This photo was taken by one of our photographers at the Tuesday night Bloc Party/Longwave gig that I covered for The Tripwire. I have to note this because, a.) my camera doesn't make stuff that looks like that and b.) she was in the photographers' pit and I was safely one level above, thanks to the Gods of the All Access Pass, sitting on a bar stool perched at the railing of the mezzanine.Bloc Party is an English indie-rock band who (ironically) I discovered through my very American friend Adrienne just after I'd moved to England. I don't quite know what happened the first time I listened to their music, but something clicked and an instant relationship was forged. I listened to Weekend In The City and Silent Alarm on an unending loop every time I pressed play on my iPod. For at least a month or two it was my daily soundtrack for every train ride, every bus ride, every walk through campus, every trip to the library.
I'm going to post one of my favorite BP tracks for you below in case you are one of the few, the unlucky, those-who've-never-rocked-out-to-Bloc-Party. But moreover, I want to offer up my recommendation of Bloc Party as one as of the best live acts I've ever seen.
Certainly Tuesday's gig was a quasi-religious experience for me. Without going into all the introspective gushing that I know you don't care about (and keeping my once-per-month limit on that type of stuff in mind), Bloc Party was one of those bands whose record found me at exactly the right moment -- as a result, most of the songs are strongly tied to the things I did, how I lived and the way I felt about life and about myself those first few months in London.
But even after I got over the holy-shit factor -- that I was sitting in the velvet-roped-off area, with an incredible view of the entire band, listening to one of my favorite bands -- there was a whole 'nother holy shit factor coming. These guys are the consummate live musicians. If there is anything I dislike about what I do, it's going to a concert to watch a group of musicians stand static on a stage and play their songs exactly the way they sound on the album. If I wanted to hear that, I would've stayed home and played the album, and Christ knows that would've been the preferable choice because at least then I wouldn't have had to wear pants.
The guys of Bloc Party seem to share this idea, and they ripped apart the stage, tore open their own songs and riffs and melodies and had there been the possibility of tearing the roof off the mother, I don't doubt they would've done that, too. You can check out my review of the show here, but it can't begin to do justice to what I witnessed Tuesday night. You've gotta see this for yourself.
Bloc Party - "Banquet" Live in Belgium, 2007
Bloc Party - "Hunting For Witches" Live at Glastonbury
cheers,
elizabeth
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