GIG REVIEW - Bloc Party, Earls Court London

Earls Court London, 22nd February 2013
Support: Old Men, The Joy Formidable

Having already completed 20 dates in the US, Japan and Europe this year, this was the final date of the European leg of the tour before Bloc Party embark on a 14 date tour of Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific. The gig was their largest UK performance to date (aside from any festivals), playing at the 19,000 capacity Earls Court One venue.

Kicking off to a backdrop of lasers and a huge halogen logo from their latest album, Four, the band threw themselves into the first 13 track first set with a frantic version of And So He Begins To Lie, immediately followed by the ever popular Hunting For Witches. Frontman Kele Okereke was on top form, bantering with the attentive audience and introducing each track by relaying the sentiment behind it, including Waiting For The 7.18 which he described as being “about public transport”, prompting a huge cheer from the crowd. This was followed up by a fantastically tight performance of both Song For Clay (Disappear Here) and Banquet, to the obvious glee of the crowd who sang and jumped around like their lives depended on it. At this point I got slightly distracted. It was extremely dark in the venue, with the only light coming from the stage, making the lad directly in front of me look like some kind of cross between a body popper and the Churchill nodding dog due to the strange type of jigging he was executing. It amused me so much that I almost missed some very interesting screenshots of the crowd that were being transmitted from the large screen either side of the stage (the crowd were, at that point, frantically moshing to Coliseum).

The band performed an impressive array of tracks from all four of their studio albums, with selected songs being performed in a frenzy of lazers and strobes. The end of the first set was marked with “something different” in the shape of One More Chance, and Octopus. The band then disappeared without a word, to the bemusement of the audience, before reappearing a few minutes later to open the 4 track “Round Two” with Kreuzberg, which Okereke dedicated to his parents. Finishing the set with an absolutely blistering version of Flux (preceded by the intro to Rihanna’s We Found Love), the band once again disappeared.

The first track of the encore was a new one, Ratchet, which Okereke confirmed had not even yet been recorded, and had only been aired live for the first time in Missouri on the US leg of January 2013’s tour dates. The track itself has the unmistakeable Bloc Party sound, and features an interesting pitch-bending guitar riff, which the crowd eagerly embraced. The following track, Truth, had been the subject of an email to their mailing list a few days beforehand, where the band encouraged the crowd to download an app to their iPhones and film footage of the track being performed, and this footage would be collected via the app and a video made from the best bits. Okereke seemed a bit uncertain about this concept, but nevertheless asked the crowd to record the track as it was being performed. The final track of the night, Helicopter, was performed amid an array of lasers to the partying crowd, before the band took their final bows and left the stage.

Although the venue was not sold out it did not deter the band, who performed a great mix of old favourites and new material, and at least this gave the crowd more room to dance. The gig did perhaps suffer slightly at times in terms of atmosphere due to the size of the venue, but overall the band and crowd had a good rapport. Once again the band showed off their great musicianship, and the tightness of the band really shone through.

My review score: 8/10

FULL GIG REVIEW - Bloc Party "Bloctober"

O2 Academy Birmingham, 15th October 2012
Support: Theme Park

When I last saw Bloc Party at the Reading Festival in 2009 it was the first time I'd seen them live, and I was completely captivated by them as they strobed, stomped and frantically strummed through their set on the main stage. I vowed to go and see again as soon as I could, but they thwarted my attempts to by going on a 3 year haitus. And that was that.

So imagine my glee when I saw that they had made plans to tour in 2012 for what they called "Bloctober", following the release of their latest album, 'Four'! I couldn't wait to part with my money to get the tickets, although not quite quick enough it seems as I could only get balcony seats. As it turned out, this was probably a blessing in disguise...

Bloc Party were ably supported by Theme Park, who I'd not seen live before. After a tentative start they soon got into their stride with 4 of the 5 band members swapping jobs from song to song, like they were sharing a bag of pick 'n' mix. One band member in particular had his work cut out, multitasking between synth, guitar, vocals, and a baffling array of pedals, although this threatened to be his undoing at one point as he struggled to regain control of a rogue foot pedal that was evidently not supposed to be playing an escalating synth sound. However, apart from the more pronounced midrange of the song, he seemed to get away with it, and you could almost sense his relief as he pulled the plug out of the pedal at the end of the song. Overall, though, their set was reminiscent of the Friendly Fires kind of vibe, with happy, quirky, jig-inducing songs which were ever so slightly cheesy but in a good way. And they were the antithesis of the set that was to follow by the main act, which was a stroke of genius by whoever planned the gig.

From the moment they began, Bloc Party absolutely blew the roof off the venue. Kicking off with 'Octopus' from the new album, they pounded through their set like James Bond being chased by an angry herd of rhinos, but with more pace and precision. Matt Tong thrashed the drums with such fervour that at one point a technician had to come and revive a bit of kit that he'd killed. By the time they got to 'Hunting For Witches', I was regretting being stuck on a seat on the balcony rather than jumping around like a thing possessed on the floor below (although, due to a neck and shoulder injury it's probably just as well). The pace continued with the band concentrating mostly on the tracks from 'Four', supported by some old favourites from their other 3 albums. But with each new stomper the mood in the mosh pits got increasingly more alarming. By the time they broke into the truly mental 'Coliseum' the fists had started flying and I could see at least 2 people with blood all over their faces. I will never understand why some people think this type of behaviour is acceptable at a gig (or anywhere else for that matter). It was clearly spoiling the enjoyment of the gig for the gig goers that inadvertently got embroiled in the action at floor level, and from my viewpoint on the balcony I could see a lot of people on my level being completely distracted by what was unfolding below (myself included).

Despite the mentalness of the moshpit, the band delivered sparkling performances for every single song. They succeeded in bringing things down a notch with 'The Prayer' and 'V.A.L.I.S.', only to bring the set to a shuddering climax with 'We Are Not Good People', which sent the troublemakers in the moshpit into an absolute frenzy.

All too quickly the first encore was upon us, with a few of their more subdued songs being thrown in before the mighty 'Helicopter', which was my absolute highlight of the gig. They deployed a genius trick of turning the lights off and on with military precision in time with the stops and starts of the song in the run up to the chorus, which added perfectly to the tension of the song. Of course the musicianship of Russell Lissack, Gordon Moakes, Kele Okereke (the lead singer) and Matt Tong really shone through, and it showed what a fantastically tight band they are.

Finally, for the second encore, they dusted off 'Ares', one of only two tracks played from their 'Intimacy' album. The bass drops absolutely shook the venue. They finished on a slightly odd choice, 'This Modern Love'. At that point I'd have prefered the final song to be something like 'Banquet' or 'Talons' (both of which were played earlier in the set). But all in all it was a truly fantastic gig, marred only slightly by a few mindless, lairy thugs who seemed intent on getting fisty in the moshpit.

My review score: 9.5/10

Did you see the gig? What did you think? Leave your comments below...