Bloc Party

I will keep an eye out for you (and bags)!

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
ditto… the zen approach to a sold out concert works again :) plus maybe a couple karma points for giving up my seat on a plane coming back from LA.

looking forward to it!
Good to hear things are working out for everyone. Looks like the Forum's going to be well represented after all :)
Yup…I'm there. It's gonna be PACKED, and I'll be all alone, so keep a lookout ;)

Okay, so:
SAT APR 9- BLOC PARTY, THE PONYS, PONY
9:30 doors

We thinkin' bands at 10, 11 and 12:00? (I should be able to get there by about 11:00)
Looks like I'll have to wait until Coachella to see them.
Originally posted by Bags:
Yup…I'm there. It's gonna be PACKED, and I'll be all alone, so keep a lookout ;)

Okay, so:
SAT APR 9- BLOC PARTY, THE PONYS, PONY
9:30 doors

We thinkin' bands at 10, 11 and 12:00? (I should be able to get there by about 11:00)
that's what i'm guessing … i'm getting my ticket from someone who has to get it at will call … does anyone know when will call opens? like could we get the ticket at 730pm even though doors don't open until 930pm?
Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
Originally posted by Bags:
[qb]… i'm getting my ticket from someone who has to get it at will call … does anyone know when will call opens? like could we get the ticket at 730pm even though doors don't open until 930pm?
They don't open at all until 8:00, so…..sometime after 8:00, I'd say.

-edit-

I'd say you may have to wait until 9:30; looks like the person with the box of tickets won't come out until doors time – from their website:

you can save the service charge by getting advanced tickets from our box-office between 8:00pm and midnight (cash only). Please note that you may purchase tickets from our box-office on the night of a show only after doors open for the event.
Originally posted by Bags:
Yup…I'm there. It's gonna be PACKED, and I'll be all alone, so keep a lookout ;)

Okay, so:
SAT APR 9- BLOC PARTY, THE PONYS, PONY
9:30 doors

We thinkin' bands at 10, 11 and 12:00? (I should be able to get there by about 11:00)
Looks like I'll be alone too. But on the plus side, I've got a pair of tickets available that formerly belonged to friends that can't make the show. Send me a PM if you still need a ticket.
I'm there, I'll be alone until around 10:30 until a friend shows up. Anyone on the board hitting up the afterparty at DC9?
Great show… All Fun No Filler for the Bloc Party. Have become a band I will want to see live again and again. Like Sloan and Idlewild this band enjoys playing live which makes the concert going experience that much more fun to attend. The songs all sound and are treated like hit singles. The audience was singing and clapping along through out the set. While the influences leak through on the record, in concert there is a more defined Bloc Party sound. It's great they don't feel the need to replicate the record live, ragged around the edges is fine by me. Caothic drumming always a plus. Most enjoyable and thanks to rebelchantuse for being my last minute angel.
great show

pony up was pretty decent, all-girl pop from montreal, had one really good song towards the end of their set that sounded like a dead ringer for a rilo kiley tune, most of them were easy on the eyes as well

the ponys tore some shit up, i hadn't seen them before and i missed some of their set, but what i heard was really top notch, big sound, high energy, easily could have been the headliners

bloc party really delivered … they were really into the show, the lead singer had great charisma, a sloppy delivery that worked perfectly … drummer was outstanding

crowd was pretty crazy … mini-fight broke out near me during the 2nd or 3rd song, a group of people were rolling their faces off next to us, but didnt really feel like a sell-out when you walked toward the back, lot of empty space back there, which surprised me …
yeah, there was a lot of space at the back

I guess I wasn't quite as taken with the show as Hoya and Kosmo, although I was quite tired and grumpy

thought bloc party were good, verging on great - they started with what I think are their best 3 songs so after that it was harder to them to keep my attention

how long did they play - an hour tops? on the one hand I thought the crowd was into it but on the other the interval between the 'last' song and the encore was one of the most insipid live moments I've ever witnessed - half-hearted at best - at time I wondered if they would bother to come back out, even knowing that they had 4 more songs to play
agreed on the encores… i don't quite understand the go off stage and wait for the roadie to tune the guitar pause either. if staying in tune is so important then have a couple guitars and swap them out during the set. encores have definitely gone by their sellby date. do a 60 minute set and move on… and let the audience demand the encore if it's warranted, or split the set up.

Well Pony Up were just not my thing… "Basic" indie pop really doesn't grab my attention. Wasn't really sure where The Pony's were headed but, by the garage/mod tinged third song won me over. The post-punk influences began peeking and eventually were front and center. The transition in sound didn't seem as forced as other in the case of Kasabian. But, a couple songs in to the Bloc Party's set and the Pony's set was a distant memory.
Bloc Party

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke has an accent that's so South London, one fan at the Black Cat Saturday night yelled "Speak English!" Okereke got little response when he would name the next song, yet the audience roared when guitarist Russell Lissack or drummer Matt Tong played an opening lick. This crowd knew every riff and beat.

Such familiarity was useful, since Bloc Party's music was less distinct in concert than on its debut album, "Silent Alarm." That was partially due to the somewhat muffled sound quality but mostly because the group doesn't yet have the musical range of its ambitions. Live, the band's influences seemed raw and barely assimilated: U2, especially in Lissack's epic arpeggios; Gang of Four, notably in the booming rhythm section and the vocal interplay between Okereke and bassist Gordon Moakes; and the Cure, mostly in the modal vocal melodies and Okereke's declamatory delivery.

Yet the drive of the short, spiky tunes ("Like Eating Glass," "Blue Light") largely compensated for their derivativeness and certainly galvanized the audience. One way or another, the listeners did understand one of Okereke's heavily accented remarks – that, on the last night of Bloc Party's U.S. tour, he wanted people to dance.

The garage-band drone of the Ponys, who preceded Bloc Party, was winningly enthusiastic. The two-guitar sound was reminiscent of the Velvet Underground but with snatches of Byrdsian jangle and some surging passages so thick they suggested an electric organ.

– Mark Jenkins


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42721-2005Apr10.html
I love it when the audience is clapping and singing along…just like a Guster or Britney Spears show! :D

But I'm still trying to figure out what caothic drumming is? Is that something new, or just something British? ;)

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Great show… All Fun No Filler for the Bloc Party. Have become a band I will want to see live again and again. Like Sloan and Idlewild this band enjoys playing live which makes the concert going experience that much more fun to attend. The songs all sound and are treated like hit singles. The audience was singing and clapping along through out the set. While the influences leak through on the record, in concert there is a more defined Bloc Party sound. It's great they don't feel the need to replicate the record live, ragged around the edges is fine by me. Caothic drumming always a plus. Most enjoyable and thanks to rebelchantuse for being my last minute angel.
I love singing and clapping too, especially when I can't hear the band over someone shouting the (wrong) lyrics in my ear with hot-ass bad breath. Yummy!

Bloc Party was very good, but we left at the third encore song. Sorry guys… that one was a party-killer.

I noticed lots of really young folks at the show. They have a song on the OC soundtrack, or do Bloc Party have a Modern Rock Hitâ?¢ on the radio?
Indie is the new mainstream, at least for upper middle class white kids.

Originally posted by tenfifteen:

I noticed lots of really young folks at the show. They have a song on the OC soundtrack, or do Bloc Party have a Modern Rock Hitâ?¢ on the radio?
Wonder how long it will take for clubs to start sorting fans at the door and giving them their own area of the club. Rabid, Casual, Indifferent, Dancing machines and Cameraphone carrierers. That way there would be less complaints about the audience. Taking it would step further there could be contests to determine which groups gets the best placing in the club.

Or maybe everyone should just get to pick the audience they want to see the band with…

The Black Cat could have been filled with people staring blankly at the band.

It could have been filled with people waiting for the hit and otherwise busily chatting with or texting their bestest friends. This I fear will happen at the Kaiser Chiefs show, because they have a hit.

Frankly, the audience of rabid fans made the show more interesting to be at.
So what do lower middle class kids listen to…

Bloc Party are hardly indie either, they are signed to a fake indie label which is part of Atlantic Records. Probably have high powered publistists, etc working on their behalf.

Could it just be possible that the band managed to generate enough buzz that people went out and got the CD and bought tickets. I mean it must really suck to be a band that moves product. Totally soul draining…
I didn't notice any "rabid" fans, but then I was by the bar. I don't at all mind young folks, cellphones, texting, picture-taking, dancing, singing, clapping. Come Spoon, I'll be dancing and singing with cam in hand.

What I do mind is when someone else is elbowing me in the face whilst clapping, jumping on my feet while pogoing, or shouting over my shoulder/in my ear while "singing."

I'm just looking for a little consideration when space is that tight.
So what do lower middle class kids listen to…

Metal and hip hop.

I thought the definition of "indie" had now been changed to describe a certain sound, rather than i the band was on an independent label or not. You know, like "alternative".


Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
So what do lower middle class kids listen to…

Bloc Party are hardly indie either, they are signed to a fake indie label which is part of Atlantic Records. Probably have high powered publistists, etc working on their behalf.

Could it just be possible that the band managed to generate enough buzz that people went out and got the CD and bought tickets. I mean it must really suck to be a band that moves product. Totally soul draining…