Bloc Party - review

I have been to a lot of shows at Nightclub 9:30, but I cannot remember the last time I saw it as packed as when I witnessed Bloc Party there on Sunday. The British sonic dance-punk band played to an adoring crowd of every demographic and orientation. For the 90 minutes of their set, I was reminded with each well-crafted performance of how I had heard of their inability to reproduce their sound live. Perhaps they had a "good night" at 9:30, but I genuinely doubt it. I can see how their sound is at its optimum in a small club of condensed acoustics, but cannot imagine someone not appreciating the quality of many of their stage presence.

They began their set by throwing two of the more upbeat tracks off their latest LP, Intimacy, One Month Off and Trojan Horse, followed by a single from their last album, titled "Hunting for Witches." Despite never really liking the latter track, I enjoyed it live (which is one of my favorite live performance phenomena).

For the next 45 minutes they reeled off tracks from all three of their full lengths, with a HUGE highlight occurring when they piggybacked two of my favorite songs, Song for Clay (Disappear Here) and Banquet. The latter, one of the best indie dance songs of the last 5 years, came beautifully out of the aggressive former. Still, it got better. Kele, the lead vocalist, ran into the crowd with his microphone cord almost tripping me (which I obviously did not mind) during a crowd-pleasing Mercury, the first single off Intimacy. He then crowd-surfed his way back to the stage. It was delicious.

The band closed the first set and took their pre-encore rest, but not before shelling out a sonorous execution of Ion Square, my favorite track from Intimacy. After returning, they played two tracks, the synth-dance Flux and overtly dance-punk Helicopter that both (especially the latter) got the crowd moving uncontrollably for the first time in the show. It was nice to see a D.C. crowd pull the stick out and actually let loose a bit. People were bouncing off one another in comfortable chaos- just as jeebus intended.

But- they were not done yet. After witnessing "the random show of enthusiasm," (per Kele) Bloc Party came back out and performed two final tunes. They started with the cleverly belligerent (and oh so danceable) Ares, the opening track off the new album. I must state that this track pumps me up so much every time I hear it, that I basically single-handedly re-created the pit. Finally, and much to the crowd's pleasure, they finished with the eloquently written and soothingly bittersweet This Modern Love.

Though I have seen amazing shows- some much better and many MANY much worse- I can say that this great performance was just what I needed. As a person who is rarely drawn to seeing a band more than once, Bloc Party warrants seeing at least twice more.

Rating: f***ing great
-the Majr