 | | Bloc Party |
Bloc Party at the Academy - 8/10Helen McGrath (gig: 17/04/05)
With so many bands emerging, seemingly all cut from the same cloth, Bloc Party are one of the more promising. Yes, there's 70s and 80s influences. Yes, they've been compared to Franz Ferdinand. Yet they are individual, confident and refreshing. |
Their name pretty much sums them up. Great live, their sound is consistent and they are a bit clean, straight-talking, slightly dancy-rock. There’s no chatter about drugs and singer Kele Okoreke provides a bit of neat eye candy - a London boy who plays guitar in a thoughtful, sexy, very slightly arrogant way. Banquet is a great live track, individual and lively. A bit dancey-punky, it revs up the crowd and reminds people exactly why they are packed into this hot, sweaty venue. So Here We Are – supported as it is by Radio 1, NME and the like - virtually sums up their sound. Okoreke’s dedication of the song to the fans who have queued in the rain at their signing that day makes him a very popular guy – most of the assembled seem to have been there. Along with Modern Love, it’s a great ballad, thoughtful and well-written. Helicopter sees Okoreke asking us if were hoping for a miracle, with much more emotion than the recorded track has – most of the tracks from Silent Alarm are even better in the flesh of their live performance. Positive Tension did not disappoint. A quick sell-out and already booking for the Apollo later in the year, Bloc Party are sure to keep getting bigger. Those with their finger on the pulse were packed into the Academy, and as Okoreke put it, "what better thing to do on a Sunday night". |
