GIG REVIEW - Bloc Party, Earls Court London

Earls Court London, 22nd February 2013
Support: Old Men, The Joy Formidable

Having already completed 20 dates in the US, Japan and Europe this year, this was the final date of the European leg of the tour before Bloc Party embark on a 14 date tour of Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific. The gig was their largest UK performance to date (aside from any festivals), playing at the 19,000 capacity Earls Court One venue.

Kicking off to a backdrop of lasers and a huge halogen logo from their latest album, Four, the band threw themselves into the first 13 track first set with a frantic version of And So He Begins To Lie, immediately followed by the ever popular Hunting For Witches. Frontman Kele Okereke was on top form, bantering with the attentive audience and introducing each track by relaying the sentiment behind it, including Waiting For The 7.18 which he described as being “about public transport”, prompting a huge cheer from the crowd. This was followed up by a fantastically tight performance of both Song For Clay (Disappear Here) and Banquet, to the obvious glee of the crowd who sang and jumped around like their lives depended on it. At this point I got slightly distracted. It was extremely dark in the venue, with the only light coming from the stage, making the lad directly in front of me look like some kind of cross between a body popper and the Churchill nodding dog due to the strange type of jigging he was executing. It amused me so much that I almost missed some very interesting screenshots of the crowd that were being transmitted from the large screen either side of the stage (the crowd were, at that point, frantically moshing to Coliseum).

The band performed an impressive array of tracks from all four of their studio albums, with selected songs being performed in a frenzy of lazers and strobes. The end of the first set was marked with “something different” in the shape of One More Chance, and Octopus. The band then disappeared without a word, to the bemusement of the audience, before reappearing a few minutes later to open the 4 track “Round Two” with Kreuzberg, which Okereke dedicated to his parents. Finishing the set with an absolutely blistering version of Flux (preceded by the intro to Rihanna’s We Found Love), the band once again disappeared.

The first track of the encore was a new one, Ratchet, which Okereke confirmed had not even yet been recorded, and had only been aired live for the first time in Missouri on the US leg of January 2013’s tour dates. The track itself has the unmistakeable Bloc Party sound, and features an interesting pitch-bending guitar riff, which the crowd eagerly embraced. The following track, Truth, had been the subject of an email to their mailing list a few days beforehand, where the band encouraged the crowd to download an app to their iPhones and film footage of the track being performed, and this footage would be collected via the app and a video made from the best bits. Okereke seemed a bit uncertain about this concept, but nevertheless asked the crowd to record the track as it was being performed. The final track of the night, Helicopter, was performed amid an array of lasers to the partying crowd, before the band took their final bows and left the stage.

Although the venue was not sold out it did not deter the band, who performed a great mix of old favourites and new material, and at least this gave the crowd more room to dance. The gig did perhaps suffer slightly at times in terms of atmosphere due to the size of the venue, but overall the band and crowd had a good rapport. Once again the band showed off their great musicianship, and the tightness of the band really shone through.

My review score: 8/10

GIG REVIEW – Delphic, Oxford Academy

O2 Academy Oxford, 18th February 2013
Support: Delphic DJs

Having recently released their second album, Collections, to a largely underwhelmed response, Delphic are back on the live circuit and are currently on an 18 date European tour. The new album sees a departure from the guitar and synth electronica of their first album, Acolyte, to a new direction which is heavily influenced by 80s R&B and hip hop. Their current tour is supported by what is billed as “Delphic DJs”.

Breaking out with a strong start, the band launched the show with the lead single from the new album, Baiya. With the new addition of live drums the set cantered straight into old favourite, Halcyon, before slowing for Freedom Found from the new album. This track worked extremely well live, with the simple bass and shaker background of the verses providing a good contrast to the busier choruses. The set continued into Memeo, which again worked well live before slowing into a hip hop style intro for Clarion Call, which was one of the highlights of the whole set.

Don’t Let The Dreamers Take You Away followed, and although this track is one of the weaker ones on their new album, the addition of a new upbeat section at the back end of the track really lifted it, turning a mediocre track into a good one. To a massive whoop from the crowd, the band then embarked on Red Lights, This Momentary and Doubt from the first album, with all tracks including some epic bass and guitar licks and great vocals. Closing the set with Atlas from the new album seemed to be a strange choice, but again this track worked well live even though the bass was slightly overwhelming in some places.

After the briefest of intervals the band came back for a 3 track encore (or “non-core” as the band put it) consisting of The Sun Also Rises from the new album followed by old favourites Counterpoint and Acolyte from the first album. The former song was the weakest of the whole set but was mercifully cut short in favour of launching (albeit in a slightly disjointed manner) into the final two tracks, both of which were great but which both suffered at times from being overwhelmingly loud, meaning that some of the best parts of the tracks were sometimes lost amongst the sheer wall of noise.

During the set the band largely dispensed with any chit chat in favour of stringing tracks together and, although this is sometimes a disappointment to the audience who like to feel part of the band that they are watching, in this instance it really suited the set well. Despite a lukewarm reception to their new album, Delphic really showed why live music rocks by completely changing the feel of that album and adapting it into a great live performance which lived up to the brilliance of Acolyte.

My review score: 7 out of 10

GIG REVIEW – Everything Everything, Oxford Academy

O2 Academy Oxford, 14th February 2013
Support: Outfit

With their second album release, Arc, having recently peaked in the chart at number 5, Manchester-based indie pop band Everything Everything are currently on a 21 date tour of the UK and Europe. Having already sold out all of the UK dates, the tour will conclude with them jetting off for two shows in LA and New York before finally returning to the UK to support Two Door Cinema Club at the Alexandra Palace on 27th April.

Everything Everything’s support, Outfit, kicked off the evening by bringing their brand of art rock to the Oxford Academy. Their style was relaxed and slightly reminiscent of Delphic, with synth and guitar combinations galore. The lead singer chatted to the crowd before the band brought their short set to a close with an excellent upbeat track.

During the changeover, and looking around the crowd, it struck me how diverse the audience was. Usually the O2 Academy Oxford is almost exclusively filled with students and those within the 18-25 age bracket, but Everything Everything’s sold out gig had attracted a sizeable number of people over 25, which is great to see. As a result there was no frantic moshing and throwing of beer, but rather an audience who was captivated by the performance of the band, and who sang and clapped along just as enthusiastically as the usual moshing crowd does. It made a very refreshing change.

As the lights dimmed Everything Everything finally broke onto the stage to start their set. Starting with _Arc_ from the new album, the band sauntered through a packed track list that spanned both of their albums, filled with moody and melodic synths, jaunty beats, staccato guitars and strings, and the unmistakeable falsetto vocals of lead singer, Jonathan Higgs. By the time the band got to their latest single, Kemosabe, the crowd was singing and clapping with great enthusiasm. The set really shone for the excellent vocals and harmonies, particularly in the band’s upcoming new single, Duet, but it was the rendition of slightly rocked-up Suffragette Suffragette that really showed how tight the band has become.

Higgs talked to the crowd frequently, and I marvelled at the contrast between his speaking voice, which is quite low and gruff, and his singing voice. This perhaps explains the great range of his vocals, which skip around as much as they produce soaring, pitch perfect legato phrases.

Playing crowd pleasers including Schoolin’ from first album, Man Alive, the band treated the audience to tracks from both albums, including Armourland and Choice Mountain before finishing the set with the brilliant Cough Cough. After much baying for more, the band appeared for their four track encore that started with the ever popular My Kz Ur Bf and ended with Don’t Try.

Even with a couple of strange set list choices (such as choosing the downbeat The House Is Dust for the penultimate track of the encore, which prompted those who wanted to beat the crowd to make an early exit), Everything Everything executed a great performance that contrasted beautiful vocals with their trademark quirky synths and beats. The crowd’s response to Cough Cough might have made that track a better choice for their final track of the encore, but overall the band have shown that they mean business, and are serious contenders for the indie pop crown.

My review score: 8/10