My City Buzz - What's YOUR Buzz??? - Bloc Party @ RO Music Theatre 3/24/07

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Bloc Party @ RO Music Theatre 3/24/07

Written by Art Michalski

Wednesday, 28 March 2007

Not many times can a sold out crowd of 1,800 can sound like an arena, but with English indie faves Bloc Party in town, it sounded like the band was playing at the Palace. During the group’s 80-minute set, the band favored heavily on new material from their Weekend in the City album, (read the Detroitbuzz review on WitC ) and sprinkled tunes from their superior Silent Alarm throughout the set.

Lead by singer/guitarist Kele Okereke, Bloc Party displayed more confidence on stage and seemed to be more comfortable with being the headliners versus a previous time this reviewer saw the band. The band came out and started with their barrage of new tunes, with “Song For Clay,” “Waiting for the 7:18” and the stellar “Hunting For Witches” getting their moment early on in the set. It took the band a little while to play a cut from their first album, but when “Banquet” kicked in, the crowd seemed more than satisfied. The crowd, consisting mostly of preppy twenty-somethings sang along to many of the songs, whether it was a new song such as “Kreuzberg” or the older track “Like Eating Glass.”

Okereke tried to be jovial with the crowd, but it was hard with his thick Cockney accent, which left many people in the crowd trying to decipher what he said. The band winded up the set on a strong note, with the new single “I Still Remember” and the bouncy older track “Helicopter” to end the show. The band seems far more in control of their live presence now, and perhaps with the right break, Bloc Party can fully realize how they sound in a big arena.

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. and his band opened up with a 40-minute set, which sounded a little more than an indie rock take of that other band he plays for. Hammond played tracks off his “Yours to Keep” album, and proved to us that he needs to learn how to hold a guitar after all of this time.

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