Two nights at the Bowery. Or, Bloc Party: believe the hype

No OC recap until next week, as I was at the Bloc Party show last night. My understanding is that Seth and Ryan turn the Cohen Mansion into a brothel, decide sometimes, you just have to say "What the fuck" and get accepted to Princeton.

I don't want to exaggerate, but I'm going to anyway. The greatest concert I've ever been to is the Hives at the Bowery Ballroom in 2002. I don't like their music that much and their 2nd album was hella weak, but Howling Pelle Almqvist knows how to rock the party that rocks the body. The Hives set the bar for what a rock concert should be like - the sound, the showmanship, vibing with the audience.

Kele Okereke isn't quite the showman that Almqvist is, but he's no less entertaining.

But let's go back to Wednesday night. I found myself at the Bowery to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Lake Trout and Radio 4. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well and left midway through Lake Trout's set so I missed Radio 4, but Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were fun. They didn't exactly wow me and they're not going to be a huge national band any time soon, but they were worth the price of admission, methought.

Thursday night, I'm back at the Bowery. I actually considered skipping, as I had work to do, it was raining and I was at dinner until 9:30. But I just missed the downtown M15 bus at 2nd Ave and 9th and I started walking home, and realized the show will be on the way home. I paid for the ticket dammit, and I was going to be there.

I caught the tail end of the Ponys' set - they sounded good, from the couple of songs I heard - which meant I was just in time for Bloc Party. Now, I'm usually a wallflower at concerts, nodding my head quietly but when it's on, it's on. I was right in the middle, pogoing like an idiot. Kele sounded a little tired (they'd missed Wednesday night's gig in Philly) but was energetic nonetheless. Unfortunately though, there were a few too many people on the sides just looking on - which is what I usually do, but whatever.

So yeah, I'm glad I didn't miss it, and I'm even more excited for Saturday night, when I'll be catching them again in Chocolate City. And I'll try to take photos too. Pictures > words.