Friday is a big day for any artist to be playing SXSW and luckily Blondfire was opening for Bloc Party at the Empire Control Room and Garage. With a max capacity around 1,500 people, a food truck slinging out hotdogs and other gourmet versions of classic americana foods and several bars, it was definitely the best place to see these two bands come together put on one hell of a performance.
Coming from New York by storm, Blondfire is quickly making waves in the alternative music scene. Erica Driscoll hand picks several back up musicians during live sets, and she chose right this past weekend. The tamer version of Angus Youngs school boy outfit threw me for a loop, her soft voice quickly changed to belting lines that tore through the venue with vengeance, yet soft and calming.
Hailing from London England, Bloc Party quietly came on stage with Kele Okereke (lead singer and guitar player) not playing a single note for a long drawn-out opening. He gracefully holds the microphone while singing his songs all backed up by the guitar, bass and drums. You can hear their influences of old school techno like Chemical Brothers and classic rock vibes like U2 and Radiohead. With five studio albums as heard on various video game soundtracks, movies and TV shows, surprising this band hasn’t sold out larger venues, yet. With a set opening for Santigold following the next day, I would call these guys the headliners of any set they play.
If you see Blondfire performing live near you, buy tickets. It’ll will be worth your time for sure and you will not leave disappointed. Bloc Party — well — should be a given that you’ll go see them, you’ll undoubtedly heard one of their songs somewhere out there before, and you’ll want to make anyone jealous by showing up to their show.