It has been awhile so I have no idea where to start. Actually, I somewhat knew what I was going to say until I saw the setlist for Sunday’s show. It had Two More Years. Oh well, we had Sunday.
So here goes.
Last Saturday, I saw Bloc Party at London Olympia Grand Hall. This was the second time I’ve seen the band live with the first being last September at The Forum and if you know me at all, you would know that they are among my favorite bands, if not, the top band.
The build up to this gig was not as emotional nor problematic as the first time, but I was still looking forward to seeing them again as they know how to put on an epic show. Plus, they are Bloc Party with Foals supporting.
The venue was quite accessible as it was right next to a tube station, one end of the District Line, and included links to Overground and National Rail services. After checking with Google Maps Streetview, you really would not get lost.
The gates opened around 6 in the afternoon and the winding queue slowly subsided at this point. It is quite amusing how such a long queue from the outside seems like nothing once you get in.
As mentioned, the venue was at the London Olympia Grand Hall. They weren’t kidding by calling the place “grand” as it was pretty massive. I think it was bigger than Earl’s Court though The O2 can hold more people because it is a stadium and not a “flat” venue unlike Olympia and Earl’s Court.
The structure was a mass of steel and glass which allowed quite a bit of natural light to enter the venue which during spring is up to almost 8 in the evening.
The first order of business was to buy a shirt which was pretty easy since I was among the first in (first 200). Once this was dealt with, it was time to grab some food. Similar to Earl’s Court, they had several food establishments inside including a Pizza Express. Went for a Sloppy Guiseppe again.
Sadly, like Earl’s Court, they mostly served Carlsberg apart from cider but I needed a drink. Carlsberg is always a last resort choice for me. It was time to then sit down, enjoy the pint and wait until the support acts start.
At around 7:30, Wet Paint started playing. I have not heard them before but they had a pretty good show going which was certainly better than Esser, the support band last time. Also, watching a band in natural light and not in complete darkness was quite nice.
Next up was Foals. Now this is a band I wanted to see live the moment I first saw their video performance at Reading last year whilst at work. When I checked for upcoming gigs last year, their only London show at Brixton was already sold out.
When I learned they were to support Bloc Party, I was ecstatic. Seeing Bloc Party alone was enough but catching a glimpse of Foals was even more amazing. It is safe to say that I was looking forward to see them at the same level as of Bloc Party.
They started off their set with a long intro slowly dwindling into The French Open which is the first song I really liked from them even though I couldn’t understand it as it is French. They also played other great songs like Balloons, Cassius, Two Steps Twice, and Red Sock Pugie.
As a support band, they were limited to a very short set but it was a really great one. A nice glimpse on how energetic they are. Apparently, they are working on a new album so I’ll be eagerly awaiting that and the time they’ll be on tour again.
At around 9 in the evening, Bloc Party came up on stage and kicked off the show with One Month Off quickly followed up by Trojan Horse which really got the crowd going. From the moment I heard Intimacy, I loved the energy of these two songs as well as the guitar riffs towards the end of Trojan Horse. I hoped they’d play one during the September show, but they didn’t.
They then continued the energy levels set by the first two songs with Hunting For Witches and the classic Positive Tension. Bloc Party finally decided to slow things down with Biko but slowly built up pace yet again with Waiting For the 7.18 with Gordon on the gloc. This eventually let to the epic duo of Songs For Clay (Disappear Here) leading non-stop into Banquet.
At this point, the place was going mental so it was time to slow things down a bit with Where Is Home? and Ion Square. This “calmness” was suddenly blasted with Mercury.
Up next was a duo of lovely songs with This Modern Love and The Prayer. I was going to say favorites, but aren’t they all. This Modern Love always sounds so epic even on CD/MP3 but more so live. I am pretty sure it brought a tear to my eye. The Prayer actually closed out the first set of Bloc Party’s show.
After a few minutes, they came back on stage and started off with the dramatic and highly emotional, Sunday which had me all giddy inside as I am currently loving the song more at the moment. “I will love you in the morning, when you’re still hung over.”
The rest of the 2nd set was a trifecta of high energy anthems with Intimacy favorite Halo, Like Eating Glass and the ever popular crowd favorite Helicopter (fave Guitar Hero 2 song). This meant non-stop dancing and screaming along.
At the end of the 2nd set, the band disappeared again and most people thought this was it and started leaving. I knew it wasn’t as they did the same last time, one long set then a shorter second set and then the encore. Also, I remember Kele saying “this is our 2nd set.” Lastly, they have yet to play Ares, a song which they promoted on the Intertubes for fans to watch out and record video of and submit to then.
Sure enough, they came back up, Ares fired up and everyone started dancing to the sounds of sirens. I remember their one song encore last time, so expected this to be it. Thankfully, they had one more song left for the night. To a glorious array of lasers, they played Flux to end the night in such a high note.
It was a spectacular evening seeing Bloc Party again. They pulled off quite a show at such a massive venue though I still prefer smaller venues. This actually continued the following night with quite a different setlist which included Talons, Signs, Blue Light, Uniform and Two More Years, a song I need to see live someday. This sort of makes me regret why I didn’t just go to both venues.
Looking back, the setlist on April 12 looks almost identical to their show last September.
