Bloc Party are marking two decades of music by announcing their biggest show to date at Crystal Palace Park in London, on Sunday 7 July 2024. The show will be part of celebrations marking 20 years since the band released their first proper single, with the promise of seminal debut record Silent Alarm played in its entirety as well as more of their greatest hits. Alongside the milestone show, 2024 will see Bloc Party re-releasing a large selection of rare songs, deep cuts and fan favourites to streaming services, ensuring their complete catalogue is available to fans for the very first time.
Kele Okereke of Bloc Party 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.”
Firmly embedded in the rich tapestry of indie across the world, Bloc Party have recently wrapped up a co-headline tour with Interpol in Australia and supported Paramore, binding their status as global hitmakers. Moving from hooky post-punk to ambitious genre mashing, and back again, Bloc Party’s artistic restlessness has served them well since the early 2000s. Lead by impassioned frontman Kele Okereke, the band’s initial EPs played a pivotal role in shaping British indie rock for years to come. By the time they released their ground-breaking debut album Silent Alarm in 2005, their experimentation with electronic textures in their musical style cemented them as trailblazers. More albums, and innovation, followed with A Weekend in the City (2007), Intimacy (2008), Four (2011), Hymns (2016) and most recent record Alpha Games (2022), and now the band are taking time to reflect by bringing a set spanning 20 years, and brimming with greatest hits, to Crystal Palace Park next summer.
Famed for their electrifying live show, joining Bloc Party in July will also be The Hives (UK exclusive performance). In the twenty-five years since they exploded around the world they have sold out stadiums and shared stages with everyone from AC/DC to The Rolling Stones. They have shifted millions of albums worldwide and embarked on a series of globe-spanning tours, with their latest record The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons marking a true renaissance for the much-loved indie outfit.
Also appearing on the day are indie dance trio Friendly Fires, renowned for their pairing of anthemic choruses and swooning melodies that captured the hearts, and dancefloors, of Britain from the moment they released their critically-acclaimed, self-titled debut album in 2008. Merseyside alt-rock four-piece The Mysterines will also play, fresh from touring with Arctic Monkeys and following the release of their enigmatic debut album Reeling, as well as bold breakthrough artist Connie Constance.
Crystal Palace Park is London’s original outdoor concert venue, with previous performers including The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and Pink Floyd. In 2023 the park played host to an array of exciting talent including Iggy Pop and Blondie, The Lumineers, plus Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats as part of Community Festival Presents.
Tickets go on general sale at 10:00AM (GMT) Friday 08 December from www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
