Show Review

Every year the media deems a few bands “the next big thing.” Then, the attention becomes over saturated and rarely does the band live up to the buzz. Luckily for British import Bloc Party, they are as exciting and pleasing as those magazines say they are.

The group is comprised of four geeky guys, but geeky in a good way. A lot of bands are made up of attractive people who only get by on their looks not talent (Maroon 5, anyone?), but these guys exude rock charm and look like people you’d hang out with. With the rejuvenation of new wave/post punk/dance music that The Killers to Franz Ferdinand to the Futureheads have run into the ground, it becomes difficult for a new band like Bloc Party to find a niche with their rock music. Their musings on politics and lost love are more redolent of early U2 and Blur than the current trend of cliché British bands and post-punkers, which makes them one of the most original bands to arrive this year.

At the historical Metro in Chicago (Guided by Voices played their final show there on New Year’s Eve), Bloc Party rocked the house on March 31st sending March out like a lion. Three other bands including Pit Er Pat and the Ponys played before Bloc Party hit the stage for an hour long set. As the night progressed, the room became hotter, filled with 20-30ish hipsters, professionals and college students, but more refined than your typical trendsetters. Lead singer Kele Okereke, drummer Matt Tong, guitarist Russell Lissack and bassist Gordon Moakes started right into their first song off Silent Alarm, “Like Eating Glass,” an energetic rendition that had the crowd singing along to the lyrics of the nascent song. Kele shouted: “eating poison, like eating glass” to pounding rhythms, swirling guitars and omnipresent head nodding from the sold out crowd. You can’t exactly dance to their music (one guy did dance all night, though) except for their next song, the popular and infectious “Banquet” that’s the kind of song once you hear it you promptly need to hear it again. The song ends but the bass lines linger in the air as the band catches their breath.

Bloc Party play a couple of songs unrecognizable from their new album, but they could be either new material or from last year’s Banquet EP. Soon after, Kele kicks in the romance with a faster and rockier version of one of their best tracks, “This Modern Love.” “She’s Hearing Voices” comes up as the crowd shouts along with the “Heys” and the repetitive chorus of “red pill/blue pill.” At this point, Kele dons a lei thrown from a fan in the audience. He mumbles something in his incomprehensible English accent and continues the vigorous yet exhausting set. The heat has gotten to drummer Matt Tong as he plays shirtless. The set supposedly ends and the band leave the stage for the inevitable encore. They come back to greet their ravenous fans who obviously want more. They play three more tracks including “The Answer,” a grand finale type song that ends with bursting drums, guitar, bass, flashing strobes and loud vocals that’s reminiscent of a July 4th fireworks display, giving their last push to the finish. The show ends, the crowd dissipates, and everyone chatters about the experience. Overheard, one guy mentions he wants to check out more of their stuff. A new Bloc Party fan is born.

In a year, Bloc Party will probably be playing sold out stadium shows owned by large corporations, but let’s hope they don’t become too much of a phenomenon, even though they deserve all their success now and in the future. Sometimes it’s nice to have a well-kept secret. This is their first stateside tour and it seems to be off to an exceptional beginning. Live, they are just as lively and rock just as hard as they do on their album. A week after the concert, Bloc Party made their national television debut on David Letterman and had a song of theirs featured in The O.C—a milestone that shows they are on the road to the big time.

images courtesy of blocparty.com