By Daniel Paiz

—June 11th, 2025, Red Rocks Ampitheater, Morrison, Colorado

It’s not often that bands from London, England frequent Colorado, but Wednesday night Bloc Party delivers a rather rowdy Red Rocks experience. 20 years of this group has come and went and still these four musicians sound as timeless as they did in the mid-2000s. They weren’t the only ones set to rattle some red rocks.

Family Dinner out of Long Beach, New York started things off, and fellow NYC band Blonde Redhead picked up the mantle and prepped the crowd even more. Both openers were fairly different sonically, yet both did quite a number on the crowd to get them ready for the headliners.

Openers

Family Dinner

Bringing rambunctious punk rock vibes from the start, this group of musicians had fans from Long Beach, NY fly out to support. While unfamiliar with this band, they got the crowd involved early. Phones as shining beacons before sunset, having fans break out their joints if they had them (as Red Rocks A/V posted messages about not smoking in the seating areas), and lots of energy broke the ice quite well.

The songs ranged from partaking in weed use, a general mixing of beaches and trash and hormones, and some mention of dating losers as well. The guitars ripped, the drumming guided everyone along, and the lead singer pulled you in to jam out. All of the tunes were new to this guy but were fun for getting the night going.

Blonde Redhead

Initially a hard left turn away from Family Dinner, the trio known as Blonde Redhead had a very different way of setting the mood. Atmospheric, ethereal, and hypnotizing were some of the sensations felt during this set. It was different but not unwelcome to have this band blend their songs from one to the other with almost no interaction with the crowd. At times, the crowd didn’t even really get acknowledged by these three.

The music coming out of their instruments explains why. There was a meditative aspect of Blonde Redhead’s music. There was some wonderful blending of rock and indie and alternative music during this set. This felt like the right approach heading into the openers awaiting backstage.

It’s unbelievable how beautiful the United States is… it’s also unbelievable the evil it’s capable of

-Kazu Makino, front woman of Blonde Redhead

And now all the way from London, England….

Bloc Party

Kele Okereke, Russell Lissack, Louise Bartle, and Justin Harris are the current members of Bloc Party, and they were ready to go from the jump. Not every song you’re used to hearing on streaming or on the radio for this group sounded the same at Red Rocks. That was a nice change of pace.

One of the most popular songs for the group, “Helicopter” was sped through by Kele and the band. Hard to tell if this was done to give it more of a frenzied punk rock feel or because the group understandably is tired of performing this track. Either way, it had the crowd jumping and had the band a bit winded afterwards. One interesting tidbit from this show is it felt like there was less talking to the crowd from both Blonde Redhead and Bloc Party. The former had one short segment to discuss the state of the world, and the latter chatted with the crowd but less than other experiences I’ve had at this venue.

Another takeaway was a particular band member of Bloc Party. This is nothing against the other members, but drummer Louise Bartle is quite literally the motor of this band. Each member plays their role well, but there are few other shows where it felt like the drummer quite literally played energy into her fellow bandmates.

There may have been some moments of fatigue by the fellas due to the altitude or just the impact of traveling and touring across the US. For Bartle though, this mighty drummer’s efforts seemed to both drain and rejuvenate her. The crowd knew it too and fed off these valiant efforts.

The set flew by as “This Modern Love”, “Flow”, “Banquet” and a number of other classics from this foursome kept the crowd on its feet all evening. It felt like a special night for fans and bandmembers alike. The final takeaway from Wednesday evening was one not of music, but of reflection. There was a moment near the show’s end where Kele advised the crowd how important this tour stop was to the band. This simple yet powerful moment closed out the night nicely.

While at King’s College I watched “Sunday Bloody Sunday” on youtube, and being here is a dream come true

-Kele Okereke, Bloc Party frontman reflecting on watching U2’s 1983 Red Rocks show