Bloc Party, Young The Giant @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 4/8/2025
It is seriously hard to believe that the landmark debut album Silent Alarm by Bloc Party is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Without a shadow of a doubt it is one of those albums that stacks up with the best of them and its enduring legacy is a testament of the quality of songs contained on it. Also, when you consider the UK indie-rock alumni that are also celebrating the same milestone this year including the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Maxïmo Park, Hard-Fi and Editors they are in elite company.
American rockers Young The Giant endeared themselves with Adelaide fans earning the tag of “our new favourite band”. They brought an excitable energy to The Theatre with music designed for plenty of hip shaking and plenty of sing-a-longs. Break through hit Cough Syrup was an absolute beauty and with a career spanning five albums there is plenty more to discover. Highlights for me included these bangers in Superposition, new single Mind Over Matter (In The Open) and Silvertongue.
Up next was Bloc Party, stepping up the size of venue with similar characteristics of their previous outings here with hazy lights, smoke and a rather excitable crowd. Opening with So Here We Are was followed by the words of Kele Okereke “good evening, we are Bloc Party from London, England”. Whilst the focus was on Silent Alarm it was not in track order with nine of the thirteen songs played from it.
The crowd didn’t need any encouragement as the energy levels were off the charts and Okereke kept riling them up and fuelling that energy. It was full throttle with She’s Hearing Voices, Mercury and Price Of Gasoline. The main stays of Bloc Party are Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack (guitar) and with Louise Bartle (drums) and Harry Deacon (bass) they are a formidable outfit. Needless to say its Okereke that controls this ship being the consummate showman and performer even suggesting that “everyone is very handsome” being able to see with lighting configuration which was not as dark as Melbourne.
Right from the opening sounds of Banquet it was one of those stand outs whipping the crowd up in to a frenzy. “Did you like that? There’s more from where that came from,” Okereke proclaimed to a rousing cheer from the Adelaide faithful. Big tick for Traps and there was “something a little different” playing Only He Can Heal Me. Team A was stellar and essentially about “letting the bitch know”. Powering through the back end of the set in epic fashion firing some big salvos in Positive Tension, The Prayer and Like Eating Glass.
As Okereke called it “round two, as its not often we get to play in your wonderful city” . Wow! The encore had some nice surprises, and something they have been mixing up every night on tour, starting with Ion Square and Little Thoughts. Add to that Helicopter, Flux and show closer This Modern Love made for the perfect start to the week with Bloc Party. Here’s to the next twenty years!
Live Review By Rob Lyon