Bloc Party @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn - July 29, 2006

Bloc Party performed at a sold-out McCarren Park Pool last night. When I first heard that Live Nation had scored a contract to produce live (and expensive) concerts at the pool, it was hard for me to suppress my fear that they would get it all wrong. While appreciative of them for cleaning up the pool for an experimental dance performance last summer, hardly anyone was looking forward to them getting the concerts as quid pro quo for their $200k cleanup effort. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they didn't completely mess the whole thing up. Sure, the same ornery security people that Live Nation seems to hire for all their venues - gruff, sometimes surly dudes warning you they'll kick you out if your camera ever leaves your bag. The proliferation of cameras at the concert proves that no one even listens to security's hollow threats anymore. Besides, how the hell were they gonna pinpoint, let alone kick out, hundreds of photo-takers?

Anyway, back to the concert - I'd never seen Bloc Party before and I'm fairly certain this is the largest venue they'd ever played in NYC. While I'm certain that they're a great small venue band, I feel as if their style of music was meant for large, outdoor venues. The high energy and fast-paced tempos are conducive to plenty of fan participation - dancing, arms flailing about, and crowd surfing. I don't believe I've had more fun at an outdoor concert - at least at one where I paid to get in - in a long time.