Bloc Party: Saturday

By Andy Smith

The buzz surrounding Bloc Party has grown to a roar in the past few weeks as the band's Silent Alarm record has gained a foothold in the US with record sales of close to 200,000 units and adds to the playlists of major FM rock radio stations. Though Franz Ferdinand has led the way for the emerging popularity of angular, danceable rock bands, Bloc Party has also earned special notice for its sense of melody and singer Kele Okereke's unabashedly romantic songwriting. And with many fans beginning to write off Franz Ferdinand for being too lightweight, Bloc Party offers something in the same vein, but a bit darker and more daring.

Appearing on the AMD stage in the Saturday evening slot right between Jet and Oasis' performances on the adjacent Cingular stage, Bloc Party walked out to a roar from a large and obviously excited crowd. It was a reaction of real anticipation rather than the sound of a festival crowd simply greeting another in a parade of bands and made it clear that these Londoners had plenty of fans already in attendance. In person, the band looks a lot like their photos suggest with their multi-cultural composition being the only thing that separates them from innumerable other groups of slouchy, scruffy indie rockers, and indeed, upon looking out over the crowd, it wouldn't have been hard to imagine the band being able to disappear immediately into the throng without even being noticed. But when he enters the spotlight, there is no doubt that Okereke is an earnest but naturally charismatic showman, and judging by the crowd's response to him, his stature grew tremendously by the end of the show.

As for the show, instead of immediately igniting the show with one of the faster songs from Silent Alarm in an effort to engage unfamiliar listeners, Bloc Party gambled and opened with "So Here We Are," probably the prettiest and most ethereal song from the record. Live, this rather lightweight tune took on a more powerful dynamic and showcased drummer Matt Tong's impressive dexterity, (which continued throughout the show), and by the time Okereke sang the line "I figured it out," which marks the song's apex, Bloc Party could have walked off the stage and left the crowd satisfied with this powerful moment. With the moment seized, the band them stormed through "Helicopter" and "Positive Tension" before pulling out both "Blue Light" and "This Modern Love," the other two knockout beauties from Silent Alarm. And again, these two songs, especially the latter drew an ecstatic response.

From there, Okereke led his mates through the obvious live winners including the single "Banquet," "She's Hearing Voices," and Silent Alarm's opener "Like Eating Glass," and the crowd was whipped into a dancing frenzy. After the show, the success of the performance was measured by the size and excitement of the crowd at the band's autograph session at the Waterloo Records tent, where the band patiently accommodated everyone even though they were being obviously pressured to move on to another in a series of press and radio obligations.

Hype and popularity can be quite fleeting, and the next several months will show whether or not Bloc Party can maintain its current breakneck touring pace without burning out or falling apart. If they can hold it together and keep producing records that can come close to equaling Silent Alarm, then their next appearance at the ACL Festival might find them as a main stage headliner, because even though they were book ended by two louder, harder, and bigger rock bands in Jet and Oasis, Bloc Party effectively ruled the night on the west side of Zilker Park.