Silent Alarm is an album that defined the mid-2000s, standing out among the sea of Indie acts that ruled the roost. Songs like Banquet, Helicopter, and This Modern Life (which you may have fallen back in love with if you’ve watched a certain film starring Barry Keoghan at the cinema recently) sound like they’ve barely aged at all – but it has, in fact, been (nearly) 20 years since its release, and Bloc Party will celebrate that milestone by playing it in full at Crystal Palace Park.
With Silent Alarm dropping in 2005 and Bloc Party celebrating 20 years as a band in 2024, they will play it alongside a greatest hits set at their biggest London show to date on July 7. And, they’re bringing a stacked bill that’ll include a typically weird and wonderful set from The Hives, as well as performances from Friendly Fires, The Mysterines, and Connie Constance.
Fresh from heading out on tour with Paramore across the UK and beyond this year, Bloc Party will now seize their time to headline, with the south London park holding even more punters than the O2 Arena. On top of Silent Alarm in its entirety, we’ll hear hits from the just-as-seminal A Weekend In The City (2007) and the rest of their hefty back catalogue.
Speaking on the announcement, Bloc Party frontman and rhythm guitarist Kele Okereke says: “We’ve been having so much fun playing shows over the past year, so it makes sense to do something special for old and new fans, celebrating twenty years of Bloc Party. We heard from a lot of people that they couldn’t get tickets for the Silent Alarm gigs, so a one-off summer party playing that and the bangers feels like the right thing to do.”
Bloc Party’s show marks a blockbuster weekend of music at Crystal Palace Park, with The National opening proceedings on the Friday (July 5), Skepta performing and curating his own festival bill on the Saturday (July 6), before the sound of the Silent Alarm plays out until the final curfew.
Tickets for Bloc Party at Crystal Palace Park go on sale this Friday (December 8) at 10am, and you can book your space here. The show will take place on Sunday, July 7.