Bet You Didn’t Know : Bloc Party

Another concert another series of “Bet You Didn’t Know”! Since Bloc Party will have a show in Jakarta on March 20th 2013 (which is also the band’s first ever show in the city and let’s say ‘ Thank You‘ to Ismaya Live for bringing them), We have collected some facts that You might still think “is it a rumour?”, “I need to dig about its validity” or “I am a new fan of Bloc Party but please I need some facts that I have to know about them!”, well oh well, We will clear the rumour and pop the facts!

1.The band were formed in 1999 after Kele Okereke and Russel Lissack ran into each other at Reading Festival. But it was not their first meeting, because they have known each other since 1998.

2. If Bloc Party had a “historical places”. Franz Ferdinand’s concert must be one of it. Because in 2003, Kele gave a copy of debut single ‘She’s Hearing Voices‘ to British DJ Steve Lamacq. And he also handed it to Alex Kapranos. So that was pretty much how the band were discovered.

3. Eventhough all of the band’s member have so many disagreement and different taste in many way, but all of them are sure for one thing, They are a fan of the Broken Social Scene’s records.

4. There was a rumour about Bloc Party had a beef with Kaiser Chiefs. But it’s totally not true. In fact, Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs are a good friend! Apparently the press was the one who attempted to put some stuffs around.

5. Liam Gallagher has been known for his cold-handed work (We are talking about his work in Oasis. Not Beady Eye) once was asked about what he thinks of Bloc Party. And he said “They’re like a bunch of University Challenge students.”. And the band responded that his insult was a truly dissapointing. Well, what did you expect from The Gallaghers.

6. In Britain, Bloc Party’s first album “Silent Alarm” was released in Valentine’s Day. But in the US, it was released a month after.

7.It’s maybe the band’s first ever show in Jakarta. But the frontman, Kele Okereke , has done a show in Jakarta before. It was a DJ Set at Blow Fish in 2010.

8.There are so many stories about the lack of “K” in Bloc Party. But here’s the real one according to Gordon Moakes, “It sort of came from when I was a student and I was fascinated by political iconography; you know, like the idea of the Stars and Stripes and the Hammer and Sickle, and how East and West are kind of denoted by different kinds of things. So we liked the idea of the Bloc, the Eastern Bloc, and from that we got the idea of a Bloc Party, kind of like a Soviet image and a classic American image combined. So that’s kind of the true story”.

9. Kele Okereke is a fan of a fashion-themed Tv Show called “Project Runway”. And what is the Tv show that he dislikes the most? Jersey Shore. Well, every cool person doesn’t like seeing a full wax haired dude and Snookie.

10.Bloc Party’s debut album, Silent Alarm, was also shaped by Adele’s 21 producer. Paul Epworth.