The view from Alexandra Palace is a beautiful one, placed high on the top of a hill, from the outside you can see night time views out across the entire city of London. The view from inside was slightly odd. These huge venues always feel slightly clinical.. obscenely bright lights and a half a mile walk to actually get to the room with the stage and you know.. the bands?
First up were a band I was really excited to see:
Foals: Hyper, energetic songs with jagged guitar parts, they were a perfect support act for Bloc Party jumping around the stage like they themselves were plugged into the amps. Think Bloc Party meets Klaxons with a little sprinkle of electro.
Essential listening: 'Hummer' - http://www.sendspace.com/file/rdtt7q
The Cribs: I really like The Cribs; songs like 'Hey Scenesters' 'Men's Needs' and 'I'm A Realist' are all the sound of a great British music scene and therefore I was excited to finally hear them live. I don't know if it was the fault of the massive vaulted room we were in (which is quite possible) or if they were having a bit of an off night but I wasn't very impressed. It felt like they shouted their way through a good majority of the set and the best songs didn't redeem them. However my resolution is to go see them in a smaller venue - they got lost in Alexandra Palace.
Essential listening: 'Men's Needs' - http://www.sendspace.com/file/fra91v
Bloc Party: Were.. in a word EPIC. I'm not a die hard Bloc Party fan, I mean i think they're brilliant I just don't know every song they've done. But boy oh boy was I so impressed by last night. The set list was amazing, running through all their well known songs as well as some songs released very early in their career and some lesser known B sides. The lighting was fantastic and the fans were going crazy for them.
Songs like Banquet, The Prayer, Hunting For Witches and Flux filled the room reaching all the way to the people at the back. They did two encores giving everyone their fill and making sure to play fan favourites 'Two More Years' 'Sunday' and 'So Here We Are'. Hats off to Bloc Party, for a band that is constantly hyped it's nice to see one who can live up to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment