Bloc Party

21^st Century Apperances: 2009 Main Stage, 2008 Main Stage, 2007 Main Stage, 2005 NME Stage Headliner, 2004 NME Stage

The Defining Reading Moment: Headlining a jam packed NME tent up against the mighty Iron Maiden, and firing out practically every track from their sensational debut Silent Alarm.

It’s easy to forgot just how exciting it was to be a fan of indie music between 2001 and 2006. Each month a new savior and superstar broke through the ranks and great albums and anthems were in plentiful supply. 2005 was Bloc Party’s year. Despite having only a handful of singles available the band had made waves at Reading 2004, and one year later they were ready to unleash Silent Alarm.

Their debut album would go on to win NME’s Album Of The Year award and it was inevitable that Bloc Party would headline. While Iron Maiden represented Reading’s past on the main stage (literally reliving their early days), Bloc Party represented the future. In a performance that would later be released as an itunes exclusive album Bloc Party fired out indie anthem after indie anthem; “Helicopter”, “Like Eating Glass”, “Banquet”, “Positive Tension”, “She’s Hearing Voices”, “Pioneer”, “The Price Of Gas”, “This Modern Love” and the eternally heartbreaking “So Here We Are” made this one of the great NME stage sets.

From that point on Bloc Party were Reading legends who could do no wrong. They would be invited back to play the Main Stage  three times (sub headlining twice) and they were greeted like Reading’s very own home team. The band’s success was so assured that Bloc Party only needed to turn up on time to thrill the crowd, but this didn’t stop Kele and co. from evolving artistically each time out. They were bleaker and more abrasive in 2007 with A Weekend In The City, while 2009 saw the band introducing industrial and dance elements to their music when they unleashed Intimacy and the irresistible singles “Mercury” and “One Month Off!”.

2009, however, was the coup de grace, warming the crowd up for their heroes Radiohead, Bloc Party proved that they were one step ahead of the crowd, embracing the sort of dance music that was about to dominate the charts with the impeccable hooks and grooves of “Flux” and “One More Chance”. David Hayter