Julian Plenti

Flew all the way from Helsinki, Finland to see Paul Banks' solo project in action. Enjoyed every second. Paul Banks is a genius and his music has unforgettable nuances.

Paul Banks and his band sounded great! An amazing show!

Julian Plenti (aka Paul Banks of Interpol) played his debut album "Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper" 11/19/09 at The El Ray in Los Angeles. A stunning performance by the frontman with a few extra treats like covers of America's "Horse With No Name" and the epic Pixies tune "Into the White". A kick ass show for sure.

Great show! Had tickets to see at the Wonder Ballroom and when I showed up it was closed. Thank God I was able to get a hold of a friend who told me the venue had changed. The show was at the Holocene. Very intimate venue. The band was unbelievable. Paul Banks voice was like listening to Interpol with a twist. The band played America's "Horse with no name" better than America! .The cello adds a great sound to the bands songs. Probably won't see these guys again in such a small venue. To bad:(( It was a real treat!

The band was tight and sounded great. I saw Paul Banks smile more during this one show than I ever saw him smile in all of the Interpol shows I've attended. If he's happy then I'm happy.

We met Paul at M-Theory before the show. Couldn't wait. The venue is tiny (my type of venue). It was great to see Paul's reaction to the crowd's embrace of his music. It was simple, tight and just what I wanted to hear. Kuddos to his bandmates.

Mr Banks (aka Julian Plenti) put on a brilliant show. He seems very confident and comfortable with his audience. The talent of which his band members performed were impeccable. His use of the Cello in place of the keys in his live performance was brilliantly transfered, and was very well done. If Mr. Banks ever does a tour of his own stuff again, I would very highly recommend seeing his show.

Seeing a show at the Bowery Ballroom is always a treat. This time the cherry on top was getting to see violaleeblue s brother s band perform. They were the opening act and I knew as little about them as I did about the headliner, Julian Plenti. I m In You is currently touring with Plenti. I got our usual spot upstairs near the soundboard and waited for violaleeblue and rtb. Some of the tables were available but I didn t grab one in time. The floor and upstairs got crowded quickly Plenti is apparently quite popular so I was happy to have a good view. I wasn't very happy with the Eurotrash surrounding me - it didn't bode well as far as I was concerned. But, who knows? Maybe Plenti could rise above that. I'm In You entered to nice applause and managed to keep the audience s attention. This is a difficult feat for most opening acts. They are Chris McHenry and Sebastian Ischer on guitars and vocals, Dmitriy Ishenko and Andrei Zakow on bass and drums (Not sure who was on what no one bothered to introduce the members and McHenry and Ischer barely mentioned the name of the band. A prompt had to come up out of the audience), Mike Irwin on trumpet, and Glenn White on saxophone. The music is rock and roll with a touch of indie rock, some jam band, and a bit of dissonance. McHenry was the better of the two singers but sang fewer songs. Ischer spoke to the audience more so he connected better but there was very little interaction with us. Most of the time was spent tuning guitars and making sure effects were on. Twice Ischer forgot to turn off the echo when he was finished with the song and speaking to the audience. Both are excellent guitarists and I really enjoyed the backbeat that Ishenko and Zakow provided. The lyrics did not live up to the promise of the music there was a lot of doom and heartache and I wanted to ask these young boys why they were so unhappy but the horns provided that right amount of unease to complement the not-comfortable-in-this-world lyrics. The musicians in this band show a lot of promise. I d love to see the promise kept. Julian Plenti is Paul Banks of Inferno (yeah, that doesn t make it any clearer to me either). But the audience was very into him lots of I love you and Want to marry you and You rock for Plenti and for Damian, the lead guitarist. There was some more atmospheric rock and sometimes a Bowiesque vocal and since Plenti is tall and good-looking it helped the Bowie comparison. The cello sound was more electronic than acoustic. I ve forgotten who was on stage (cellist, guitar, bass and drums?) right after they came on I got an attack of vertigo and had to step back so I listened to most of the show while looking at the back of the heads of I m In You. If I hadn t also been struck with an attack of shyness I would have introduced myself to violaleeblue s brother and bandmates. By the last song I was in the bar/lounge and heard their encore, Horse with No Name, which was probably my favorite song of the night. Despite the jam bandesque guitar. Still, all in all, a good night of music.

Love the album, love the live show even more. Saw him in San Diego, but this show was so much tighter. I love the El Rey and the crowd was completely into it, making the entire show sheer bliss.

Julian Plenti was amazing. They have such a great sound. Paul is HOT!!

I love Paul's song writing skills. The perfect mix between uptempo and beatuiful strings.

Must see. Interpol-like spirit and swoon. You will enjoy it!

Great venue, excellent sound. The crowd was even really cool for a bunch of stuck up LA hipsters. I had one of the better concert experiences of my show career that night. The opener "I'm In You" was pretty good as well.

Julian played songs off his solo album. He threw in a Pixies song and an interesting treatment of 'Horse With No Name' Good: Julian was very strong in the delivery, really some great music. He really shown through. All the songs were strong. Not So Good: It seemed the backing band at times were not up to his challenge. In small venues like the El Rey I hope to hear some of the nuances of the music that are lost when the band tries to blast their way through a song. His vocals were lost sometimes in the mix. Just as he got going the show was over. Way too short!! Great show, I'd go again!!!!

I'm In You started off the night as a great opening band that kept me entertained until Julian Plenti came on. And when they did come on it was great. There was so much energy with these guys that I started to sway and dance along. Mostly because of the guitarist who sort of got me in the mood to dance because of his dance moves on stage. Paul Bank's vocals are phenomenal live. I'm so glad I came to watch the show. Everyone played their part well. Great band, hope I get another chance to see them once Interpol stops touring after the release of their fourth album.

Excellent set from Mr. Banks - entire album + 3 covers. I loved the 'into the white' Pixies cover.

The show was awesome, opening band was good as well. My only issues with the night came from the horrible security at the El Rey. I've always loved this venue but at the Julian Plenti show i was disappointed on how badly they handled an altercation in the crowd. For those Interpol fans out there be sure to check out Julain Plenti aka Paul Banks when he comes around again. Well worth it.

Great show overall. There was not a single glitch. The album is already amazing and they did a good job with it live. Nothing too splashy, they played the songs as is, but threw in a couple of bonuses: 1. Previously unreleased track that was made during the recording for "Skyscraper" 2. Cover of a Pixies tune, though I forget which 3. Cover of America's "A Horse With No Name" which was unbelievably good.

Great show. Paul Banks confirmed what a talented artist he is. And he looked gorgeous!

The El Rey was a perfect venue for Julian Plenti's debut show in Los Angeles. The crowd was taken aback from the wonderful performance given by Mr. Plenti and his band. Eventhough I am a huge Interpol fan, I did not expect to be so amazed. Julian Plenti is a great architect and he has built his skyscraper.

Great show, they were enthusiastic, the guitarist is pretty funny, plus their cellist was absolutely phenomenal. And of course Paul Banks (pseudonym Mr. Plenti) was great!

Paul was fantastic and the band was great as well. So was the opening band - a really nice surprise. They started on time, the sound was good and the atmosphere was very nice. The change in venue was good for us since the new venue was just down the street. So we had a great time until the end of the show when one member of the stage crew was unnecessarily very rude to us and a few others. Still we waited around to talk to the band and they were all extremely nice and approachable. Paul was friendly and we really enjoyed the chance to meet him. Note to the crew: If you want to sell tickets and t-shirts, don't be rude to your fans - that just doesn't make sense.

I attended the show with Julian Plenti and openers I'M in You at Chop Suey in Seattle Wa. on November 16, 2009. The show was fantastic. Its not often I go to a show and a few songs into the opening band I am wondering where I can get the Cd. Although there was a technical diffuculty with a Super Reverb the band continued and I was quite impressed. Then the moment we had all been waiting for, Julian Plenti, the brainchild of Mr. Paul Julian Banks, frontman of the world famous Interpol took the stage. We had seen him lurking around the stage to watch the opening band I'm In You, who are his friends out of Brooklyn and that right there told me something about the man. That he truely cares about his friends and opening band applauding them after there songs. Mr. Banks' voice was pure and true. For only the second show you would think this was his main band. It was simply amazing and the vibe that the crowd was giving was given back by him. There was complete honestly on his part, you could tell by the child like smiles that he gave as the crowd clapped and cheered at the begining and end of the songs. The crowd, in my opinion were real fans of the music and they were rewarded by a man that is a complete work of art. His lyrics, his music and lets not forget a handsome man. I was also very happy with there chello player who was magnificent. If they had shows for a year straight in my area I would be at everyone of them. I just wish that there was a little more publcity, I think that more people should know about this great band and I hope in the future they return to Seattle. I would recomend a show to anyone. Mr. Banks, thank you very much for your honesty and your wonderful art. I wont spoil it , but they played two songs not on the album and it was amazing. I really cant say enough about the show.

The show was terrific! I was literally 6 feet away from him the whole time, got his guitar pick, some pictures with him afterwards, autograph, all that stuff. The music was great, but that was to be expected. All in all, Paul is extremely polite and friendly and I only have positive things to say about hi performance. The one thing I disliked was that the volume was WAYYYYY too loud. I go to a fair amount of shows and this was extremely loud.

Small venue and a great performance....very intimate and a lot of fun! If I had one minor complaint, the band wasn't lit well.....that said, the sound was amazing!

Loved it...... amazingly hot........The cello musician was awesome!!!

The show was unbelievable! I am the biggest Interpol fan and was unsure how I would receive Paul Banks solo show, but I must say that Paul Banks as Julian Plenti is PERFECT! I've been to many Interpol shows, but Julian Plenti was very engaging and pulled the crowd in a way that I have never seen him do as Paul Banks. The music is usually enough for me, but just by acknowledging the crowd between every other song made it a million times better. It helps that he's soooo adorable!

Great show! Good bartenders! Not too many fans moving to the music, but that's sometimes typical for a San Diego show unfortunately. Best part: Plenti's cover of Heart of Gold!