This is the third time I've seen Bloc Party. Once at Bottom of the Hill, the other time at Coachella, and now at Slim's. This is the make-up show for the Popscene performance that was cancelled because singer Kele Okereke lost his voice. Well, his voice was alive and well, and so were the rest of Bloc Party who provided a solid set and some entertaining banter.
I missed the first opening band but caught Oakland's very own Death of a Party. They sucked. The lead singer sounded like Steve Bays from Hot Hot Heat and some of their songs sounded like Moving Units. However, they were nothing like Hot Hot Heat or Moving Units. Although they have the look - with the drummer having the greatest hair imaginable - they just didn't do it for me.
A little after 10:30pm, Bloc Party came on and opened with "Like Eating Glass." This ignited the crowd and a mini-mosh/hop pit formed in the front middle. That small pit became one large hole when third song "Banquet" came on. Okereke improvised on the lyrics with this song, which I'm sure they are dead tired playing on stage. After the raucous that "Banquet" caused, the band played a "slow jam" and calmed the crowd down with "Blue Light."
At one point during the show, a woman threw her bra on stage to Okereke. Kele then brought it over to drummer Matt Tong. While the crowd and the rest of Bloc Party cheered on Matt to put on the bra, he didn't. Although he did place it on his, yet again, bare and semi-hairy chest, he immediately placed it back on the speaker adjacent to his drums. Another entertaining moment was when Kele and bass player Gordon Moakes were constantly walking on the stage, with Kele encircling Jonny Greenwood wannabe Russell. A stage diver was also present, which pissed off Gordon at the end of the set.
They played three encores. "Price of Gas" was the first one, with Kele pointing the mic to the crowd as they chanted the chorus. The second was a song requested by a member of the audience. I'm not sure what it was, but it started with an "S" apparently. The last song was "So Here We Are." At least I think that was the last song. It was beautifully done.
So, another show at the Fillmore tomorrow. Let's see what these guys can do a second time around. I know I'm going to get sick of these guys soon.
Beer Rating: 3 Beers
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1 comment:
Too bad you missed the first opening band (The Noisettes). Musically, they were probably even better than Bloc Party. Think Erykah Badu if she were in a British rock band.
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