Bloc Party w/ IO Echo
The Fillmore
Jan. 15, 2013
Anyone at the Fillmore last night might have thought British indie-rock band Bloc Party has a new single out called "Charlotte." Thanks to singer Kele Okereke's constant references, no one forgot what city we live in. I don't think I've heard any band address the town it was performing in more frequently.
Oh, and the show? It was solid. Plenty of the tight, tangled, angular art-rock guitar riffage Bloc Party cribbed from Gang of Four, and lots of pouty, Cure-ish vocals with the occasional Morrissey-like falsetto sweep - but without the mopey theatrics. And the band hit all the right notes and covered all the bases, from the old ("This Modern World," "Helicopter") to the new ("Octopus").
Check out some photos and the setlist below.
MTV Hive (and Pitchfork) writer Martin Douglas has posted an excellent essay on what it's like growing up young, black and poor - and loving punk and indie rock.
"When I listened to rock music as a kid, it often felt like I was sneaking past the guards of racial barriers and into a cool party I wasn't invited to," Douglas writes in "The Only Black Guy at the Indie Rock Show." "But I didn't want to feel that way."
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