Bloc Party - Seattle Neumo - 26/3/05
4/5
By: Matt Tomiak
Little more than a year ago, rockfeedback was watching Bloc Party headline a free local musician's night at the Hull Adelphi on a wet Monday evening. Characteristically, Kele Okereke commented that he felt a little nervous following so many acts that night.
Fast-forward to March 2005 and the other side of the planet: whilst Kele still retains his bashful charm, tonight Bloc Party perform with a flourish, drive and sense of purpose.
And whereas once 'She's Hearing Voices' was a funereal, Joy Division-ish rumble, here it becomes a shouty-discofied anthem. It's quite a transition. Hell, drummer Matt even performs shirtless for the majority of the set. He's not quite Tommy Lee and the band aren't quite Motley Crue, but BP seem to realise they currently stand on the cusp of something strongly resembling superstardom.
'Banquet', 'Helicopter' and 'Little Thoughts' successively create the kind of frenzied flailing of limbs in a Seattle moshpit that would do justice to a show in grunge's heyday. And though they might not have the Kaiser Chiefs' showbiz panache, The Futureheads' treasure trove of pop hooks or The Others' self-possessed, rabble-rousing belligerence, Bloc Party have grace, potential, intelligence and the kind of British sense of self-deprecation that they love over here. Betting against them just wouldn't really be very prudent.
Artists in this article: Bloc Party
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