LIVE: Bloc Party - Manchester Albert Hall 03.12.15

Bloc Party are one of those bands that you just cannot hate. They always seem to knock it out of the park whenever they perform and have countless classic hits in their arsenal. This is not the original Bloc Party though, there has been a full scale change across the band, with every member of the backing band being changed. This is not necessarily a negative point though. They certainly blend well with Kele Okereke (lead vocalist) and seem to have a very positive relationship between each other.

Louise Bartle was a stand-out performer. She was exceptional on the drums, although admittedly I may be slightly biased due to the fact I am always more partial to a female drummer. The tour was aimed at both promoting the new album and the new band as a whole. The newer material was very reminiscent of their early success with albums such as Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City. They showcased a wide variety of songs which ranged across many differing genres.

The support for the evening came from Steve, a solo electro performer. It was an interesting one to say the least. She had moments of performing where it became more of a spoken word track rather than a rap. The bass overtones and shrill, piercing voice was very admirable though. There was no real crowd reaction to her performance, but I could not really think about an actual reaction that would be relevant to it. It was not what you would call “jumping around” music, it was more a sense of quiet admiration. You can easily just sit there and be brought completely into her performance. It was good, but in terms of a warm up act to get the crowd really pumped up for Bloc Party, it was not the best.

Okere seems somewhat sceptical as he makes his way onto the stage, I can only imagine him thinking “oh god, how is this going to go over with the crowd?” with the assistant of long haired bassist Justin Harris and the energetic drumming of Bartle. The newer material that was on show was more of an attack on your senses and mind rather than the classic upbeat hits that the band have produced in the past. New tracks are littered across their set, almost creating a calm before the storm feel, before launching into the more high tempo classics. The last time I saw Bloc Party was in 2014; this is certainly a different band.

The previous incarnation would start off heavy and continue performing at a high tempo throughout their set. The ups and downs in rhythm and pace that are present with this new band could be seen as detrimental though, at times the crowd seemed confused with the drastic changed in pace. They would react massively to classic songs such as ‘Banquet’ and ‘Flux’ but be quieter and more solemn with some of the newer tracks such as ‘The Good News’. I would not say its necessarily a bad thing to have in their set, but it did not go down as well with the audience as the band probably would have expected. Trying out new songs on a tour is very risky, but I have to commend them for displaying new material, rather than reeling off the classics. Unsurprisingly it is the sounds from their first album, Silent Alarm, that bring out the biggest reactions from the crowd. It reached a fever pitch when ‘Helicopter’ blasted out, the pits in the standing area seemed uncontrollable and dangerous.

Seeing this from a neutral point of view, the constant changing of pace and song choices of the night can be questioned. Classics such as ‘Mercury’ and ‘Trojan Horse’ were omitted to showcase newer material. It was a very enjoyable night an the crowd were very lively and active, I just do not see how someone who is not a huge fan of the band would have particularly enjoyed it.