Bloc Party Live- Webster Hall NYC

Guest blogger Randy Washington chimes in with his review of Bloc Party, who performed at Webster Hall in New York last week:

VOTE FOR SMITH!

Historical Webster Hall in Manhattan was the last stop on a long US tour for UK bred Bloc Party. Thursday would be day two at Webster and they came out banging. A pretty big alteration to the ensemble, Gordon (Bass, Keys, Etc.) did not make an appearance at either show as his wife is due to have a baby at any moment. Gordy, however, was seamlessly and temporarily replaced by band friend and Vatican DC member, Daniel Lindegren.

The Bloc did not disappoint from the "Waiting for the 7:18" as the opener to "She's Hearing Voices" as the SECOND encore closer. The set list extensively covered both major albums and also the 2-track EP tune "Two More Years. Dropped right at the top of this long set, energetic frontman Kele Okereke live-mixed the vocals on the band's new single "Mercury". Bloc Party's website states that on August 9th, they will be in Baltimore for the V Festival, but Kele mentioned multiple times throughout the show that this would be the last night of the tour. They are not scheduled to be back in the States as of yet, however, Okereke did end the night, with mysterious foreshadowing stating: "I have a feeling that we will be seeing you all sooner than you think."

New York based Longwave was the opener for the night. Does It Offend You, Yeah? was slated to perform Thursday night but were absent. Webster Hall employees did not know why they were not present that night. DIOYY finished playing at Lollapaooza on August 2nd and will be performing in Osaka on the 9th and Tokyo on the 10th for Japan's massive Summersonic festival.

Text and pic Randy Washington