Photo Credit: Michael Hundertmark
To celebrate 20 years as a band, London’s BLOC PARTY went all out with their celebrations. In that time, they have amassed a stellar career that includes five albums inside the top 10, numerous sold-out tours, and festival appearances including their recent performance at this year’s Glastonbury. To round out the concert series at Crystal Palace Park, the band performed in front of a sold out crowd, along with an incredible line-up in South London, with their debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ played in full, along with a host of fan favourites thrown in to the mix.
FRIENDLY FIRES recently commemorated the 15th anniversary of the publication of their debut self-titled album. In honour of the record, the band performed a number of their beloved songs in their set. ‘Lovesick‘ served as the opening number to get the crowd moving, and they quickly moved on to other album tunes, ‘Jump in the Pool‘ and ‘In the Hospital‘ to keep the party rocking. Dedicated fans were clearly visible as they joined in on the fun. Though the night was still young, and with two huge acts set to follow, FRIENDLY FIRES went all out with the enthusiastic ‘Kiss of Life‘ to top off their return to the capital.
THE HIVES are no strangers to large venues, having performed regularly in the UK over the past 12 months, notably as a support act for Artic Monkeys on their stadium tour last summer. Their sixth studio album ‘The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons‘ was released earlier this year and debuted at number two in the UK album charts—their highest position since 2004’s #1 record ‘Tyrannosaurus Hives‘. The Swedish mob, perhaps one of the most exuberant acts on the planet, made a spectacular entrance in front of a packed crowd and began with ‘Bogus Operandhi‘. Soon, the crowd-pleasing songs began to stream in, with ‘Main Offender‘ and ‘Good Samaratin‘ getting everybody excitedly moving. Whether it’s a club setting or a festival, the much loved anthem ‘Hate To Say I Told You So‘ never fails to get increase the energy, with this appearance being no exception.
The comedic frontman that is Howlin’ Pelle is still continues to entertain during every show of theirs as he struts about the stage, using his wittiness in between songs and yet finding time to join the band in jumping around during every song. ‘Tick Tick Boom‘ was the fitting way for THE HIVES to end their outstanding performance. The frontman introduced each band member, which were all met with a huge applause, one by one. THE HIVES demonstrated that the band have no signs of slowing down, and as the song resumed, Pelle made his way down to the barrier, interacting with the front row while maintaining a clear delivery of the lyrics before its conclusion.
The Hives are always a tough act to follow, but BLOC PARTY are seasoned veterans in this game. Even after experiencing four support acts, the audience managed to gather enough enthusiasm to attend this historic homecoming show. The crowd let out a huge cheer as the band took the stage, as they eased into their double decade performance slowly and with a relaxed vibe. The band’s opening songs included ‘So Here We Are‘ and ‘Like Eating Glass‘, and after that came ‘Plans‘. It was evident that the band was progressively building the tension before playing ‘Silent Alarm‘ in full.
As the rain began to fall, a lot of people were still dancing to their current hit, ‘Flirting Again‘, which made an early appearance in the set list. This shows that even the new music is just as popular across their fanbase. The beloved ‘Banquet‘ raised the intensity on stage and off, with Kelle’s high pitched voice perfectly matching the record. The song ‘I Still Remember‘ was then dedicated by the frontman to any teachers present; the lyrics were a perfect fit for the dedication. Those at the back were seen embracing each other and singing along to one of the most beautiful songs by BLOC PARTY has to offer, even though the rain was still falling, albeit very softly. Having just finished the first portion of the act with ‘The Prayer”. the band reappeared shortly after to wrap out their homecoming with a stacked encore.
The second half of the show began with ‘Two More Years‘ which brought the energy back. ‘Skeleton‘ and the captivating ‘Flux‘ kept the atmosphere alive even as darkness started to fall. BLOC PARTY concluded their set with three hits: ‘Helicopter‘, ‘This Modern Love‘, and ‘Ratchet‘. They left the stage with a smile on their faces, having entertained yet another devoted audience that evidently still supports one of the most distinctive rock bands to emerge from the UK in the past 20 years.
It was the perfect homecoming celebration, and with their debut album receiving a complete play through once again, it may resurface when the record itself reaches the 20-year milestone in 2025.
Taped Magazine 