Gig review: Bloc Party

Published on Monday 5 October 2009 19:08

BLOC PARTY *** HMV PICTURE HOUSE, EDINBURGH

IF THERE'S one corner of Edinburgh unlikely to produce famous black indie-band singers, it's Wester Hailes – the council estate rarely receives a good press. However, fans of Bloc Party raised a rare cheer to it last Saturday night at the Picture House, when frontman Kele Okereke revealed he used to live there. Sad joke or not, it was at least an improvement on the 27-year-old's often banal performer-audience repartee.

This is Bloc Party's tenth year as a band, but little has changed in their live performances since they rose to prominence in 2005.

The most recent album, Intimacy, is already more than a year old and although over-amplified guitar-synth noises have replaced the jingle-jangle sound of before, while there was plenty of rock on show here, there wasn't very much roll.

Guitarist Russell Lissack bleeped and blurped his way through the 90-minute set without much distraction, while bassist Gordon Moakes barely seemed able to stay awake.

By contrast, bare-chested drummer Matt Tong appeared hell-bent on reaching the next song before the others, while Okereke camped it up with glee.

The fans' fervent admiration for the band never let up throughout, though, and as they proceeded to chant "Here we, here we, here we f****** go" at every available opportunity, it's not entirely impossible that those in the far west of the city caught wind of it.