Good Weekend
Two weekends ago I experienced an impossibly good four days of live music. Here’s the breakdown.
ED BANGER SHOWCASE @ HIRO’S BALLROOM, 3.29.07
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So yeah… this is going to be brief. A) We already featured a lengthy review of another one of these epic Ed Banger bacchanalians last week. B) I was at least fifteen different kinds of drunk and wasn’t exactly in the state of mind to adequately review the show. That said, the highlights of the evening - “Ross Ross Ross”, when the needle dropped on “D.A.N.C.E.”, the moment when “Atlantis To Interzone” exploded into “We Are Your Friends”, my twenty-minute conversation with one Mr. Kele Okereke (!!!) - remain crystal clear and may never be forgotten by yours truly, and the evening will easily go down as a night of riotous merriment on par with just about anything I’ve ever experienced as far as sheer fun is concerned. Oh, downloadable mp3 content? Sure. Here’s the much sought-after, rare-as-shit Breakbot remix of Justice’s masterful “Let There Be Light”, only available on the Japanese import-only release of the Waters of Nazareth EP.
MP3: “Let There Be Light” (Breakbot Remix) - Justice
BLOC PARTY @ UNITED PALACE, 3.30.07 & 3.31.07
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I’ll say it: night one sucked. Granted, that had a lot to do with the fact that my self-purchased tickets had us relegated to the LAST FUCKING ROW of the 3,000+ seat venue. Furthermore, the concert was the first-ever rock show at the United Palace and it showed with the murky sound quality throughout the evening and some extremely questionable set list choices (”SRXT” instead of “Pioneers” in the encore? Seriously?!) didn’t help either.
Night two, on the other hand… UNREAL. Sure, a large part of that was the result of my all access pass (because Syd Butler is one of the greatest human beings alive) that allowed me to go wherever the fuck I pleased, but the sound was much better and the setlist was damn near flawless. The clunkers of the previous evening, “Where Is Home” and the aforementioned encore performance of “SRXT”, were replaced by an absolutely astonishing performance of “Pioneers” and the wonderfully unexpected inclusion of “Little Thoughts” in the main set. Plus, I mean, I was watching the whole thing leaning against the stage less than ten feet from Kele and, well, it just doesn’t get much better than that. Particularly interesting were the people accompanying me in the pit, as there was nary a scene kid to be found. Sure, there was an emo kid here and there, but the people around me were closer to frat boys and teenyboppers than anything else, a good sign for those hoping to see Bloc Party blow up and become commercially-viable in the US this year. It was also a bit ironic to see these polo-shirted frat-types screaming along with Kele’s every word, because you’ve got to think that if they met him on the street, Kele’d just be a walking representation of everything they’re against. I mean, they’re supposed to be these pillars of testosterone-drenched masculinity, and here they are screaming out the words to a song about the homo-erotic sexual tension between teenage boys (that’s “I Still Remember”, for those of you keeping track at home), sung by an openly-gay skinny black dude. Sure, I’m judging these kids unfairly based on stereotypes driven home during my time at Frats ‘R Us (er, the University of Virginia rather), but yeah… interesting still.
But back to the show. “The Prayer” sounded amazing in the live setting and fit the venue well considering its religious roots, and debut album classic “This Modern Love” blew minds with its disarming beauty and an amped-up bass drum beat that brought a whole new intensity to the song. “Hunting For Witches” and “Banquet” got the kids dancing and pumping their fists with reckless abandon, as did “Helicopter” in the encore, which rivaled “Pioneers” as the highlight of the band’s set. The crowd seemed to love every minute of the show and was completely involved from the get-go, as evidenced by the entire venue’s unanimous shout of “SO FUCKING USELESS!” when Kele stepped back from the mic in the final verse of “Positive Tension” (the band’s second song of the night), and again when, as if on cue, the crowd started yelling out the “Hey! Hey! Hey!”s of the intro to “She’s Hearing Voices” before Kele even began to approach the microphone. I’ve always been envious of Bloc Party’s UK fans who’ve gotten to see the band in festival settings there, as the crowd’s just seem so much more into it over there on the live recordings I’ve heard, but you really couldn’t have asked for a better crowd than the one that filled United Palace both nights.
The shows were the third and fourth times I’d experienced Bloc Party live, and every time they just seem to be getting better and better as a live band. They’ve always put on a great show, but as they get further into their career Kele just keeps improving as a frontman, and he seems to be more comfortable and personable every time I see him. Furthermore, he just seems to be so happy to be doing what he’s doing, if the ear-to-ear smile on his face for the majority of Saturday’s show was any indication. Saturday night he even pulled a Bruce Springsteen and pulled a woman from the pit up on stage with him for a dance during “She’s Hearing Voices”, and he spent the rest of the song running around the stage with a huge grin on his face, interacting with the audience and even posing for pictures. Shit, even Gordon’s gotten in on the act. Looking back at concert footage from Bloc’s early days and Gordon would be far and away the group’s most reserved member, and most of the time you kind of felt like giving him a hug and asking who died and if he was dealing okay. But last weekend at United Palace dude was running around stage, rocking out in a power stance and jumping off the amps like a little kid living out his dream. Elsewhere, Russell’s still the man and Matt Tong was shirtless and 100% bad ass on the skins as usual, and it’s clear that Bloc clearly has everything figured out at this point. Some might argue that the band have gone downhill since Silent Alarm, but their dates at United Palace made it clear that this is really a band that’s only just coming into it’s prime. If they keep on fine-tuning their live show to perfection and can steer clear of inter-band drama and continue to write ambitious, yet still commercially-viable anthems like new single “I Still Remember”, then it’s hard to imagine Bloc Party not reigning over the music industry as one of the most popular bands in the world within three years time. I can’t wait.
MP3s:
“Banquet” (Syklopps Session) - Bloc Party [exclusive]
“Helicopter” (Santa Monica Mix) - Bloc Party ((highly recommended))
“Song For Clay” (RAC Mix) - Bloc Party
“I Stil Remember” (SebastiAn Remix) - Bloc Party ((highly recommended))
“Luno” (Polysics Mix) - Bloc Party
After the show Syd and I headed downstairs to the dressing room for a super secret pizza party with the band, where I quietly enjoyed some serious Domino’s while attempting to hyperventilate as discreetly as possible. I mean, it’s not every day that you get to say you were just, “Y’know, eatin’ pizza with my idols and shit”, but I think I succeeded in maintaining my composure for the most part. They all seem like really nice guys and Simon White, their somewhat famous manager, is great as well, so it was nice to find out they weren’t total d-bags or anything, but we weren’t there long before it was time to roll over to Lit for the after-party. I grabbed a drink there, but the sheer amount of intimidatingly cool scenefolk and the fact that I was clearly the only person under 21 in attendance meant I wasn’t exactly having the time of my life, so I closed the book on my Bloc Party experience for the weekend and rolled out to meet some friends in Union Square. All in all, it was an incredible night of music and, once again, one of the greatest concert experiences of my life, and you better believe I’ll be doing it all over again in a heartbeat the next time Bloc rolls through town.
LES SAVY FAV @ BOWERY BALLROOM, 4.01.07
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Les Savy Fav are still the best live band in the universe. Especially on April Fools day. Tim basically sodomized a kid on stage and then took of his clothes and commanded the audience to sign him. Fuckin’ rock ‘n roll and shit. Good times for all.
MP3s:
“The Sweat Descends” - Les Savy Fav ((highly recommended))
“Raging In The Plague Age” - Les Savy Fav

April 11th, 2007 at 1:25 am
Awesome post, ive only seen Bloc Party live once in Mexico City and it was freakin awesome, i enjoyed every fuckin minute of it.
No Doubt these guys are big and the band is becoming number one favorite of many, i just love the band love their style and everything i wouldn’t change a thing about them.
Please if u know when are they coming to mexico again, i have to be informed asap.
April 11th, 2007 at 3:32 am
the RAC remix. wow!!!
and the SebastiAn remix. damn!
April 11th, 2007 at 4:55 am
Can’t wait; I’m seeing Bloc in SD in June!
April 11th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Justice love it, i really appreciate what you’re doing here. Maybe that’s because the genres that i love ressemble to what’s posted here. Let’s keep it that way
April 11th, 2007 at 6:57 am
sshhhiiittt.
all i got last weekend was an easter egg
April 11th, 2007 at 9:34 am
[…] There are some big names again on here from DJ Mehdi and Justice, as well as a fantastic remix of Bloc Party by SebastiAn I picked up from GWFAS, and some other great tracks by less known artists and bands such as To My Boy. […]
April 11th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Can’t tell you how long I’ve been looking for that Breakbot remix!
thanks man
April 11th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Dude, you twenty? That’s insane!
Keep up the good work, though.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Great post.
Going to see Bloc Party on Sunday in Wolverhampton, can’t wait!
April 11th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
I’m incredibly jealous. I’d probably sacrifice a limb to eat pizza with Bloc Party.
I saw them March 23rd in Chicago and it was amazing, not that I expected any different. I noticed lots more frat boys and teenyboppers there too, than the last time I saw them. Anyways. I know you(or maybe someplace else) posted that Polysics remix before, and I love it.
April 11th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
awesome post, i think i may be going to see bloc in d.c. this summer.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
what does “the prayer” have to do with religion?
nothing at all.
also, bloggers will have us believe that kele’s getting more and more outspoken.
so, “inter-band drama”, instigated by kele?
possibly.
i smell “solo effort”
and what is your take on the “scene” anyway; so scene = “emo”, but then scene also = “intimidatingly cool”?
im confused. maybe im just being a d-bag.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Also, kele’s not openly gay, is he?
banquet is definitely about straight sex, so he’s probably bi at least, and i’ve never seen him admit to being gay in interviews..
April 12th, 2007 at 10:08 am
who gives a shit if he’s gay or not, it doesn’t matter in anyway.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:43 am
oh, obviously it doesn’t matter, i’m not particularly fussed either way and it’s not really anybody’s but his business
so i will contribute something useful to this discussion: bloc party played the radio 1 live lounge a few days ago, playing i still remember and a cover of nelly furtado’s say it right!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/jowhiley/galleries/1361/1/#gallery1361
April 12th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
njs - He’s definitely gay. Apparently everyone who knows him has been aware for quite some time but just before WITC came out he did an interview with the observer that confirmed it.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,1984350,00.html
And no, it’s not important but it does give new meaning/different insights to a number of his songs.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
I have read that interview, but I still don’t see the point where he definitely states his homosexuality, and I find it more likely that he’s bisexual, especially if you read the end.
Funny, before that interview came out, I definitely wouldn’t have thought he was gay/bi, and I heard the leaked AWITC before it came out, including I Still Remember..
April 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I see what you’re saying about the ambiguity in his responses…still, the interviewer more or less states it and he certainly doesn’t deny it. Then again, Kele seems to enjoy being deliberately evasive (in some cases anyway) Gay or BI though, it still translates pretty clearly into the lyrics.
I dunno, the first couple times listening to AWITC it kind of struck me but maybe it was just in the back of my mind.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
I don’t see how anyone can see Bloc Party playing seated shows in ampitheaters as a good thing, unless you’re the band’s agent or label. There is no way they’ll ever be able to recapture the intensity of their ‘05 shows. Also, I can’t believe I just read that it was great to see teenyboppers and fratboys instead of hipsters in the pit. Who gives a a fuck either way?
April 13th, 2007 at 5:02 am
It can’t be any worse than their ‘04 shows, which were kind of wooden, and kele was the only one with any form of passion and vigour.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:33 am
I saw Bloc Party in Southampton here in the UK on the first date of their UK tour, and seriously, its been one of the best nights of the year so far for me - positive tension with the “so fuckin useless” shout, Sunday with two drum kits, the hauntingness of “So Here We Are” - just immense.
Oh, and The Prayer just sent everyone off on one.
Nothing beats a good bit of bloc at the moment!
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:03 pm
the links for the bloc party remixes seem to be missing. trying to download the sebastian remix of ‘i still remember’. great blog btw.
May 29th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Hey is there any way I can get hold of the live lounge sessions songs you posted on April 12th?
I’d really like those but I don’t Think I’ll be able to find them elsewhere.
Cheers
May 30th, 2007 at 10:16 am
I just saw the boys in Munich for the first time and couldn´t be happier. I mean watching them perform, when you already know every beat by heart ist just so tremendous. The crowd was going bananas when Kele went into the crowd, but I dindn´t realize it until I stood next to a guy that everyone wanted to jump on. I really went like ( I hate the o-my-gosh, girls) but yes I went ” What happened to Kele..ooo my ” The guy, normally shy like shit, spend the whole track in the mass and next to me.. I feel you and your Dominos Pizza. Only that you are luckier hahaha. Must have been the best pizza ever.. Cheers