It’s a Friday night, it’s raining, I’m caught up at work, and I have somewhere I need to be. Brisbane Riverstage, to be exact, to see British indie band Bloc Party, as they tour in celebration of 20 years of debut album Silent Alarm.
The late finish at work meant we didn’t arrive in time to catch supports Young The Giant, and with the rain starting up again just as we entered Riverstage, you’d be forgiven for reading all that as an ill omen for the night. But some things are more powerful than a winter downpour, and with the wet weather miraculously clearing right as Bloc Party took to the stage, early 2000s British indie might just be one of them.
Working their way through the majority their iconic debut album, and throwing in some other favourites for good measure, Bloc Party were a force to be reckoned with, bouncing from track to track, and absolutely revelling in the enthusiastic crowd before them. We’d took up position to the right of the stage, with a side on view to the main pit area, and it was a genuine delight watching people dancing non-stop and singing every word. With minimal preamble from frontman Kele Okereke, Bloc Party played for a solid hour and a half, including a bulky five-song-strong encore.
It was, as expected, a distinctly Millennial crowd (some with their kids in tow), and there was a real sense of reliving the specific period of our lives that Bloc Party, Silent Alarm, and their ilk were such a key part of. For my partner, it was driving around his hometown, blasting “Banquet“. For me, it was starting college and having to make new friends, all set to the Burnout Revenge soundtrack, which included “Helicopter“. Someone I heard in passing said “If they don’t play “This Modern Love“, I’ll die.” They did, of course, which was good news for everyone – especially that guy. There’s just something about these celebratory tours that scratches a certain itch, and while Bloc Party’s absence from our shores was only a couple of years (their last tour saw them team with fellow indie legends Interpol in 2023), throwing it almost exclusively back to 2005’s Silent Alarm is a different beast altogether, and we’ve not stopped blasting the album in the house (and in the car and on the bus) since.
By the time final song (and certified banger) “Ratchet” wrapped up and Bloc Party left the stage, the rain made its return, but the dreary walk back to the bus station did nothing to dampen anyone’s spirits. Over yiros and a Pepsi Max (because I’m an adult who had work the next day) a little later, we agreed that all of it – the rain, the mad dash across the Brisbane CBD, the fact that our bodies would hate us the next day for standing on the hill at Riverstage – was absolutely worth it.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Bloc Party and Young The Giant have one more show up their sleeve, taking over Auckland’s Spark Arena on August 12th. Grab tickets HERE.
Header image supplied by PR.
