Live Reviews

This ain't no tea party

Bloc Party, Secret Machines, and Mew at the Bank of America Pavilion, July 28, 2006

By JULIA KAGANSKIY | July 31, 2006

Bloc Party

No one could quite figure out what the hell was taking place on the projector screen behind opening act Mew. Looked to me like a cross between a fleshy lollipop with glowing red eyes and a satanic hand puppet, but the guy next to me thought it looked like a singing asshole. Creepy. Creepier still is the fact that Mew's lead singer Jonas Bjerre created this backing animation. The video alternated between shots of meteors ablaze in the night sky – to accompany Mew’s heroic space rock sound – and an assortment of toys playing violins in a kitschy storybook setting. In fact, the weird images on the screen distracted me from the goings on of the band; peripherally, I registered several variations of Bjerre’s piercing, dreamy falsetto layered over ambient guitars and synthy drones, but everything else was mostly a blur.

New York’s Secret Machines took the stage and proceeded to wander and weave through their first song. Their ‘70s inspired guitars and Bowie-esque vocals sound nothing like either Mew or Bloc Party. What unites the three acts is the bold rock sound that elevates the music to, well, epic proportions. Secret Machines' guitar riffs built the whole way through, the drums kept beating like a pulsating heart on the verge of climax, and the overall impression was one of “Hell yeah! Rock n’ roll!” but in a nonchalant, detached sorta way.

That aloofness melted away as soon as Bloc Party took the stage, and even though they opened with a new song, “Waiting for the 7.18,” it was received with as much enthusiasm as “Tulips” or “Helicopter.” The new track, to be released on the upcoming album, is a typical Bloc Party dance dittie, but with even more emphasis on jarring, angular rhythms. There’s something darker about this song, too -- it lacks the carefree charm of the Silent Alarm tracks, a shift that could be the byproduct of a focus that’s inching closer to experimental sounds.

If the new album is going to be darker, the band certainly didn’t let on. Lead singer Kele Okerere was all smiles as he playfully riled the crowd: “This ain’t no tea party, Boston. This is Bloc Party,” before launching into the crowd pleaser, “Banquet.” Prior to the show, I was worried about how Bloc Party would fare in a venue as large as the Bank of America Pavilion, and apparently so were they. They kept mentioning how “fucking big” the place was and encouraged people to move around and dance as much as possible between the narrow rows of fold-up chairs. In spite of the lack of booty-shakin' space, the energy was high (even in the cheap seats), no doubt thanks to Okerere’s dynamic, energetic performance. His facial expressions in particular were delightful to watch as they flashed across the big screen in an ever-changing sea of wide eyes, white teeth, and raised eyebrows drenched in reds, greens, and blues.

Set List
Waiting for the 7.18
Positive Tension
Banquet
Blue Light
She’s Hearing Voices
Uniform
This Modern Love
Like Eating Glass
So Here We Are
Helicopter

Encore
Two More Years
The Price of Gas
Tulips
Pioneers