Bloc Party Tickets

Released their critically acclaimed debut album Silent Alarm in 2005, Bloc Party is an English indie rock band. Their second studio album, A Weekend in the City was released on February 5, 2007 in the UK and February 6 in the US.

History
Formation and rising popularity (1998-2004)
Bloc Party has been together since 2002, with names such as Superheroes of BMX, The Angel Range, Diet, and Union, before settling on Bloc Party in September 2003. Band members Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack have formed these manifestations joined by bassist Gordon Moakes and most recently drummer Matt Tong. Lissack and singer/guitarist Kele Okereke, first met in 1998 in Essex, and bumped into each other again in 1999 at the Reading Festival and soon after formed the band Union.The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and was able to thrust a copy of the single into the hands of both Franz lead singer Alex Kapranos and Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. Lamacq played the song on his radio show, labeling the track genius, and invited them to record a live session for the show.Leading to another single Banquet, this time released by the label Moshi Moshi, and to the eventual signing with indie label Wichita Recordings in April 2004.

Silent Alarm (2004-2006)
Their debut album Silent Alarm, released in February 2005 broke sales records, being voted by NME critics as the 2005 album of the year and reaching #3 on UK album charts (selling platinum in the UK). The second single from the album So Here We Are made the top 5 on UK charts. Further singles Banquet (which reached #13 in NME's Top 50 singles of 2005), Helicopter (which featured on the FIFA 06, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Burnout Revenge game soundtracks) and Pioneers (July 2005), managed to knock in the UK top 20. The animated video for the single Pioneers was number one in the NME video charts for 4 weeks and made for a small budget in four weeks by the Shoreditch based Mini Vegas design agency.

A Weekend in the City (2006-present)
The band released their second album, called A Weekend in the City on February 5, 2007 in the UK and February 6 in the United States. The album debuted at #12 in the Billboard 200 with 48,000 copies sold. It became available on February 4, and reached the #2 spot in the Official UK Chart. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee. The first single, The Prayer, was released on January 29. The next single, I Still Remember, is their first American single. In the build up to the release of the album, Zane Lowe aired a live set from Maida Vale featuring a mix of old songs and new ones on his evening radio show on BBC Radio 1 on January 30, 2007.

Musical style
Bloc Party's own deviation of spiky guitar rock draws on influences such as The Cure, Gang of Four, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Joy Division, and XTC.

To achieve their unique guitar style, BOSS echo effects equipment is particularly apparent on the track Like Eating Glass.

The musical style of A Weekend in the City is more varied, particularly from more expansive sounding bands, including Radiohead.

Trivia:
The band's live television debut was Helicopter on the Later with Jools Holland show. In the US, their live television debut was on the Late Show with David Letterman, playing Banquet. The band was on tour at the Disco in November-December, 2006. However, they dropped out early in the tour after drummer Matt Tong was admitted to hospital on November 9, 2006. He was advised to rest and so the band dropped out of the tour. Bloc Party's largest headlining show was played at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 3, 2006 with Mew, Two Gallants and Broken Social Scene opening.

Lead singer Kele embarrassed himself while playing at the Oxegen festival in Ireland in 2005. During their Toronto show on March 25th, 2007, lead singer of Broken Social Scene Kevin Drew came out on stage to sing vocals for the track So Here We Are. Their debut song This Modern Love appeared on the final episode of the first season of the popular sitcom series How I Met Your Mother.

The track 'I Still Remember' was featured on three episodes of the hit TV series The O.C, while the track 'Kreuzberg' was featured in the final episode. The track SRXT was featured on the episode The Other Side of This Life (Part 2) of Grey's Anatomy.