Live at Whelan's, Dublin

“Looks like it’s going to be quite a year”. Kele Okereke’s comment may come as an almost unheard aside rather than a bold proclamation, yet the truth of his statement is undeniable.

This is Bloc Party’s first show of the year and surely the last time for a while that they’ll be playing somewhere where the stage is so close to the back wall. They know it too, approaching it with an energy and vitality that suggests they can’t wait to get started. Sweetly, they’ve brought some friends along for the ride.

Red Jetson couldn’t be more of a different proposition than the headliners. Where the latter deal in short sharp bursts of melody, Red Jetson head down the wall of sound route, producing huge Mogwai-style washes of guitar which they channel into quite nifty songs. Their vocalist adopts an Ian Curtis style stance at the mic stand and they make very little attempt to communicate with the audience. However, Whelan’s loves them and studiously cool facade gives way to wide grins as they depart.

Bloc Party start grinning the moment they walk on stage and don’t give up for the whole night. They may be the most achingly hip name to drop at the moment but it doesn’t seem to have gone to their heads. And the thing is, they really are that good. Yes they’ve taken that hard edged early ‘80s sound that suddenly seems to be in vogue (Gang Of Four rear their head yet again) but their own identity is undiminished.

Okereke is a mesmerising front man, charming and charismatic, his colleagues quieter but musically on the button and the songs – well, if this set makes up their debut album then few are going to be able to match it. An evening that promised much and delivered in every way.