Bloc Party took to Brighton last Sunday to ‘perform Silent Alarm and the greatest hits’ to 10,000 people on the seafront. Whilst the set undeniably rolled through what you’d want from the band’s seminal debut album, they simultaneously showed off their back catalogue and solidified the latest iteration of the band in fan’s hearts.
Following up sets from Everything, Everything, English Teacher, and more, Kele Okereke and co take the stage to an initial run of classics – ‘So We Here Are’, ‘She’s Hearing Voices’, and ‘Hunting For Witches’ from the band’s first two records begin the night with an undeniable energy. One that the crowd likely anticipated with how the show was billed. ‘Mercury’ seems to be a song the band has stuck by after all these years, even performing it on NPR’s Tiny Desk recently – Okereke’s vocal looping perhaps a nod to Imogen Heap’s famous performance at the same desk. The next run of song includes a strong run of early classics, before playing ‘Traps’ off the last album, one of the heavier hitters of the night.
Lone single ‘One More Chance’ felt purpose-built for the crowd – a pebbled beach preventing any real carnage down the front, and an adequately intoxicated crowd of millennials who may have made the move down from London down to Brighton in the name of partying. ‘The Love Within’ from Hymns, released in 2016, and ‘Blue’ from the band’s last EP make surprise, but welcomed appearances, for any lovebirds in the crowd. The first act is then ends how it started, with two songs off the debut album, and one from A Weekend In The City – ‘Positive Tension’, ‘The Prayer’ and ‘Like Eating Glass’. Jumping around to those on stones seemed to be a unique gig experience.
Okereke began the encore by giving drummer since 2015, Louise Bartle a chance to dedicate ‘Signs’, of 2009’s Intimacy, to her late friend Aaron Paul Horscraft-Jones – the pair’s vocals, and bassist Harry Deacon’s glockenspiel echoed over the crowd, who got behind Bartle to cheer her through the emotional peak of the night. The band then follow up with ‘Waiting For The 7.18’, an ode to waiting for trains and Brighton, of which Kele refers to as the band’s “second home”, proving another highlight external to Silent Alarm. The weekend was then closed out by ‘Ratchet’ from 2013, and cult classic ‘This Modern Love’, all before jumping back on stage to grind out ‘The Pioneers’ within the 2 minutes left. A true encore that felt ripped straight out of 2005.
Words by Hugo Harris