Raucous Bloc Party throws a blowout
Like schoolboys giddy with the promise of a skip day, the London-based dance-punk quartet Bloc Party launched its US tour with an exuberant show at Avalon Thursday night. The band romped through its loose but nimble 90-minute set, playing with abandon and thanking the capacity crowd again and again. The band's 2005 debut, ''Silent Alarm" has become a new alt-radio staple among devotees of kindred spirits Franz Ferdinand, and the crowd sang along to album favorites such as the expressive, clap-driven set opener ''Like Eating Glass" and the guitar-saturated, beat-driven rocker ''Banquet."
The band looked as angular as its sound, with waifish guitarist Russell Lissack shaking out chiming melodies over Gordon Moakes's teasing bass line during ''Positive Tension." Charismatic frontman Kele Okereke flipped his guitar behind him to dance and clap during dark rocker ''She's Hearing Voices" and displayed supple, achy vocals on melancholy rock ballad ''Blue Light." Drummer Matt Tong was a wild dervish of rhythms, from the snappy intro of the band's riff-driven new song ''Two More Years," to the syncopated beat of ''Helicopter," which evoked Gang of Four.
The band rewarded the crowd's warm welcome by starting its encore with a new song, the aptly titled, jazz-flavored ''The Present," before closing with more triumphant album favorites like the rollicking, furiously sung ''Pioneers."
The mood was as frenzied, but darker and sexier, during the inflamed opening set by blues punk duo the Kills. Less angsty and inward-focused than in past performances, vocalist VV (nee Alison Mosshart) and guitarist Hotel (nee Jamie Hince) played off each other's dramatic charisma but also turned their menacing flirtations on the audience as they snarled and shuddered their way through much of their second album, ''No Wow." VV sang suggestively from atop a towering stage speaker during ''I Hate the Way You Love" before the two met center stage to sing and hiss at each other like cobras. Scratchy riffs scuffed over a stomping beat during ''Kissy Kissy," while ''Dead Road 7" personified the band's sultry growl.
