by Laurence Heads

Created on: March 26, 2009   Last Updated: March 27, 2009

Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed. Their brand of indie rock has been compared to bands such as The Cure and The Strokes. They have a unique style, with rare guitar riffs and a unique singing voice. They released their debut album "Silent Alarm" in 2005, which was the major motivation to see them live.

On February 4th 2008 they played a live event at The Carling Academy, Newcastle, England. This event was unlike any concert that I had attended before: It was an intimate gig where only certain people were able to get tickets (for example members of Bloc Party fan clubs). This made tickets more expensive than usual but added to the experience greatly. This line of intimate gigs meant that there were about one hundred people who attended, allowing relatively easy access to the front of the stage giving a feeling of greater community within The Carling Academy. This was a great approach to music which I would recommend to every band. For example, after seeing another performance by The Kooks (another English Indie Rock band) I was left disappointed because you almost felt that you were watching them play on a large screen and the intimacy was lost. But obviously, in today's society with the growing importance of money and profit, many bands refuse to use the intimate style.

The intimate setting also helped the acoustics within The Carling Academy. With it being a much smaller setting than usual for a concert, the sound was held within the area to a greater extent. It was almost as if Bloc Party were performing in a room: They didn't have to increase the volume to such an extent that static and heavy bass interfered with the music. You could hear here the undertones of Gordon Moakes delivering key bass lines without it taking away too much from the unique, sometimes softer voice of Kele Okereke. And the fast paced drumming during a song like "Helicopter" made the whole crowd lose control (as this was their big song at the time). But the drummer could be heard with ease because of the close proximity to his actual set. This is not always the case at concerts, as the other instrument's volume are maximized and sometimes the instrument that is key to the whole song can be lost.

The drummer himself provided a great show, not only with his drumming ability, but with his charisma and energy. And at the end of the day a live performance is a show; it is there to entertain you. Bloc Party did this extremely effectively. The impression was not that they were

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