front of my computer”, he says. “The band’s music is so claustrophobic yet grand, it was pretty easy to complement.”

“I knew I wanted to use three projectors, I wanted it to be symmetrical, I wanted every song to be its own singular piece of art but I wanted the entire show to look as one”, he furthers. “I also wanted to limit myself as much as possible and create something from relatively nothing. Quite a few people were surprised we only had fifteen flown moving lights in venues such as Alexandra Palace and the LA Forum, but it worked.”

The Cobra fixtures were supplied by LCR as part of the minimalist lighting inventory. “LCR were great from the start”, notes Warren. “They were on hand for any questions and the technicians, George Milner and Matt Brown, were ace.” The operator and production manager was Christian Lincoln.

(Photos: Luke Dyson)

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