Photos by Diana Cordero // Written by Molly Kish //
Bloc Party //
Mezzanine – San Francisco
September 19th, 2016 //
Bloc Party made their triumphant return to the Bay Area last Monday and performed for a capacity crowd at Mezzanine on what was a rare “indie-rock” night at the small club in SF. Rocking a new roster of both original and recently acquired band members, frontman Kele Okereke commanded the room’s attention well into the early-morning hours.
The seminal post-punk quartet blasted through a 17-song setlist that spanned all five of its studio albums and played into the audience’s energy, which reached incredible highs for a weeknight in SF. After celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their debut LP Silent Alarm in 2015, Bloc Party had yet to play such an intimate setting in quite some time.
On this night, the excitement was palpable for the entire performance, as Okereke’s voice crescendoed throughout the venue. Championing for rail space and dance-floor real estate, fans sang along to every lyric, recalling old memories and creating new ones thanks to Bloc Party’s heavily emotive set. And before Okereke and company jumped into their encore, two new songs were performed, along with snippets of Bjork and Pixies tracks.
In what was truly a special evening for everyone there, Bloc Party proved that they can still breathe life back into club scene after filling stadiums and arenas across the country for the last few years.
Setlist:
Only He Can Heal Me
So Real
She’s Hearing Voices
Mercury
Virtue
Song for Clay (Disappear Here) (Bjork – Big Time Sensuality intro cover)
Banquet
Two More Years
(Unknown)
My True Name
Octopus (Pixies – I’ve Been Tired intro cover)
So He Begins to Lie
The Love Within
Encore:
Stunt Queen
Flux
Helicopter
Ratchet
[…] U.S. tour, which saw them go from playing 1,000-person clubs like Mezzanine in San Francisco (see our photos from the show here) to headlining the one and only Hollywood Bowl with support from former Hüsker Dü leader Bob […]