"Hello Royal Oak, we are Bloc Party from London, Enlgand." Singer Kele Okereke spoke as if he and his bandmates needed an introduction to the enthusiatic crowd at the ROMT on Wednesday night. Hitting the stage just before 10pm on a school night could mean death to a touring band, but Bloc Party has the history and the swagger of post-punk royalty and enough energy to get the crowd up.
After an unusually matched opening set from San Fran hardcore punkers Ceremony, the crowd came roaring to life at the opening notes of "Octopus" from Bloc Party's latest offering,
Four. Okereke jumped around the stage without a guitar in gym shorts and high tops, looking more like a fitness trainer than an indie-rock icon. A couple songs into the set, he strapped on a telecaster and brought the classic two-guitar attack for "Positive Tension."
Breakout hit "Banquet" off the debut Silent Alarm had the crowd in a frenzy. The effect laiden frenzy of Russel Lisack's guitar punctuated by Matt Tong's hard-bouncing beats set up Okereke's vocals perfectly. The band played a diverse set of hits and deep cuts from across all four records including gems like "A Letter To My Son" from the somewhat overlooked album A Weekend In The City.
The crowd ate up every breakbeat and synth drop as the band cruised through the set and finished strong with two encores.
