Of all the Brits singing about the meaning behind a night out — among them Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys — Bloc Party is the only act that sounds completely serious about it.
The jittery, danceable indie-rock quartet scored a hit with its debut, “Silent Alarm,” and has another winner on its hands with “A Weekend in the City,” a less fun but equally exciting (and more sophisticated) meditation on the pitfalls of modern living. The band kicks off its most recent North American tour, appropriately, at this weekend’s Hideout Block Party, which also features Andrew Bird, The Frames and others.
While walking toward his home in East London, singer Kele Okereke told us about Bloc Party’s progress, an unforgettable celebrity run-in and his own “ample booty.”
You recently took a spill on stage, and Beyonce did too …
When did Beyonce fall down on stage? Where was she playing? Will that be on YouTube? Poor, poor B. She always looked like she was quite steady on her pins. I guess not. I guess when Sasha [the name Beyonce has given her onstage persona] takes over then all hell can break loose. I hope she’s OK. Did she have to have surgery?
She didn’t. So, do you two have anything in common other than falling onstage?
I don’t know. We’re both pop stars. But she’s kind of more popular, I guess. No, I don’t believe there’s anything we have in common really.
You don’t consider yourself bootylicious?
Did the band get better on its second album?
We definitely are more proud of “A Weekend in the City” than I am of “Silent Alarm.” When I hear “Silent Alarm” it just sounds so unfocused to me, and I think with “A Weekend in the City” we’re really taking steps to mature as a band. But that’s not to say that “Silent Alarm” doesn’t have its [value] to me. It does.
What surprised you most about playing at Live Earth 2007?
Madonna coming into our dressing room because she’s a super-huge fan. Our tour manager is this guy from Scotland that doesn’t know much about popular culture and popular music. So when she came in, he alerted security and security dragged her out. They had her head in a headlock, and they were putting her out of the dressing room. It was really surreal, and everyone stopped speaking. And the only thing we could hear is Madonna cursing and saying she’s gonna kill these guys.
Did you say Madonna was in a headlock?
Yeah. She’s really tough because of all that pilates that she does. She [got out] of the headlock quite easily. And some of her people came along and told the security guards off, but she was so pissed off at that point that [when] I went to tell her that I was a huge fan of hers she completely freaked out and told me to get the hell away from her. And that was all in the space of like 10 minutes backstage at Live Earth.
Maybe you should dress up as her on stage to make things right.
You know, if she asks. I’m pretty sure if she didn’t ask she’d be completely pissed off, and she’d completely freak out. I’ve already seen that she has a temper on her. To be honest, I don’t feel like putting myself in the situation because I’m quite a skinny guy compared to the two security guards.
———-
MPAIS@TRIBUNE.COM
