I SWEAR I'm going to get the Howie B interview up today... I'm shit at preparing and transcribing interviews...
You guys have missed out on 3-5 good interviews because of that (speaking of interviews one of the good women at Bang On is still following up on the Foals interview; you will get it eventually!).... but given the increase in this site's profile, and the seriousness with which other people are regarding it, I can no longer treat this like some 'dog and pony show'.
Arcadia has become of interest to people who I only could have dreamed of speaking with, much less working with... so I promise that from here on out this will be a professional operation... you know besides my lack of punctuation, my use of swear words, total over enthusiasm, and fan boy-ish tendencies.
With that said... Atlantic Records hooked your boy up with two tickets to see Bloc Party last night. I know they've been getting a lot of coverage here on the site... usually I don't like to do back to back to back to back posts (unless it's about Flosstradamus lol... who you may remember did work on the 'Mercury' single)...
...Charles and I had to skip out on Bronco Bash which is a GREAT way for 'The Spirit Of Albion' to reach out to new students in the area... we couldn't get a sub so we had to miss out on a great opportunity :( Sorry students... we'll make it up eventually!
Charles hadn't heard the new album so we listened to the whole thing on the way over to Detroit (Royal Oak really). I explained to him of course that my preference is in the 'weirder' tracks on the new album... it got us really psyched to see the show for sure.
When we got there I remembered suddenly spending time in Royal Oak with my ex and her graphic designer friend so it was easy to find parking lol. I also remembered seeing Craig David there a few years ago.. but we won't get into that lol...
First, before I tell you of this awesome show, let's give you some tracks! I try to only upload tracks that a) are non-album tracks, and b) will spark your interest to look into more of their work, not steal their music. My belief is that if you really feel dedicated to a band, and their art, you'll buy the music... especially if someone gives you some free stuff to fuel that fire lol...
Bloc Party- "Like Eating Glass (Black Strobe Remix)" YSI
Bloc Party- "Flux (TomBoy's Cowbell Treat Remix)" YSI
Bloc Party- "The Once And Future King" YSI
Side note: The latter track is a track from the 'non-album' (whose title came from the blogosphere) called 'Another Weekend In The City'... it's quite a good album I might add! It's just more proof that these guys want to please their fans... 'A Weekend In The City' got leaked so they had a WHOLE 'NOTHER ALBUM ready for the fans when it was actually released! You may have all this as it's kind of old news but if you're just getting into Bloc Party (or are just becoming a fanatic) this is what the tracks for the non-album are... they can be bought online and we're the "bonus tracks" for the album in each region the album was sold in...
We Were Lovers/ Cain Said To Abel/ Version 2.0/ The Once And Future King/ Secrets/ Rhododendron/ England/ Vision Of Heaven/ Selfish Son/ Atonement/ Emma Kate's Accident
Anyway, Holy Fuck we're the opener and it was nice to hear them play 'Lovely Allen'! I picked up a nice shirt with a girl covered in a scarf that says Bloc Party at the bottom. We stood in a crowd of mostly freshman age kids waiting for them to start playing. The crowd was completely ecstatic awaiting their arrival...
This mood prevailed all night long and was visible in the bands demeanor as well. It was an important show because this is the first "North American" show for the new album Intimacy. It was also the first show with Gordon Moakes back on bass (he was off taking Daddy Leave)... and it was the first time a lot of the new songs were played. Seeing them (dazed on my end due to that Morphine for my then infected tooth) at Lollapalooza was cool but as good as it was it seemed like preparation for this show. They we're excited and ready to go!
To give you an idea of the awesomeness that we witnessed here's the setlist from Blog Party...
Halo (first time played live) / Hunting For Witches / Positive Tension / Waiting For The 7.18 / Song For Clay (Disappear Here) / Banquet / This Modern Love / The Once And Future King / Mercury / The Prayer / One Month Off / Like Eating Glass
Ion Square (first time played live) / Price Of Gasoline / Flux / Helicopter
The band was literally all smiles. Kele bounced around and almost acted out the lyrics, thrusting his hips, throwing his arms around... they were all really into it. The obvious high point was Kele jumping into the crowd for 'Mercury'... I didn't rush to get close to him because I've met him before (and I'm a 26 year old man so it would have been more than a little dorky)... he's a nice guy, very level headed.
He was impressed that I had the first EP on vinyl for him to sign when I met him, and his desire to have a little convo made me a Bloc Party convert for life... I feel like I could sit in a room right now with the band and spend a whole day with them and get along really well. That's how it should be with bands, not this holier than thou bullshit. Bloc Party are a band of the people and really respect their fans... because of this the crowd didn't maul him, they treated him like they knew and respected him.
'Halo' was amazing... all the new songs we're really good... especially 'Ion Square' (which is a new favourite). These four songs, Waiting For The 7.18 / Song For Clay (Disappear Here) / Banquet / This Modern Love, elicited loads of applause and excitement from the crowd. This was where the band got really relaxed and was starting to really soar. They made mention of this being the first North American show, and Kele said the first time they played Detroit he lost his voice saying it was one of his worst shows ever. Of course the crowd disagreed with him!
During 'Song For Clay' Kele struggled to find the notes at first so Russell played the chords to guide him and they took off. It was brilliant. Charles who is a fan, of their 'recorded work' as he put it, said he is more of a fan now after seeing their spirited live show. This was my third time seeing them and I think it was their best. Kele's voice sounded perfect, and his practice was obvious for this tour... the rest of the band kept it really tight, and powerhouse drummer Matt Tong helped keep the show moving during technical difficulties (which the audience didn't even seem to car about).
They did play what I've been calling the 'American radio bound singles' (i.e. "Halo" and "One Month Off") and despite the fact I prefer the more experimental songs, their dedication to playing these songs made me enjoy them more though! I gotta say... this band, despite people being critical of them *cough, Pitchfork*, are getting to the point where they can do no wrong (in my eyes, and I guess most of that audience last night).
"Ion Square" was the first song in the encore, and it was so good I was content with not staying (I knew 'Flux' and 'Banquet' were going to be in the encore and I've seen those... we caught part of 'Price Of Gas')... I'm glad I was able to capture some of this for you guys...
Bare in mind before you watch these that cameras WERE NOT ALLOWED AT THE VENUE. I was searched right before I went in, but as a member of the new school press, a camera magically appeared in my hand although I had not brought one to the show! I didn't want to break any rules so 'swim' took the pictures and videos while standing right where I was for the sake of documenting a historic show for the blogosphere :) What a nice magical thing to have happen. Not unlike the recording from Lollapalooza I didn't make!
Here's "Mercury"... it's dark and distorted.. but Kele jumped into the crowd for most of the song which is why (at one point he was standing right over Charles and I though). Despite the loss of quality it's still worth taking a look at :)
The final word is (and has been) that Bloc Party are an all around AMAZING band, the new album is great (IMHO), and they are killer live. Go and see them if you get a chance... peep an interview over at P4K... go to their YouTube channel... and if it's your thing, appreciate that one of the best and biggest bands of our generation wants to be on the ground level with us.
Ok, come back soon and I PROMISE you'll have the interview you've been waiting for :)
P.s. Here's so videos from the making of 'A Weekend In The City'...
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