When Bloc Party last came to town, they played the Hordern Pavilion with a show that sold out in seconds. But still a little peeved off about the leak of A Weekend in the City MONTHS before it’s street release, no longer would the band be playing any new material at concerts – so this left a limited back catalogue, and a notably short set as a result. But that’s not to say they disappointed crowds – they were truly spectacular in every respect. We just wanted more!
And in their first of two Hordern Pavilion shows this time around, they indeed delivered more – 2 encores and a long setlist which ran through their ever-expanding back catalogue just as much as it did their latest LP Intimacy – which, due to a rush online release in September, was NOT leaked way ahead of time.
In a notably good mood, Kele (sporting a fantastic Transformers shirt) and his band of excellence hit the stage, launching straight into “Halo” off the latest LP, and moving through much of their hits including “Hunting for Witches” and “Mercury,” with “The Prayer” ending off the main set, keeping a smile on everyone’s faces. But they hadn’t even started yet: the first Encore saw them finally bringing out the lasers during “Flux,” in a moment I can only describe as excellent, for a song I once considered incredibly average. It really is most spectacular live. A second drum kit also made a surprise appearance, leading most people to say “Whoa!” when they realised what was going on. Wolf & Cub much? But really, when you’ve got one of the best drummers in the world – Matt Tong – as your drummer, do you really need two? Probably not, but that didn’t stop it from being most awesome!
They continued to whip out the surprises with a SECOND encore, featuring the dance-busting Intimacy opener, “Ares”, complete once again with lasers and when they jumped straight into “This Modern Love” to finish up the show, you knew you had just witnessed something pretty damn cool.
As a band, they were a lot tighter than the last time I saw them – the new album translates amazingly well live (as I’ve always said regarding the album, it mightn’t be their best, but it is certainly their best for the live setting) and I think surprised many when tracks like “Ion Square,” “Mercury” and “Ares” gave even the hardcore Bloc Party fans a highlight or two of the night!
Tonight was a whole lot of fun with a whole lot of great music from a band that remain at the top of their game. And on a side note, major credit must go to the band for playing different set lists every night – “Little Thoughts” was among the surprises to attendees of the second night in Sydney. Jealous!
