Since Bloc Party entered a hiatus period two years ago, speculation had been rife regarding the future of the band. Kele Okereke’s successful solo side-project, and rumours of the rest of the band playing alone in September last year did nothing to dispell whisperings that one of Britain’s best indie bands were heading for the scrapheap.
Now, however, their new album, Four, looks to be one of the most anticipated releases of the year and they returned to the live circuit last week with a three night tour taking in Glasgow, Manchester and London for a series of relatively intimate shows across the country.
Previewing seven new tracks from Four, they showcased a return to their guitar-based roots, particularly on ‘Octopus’ which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on acclaimed debut album Silent Alarm.
The real highlight in terms of new material though was ‘Team A’, featuring a stunning distorted guitar riff which saw the venue completely open up with the movement of the crowd. It was a track Okereke described as “one of my favourites off our new album”, as he lived up to his trademark awkwardness on stage. His return to the band appeared to see him a little more shy as a frontman, but his vocals more than made up for it.
Old favourites still drew the biggest cheers of the evening though, with the haunting ‘Waiting for the 7:18’ being screamed back at Okereke seemingly by every last member of the crowd, leaving him laughing at the lack of impact of his own voice, whilst ‘Helicopter’ caused absolute carnage on the dancefloor of the all-standing 1,500 capacity venue.
Closing on ‘Flux’ with an introduction taken from Rhianna’s ‘We Found Love’, the band left the stage to huge applause and a group bow after hugging one another. Perhaps a token sign of their return, but one appreciated by the crowd nonetheless.
Bloc Party are back, and Four looks set to be one of the album’s of the year upon release in August. This performance was accomplished and exciting. Not bad for a band playing just their second show in three years…