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Review |
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 Arriving at the Civic Hall, I relived fond memories
of some of my favourite gigs there. It’s a
fantastically spacious venue, which somehow manages
to retain a feeling of intimacy. The small but increasing
crowd already seemed to be buzzing with excitement
in anticipation of the night to come.
Luckily we managed to escape sitting in our balcony
seats, and made our way to the foot of the stage,
not long before the lights began to dim. The opening
supports, Wet Paint, were a somewhat disappointing
beginning to the evening. There was nothing offensive
about their music, but it lacked any excitement,
and the stationary band members did little to
entertain the gathering crowd either. They appeared
out of their depth, and totally out of place as
a Bloc Party support, lacking both the energy
and the musical prowess of the acts to come. Unfortunately,
their grunge/new wave style did little to complement
the main act itself, and it left me wondering
who had chosen them to tour with the band, and
more importantly, why? After a mercifully short
set, they thanked their few supporters, and exited
the stage.
 The room was reaching full capacity by the time
Tommy Sparks took to the stage. A solo artist,
with a supporting band, he delivered a charismatic
and entertaining set. The crisp, clean guitar
riffs, and clever composition were much more in
the vein of Bloc Party, and the crowd responded
well to their varied tracks. Sadly, after a strong
start, the standard of their material started
to slip, and my attention began to wane. Having
said that, Tommy had pulled in an impressive crowd
of his own dedicated fans, and I wouldn’t
be surprised if this act sees more success in
the coming year.
After a long wait, and plenty of failed attempts
to encourage the band on stage with chants of
“Bloc Par-ty!”, Kele, Matt, Gordon,
and Russell entered amid dramatic flashes of light
and heavy smoke, and launched immediately into
‘One Month Off’.
 Kele provided plenty of banter between songs,
and the atmosphere was light and happy. He even
commented on the ridiculous dancing styles of
some of their fans, and encouraged them to exaggerate
even further. I’m certain there wasn’t
a straight face in the place, and even those in
the balcony seats were on their feet, dancing
with abandon.
Previously, I’d only been a casual listener
to Bloc Party, and found their tracks somewhat
samey and dare I say it, slightly bland. I’m
sure if I’d expressed my opinion to anyone
in that room, I’d have been lynched immediately.
I’m happy to admit that I was blown away
by their performance, and have to concede that
they are an incredible act to see perform live.
One of the highlights for me was ‘Biko’,
from the unpopular third album, ‘Intimacy’.
There’s nothing I love more than listening
to thousands of voices singing along to the same
soaring melodies. It was a far cry from some of
the more upbeat numbers, but I welcomed the variety,
and what it might have lacked in energy, it made
up for in passion. Of course, they played plenty
of old favourites too – ‘Helicopter’,
‘The Prayer’ and ‘Flux’
to finish.
 They gave in abundance to their greedy fans –
their set lasted a full hour and a half, but didn’t
drag at any point. They even came back for not
one, but two encores – the second saw plenty
of unsuspecting fans running back into the room
to lap up more of the atmosphere. As the band
finally left, and we began to filter out, Dirty
Dancing’s ‘Time Of My Life’
was played loudly over the speaker system, echoing
the joyful mood of everyone there, and even prompting
some of the bouncers to dance along. I’m
sure everyone there that night, and those that
missed out this time around, will be happy to
hear that Bloc Party have just announced an extensive
UK tour in October.
Wet Paint – 2/5
Tommy Sparks – 3/5
Bloc Party – 5/5
Review By Helen Williams |
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| Bloc
Party |
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| Tommy
Sparks |
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| Wet
Paint |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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