“You’re all very nice,” says Kele Okereke, lead singer for the band Bloc Party, “but I think you could be a little more naughty.”

“You’re all very nice,” said Kele Okereke, lead singer for the band Bloc Party, “but I think you could be a little more naughty.” The band was a little more than halfway through its set at The Pabst Theater on Tuesday night, Sept. 11.

Bloc Party hails from London and features Okereke, Russel Lissack, Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong. The band describes itself as a “Nu Skool Brit guitar band.” Nu skool breaks, heavily influenced by hip-hop and techno, originated in early 1970s New York, and resurfaced in London in the mid 1990s.

Nu Skool is a form of breakbeat and a sub-category of electronic music, characterized by the manipulation of stressed and unstressed beats in 4/4 time or by the presence of multiple independent rhythms.

The concert opened with performances by Smoosh and Final Fantasy. I arrived just as Smoosh is finishing its set, but in time for Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy, although markedly different from Bloc Party in both styling and presentation, is a true joy. Final Fantasy consists of Owen Pallet, one man with an electric violin and a loop pedal.

Pallet played melodies on his violin then loops them live to provide layers upon layers of violin. While he played, an assistant works with an overhead projector creating a sort of picture show to go along with Pallet’s lyrics.

The melodies he crafted, pairing music and lyric, were whimsical and sometimes haunting. At one point during his set, I closed my eyes and it seemed as if the world fell away; my entire body was filled with his music.

By the time 10 p.m. rolled around, beer flowed freely at the bar and the theatre was packed. Bloc Party took the stage and kicked off the set with a flourish of lights and energy.

“Song for Clay,” off the band’s latest album “A Weekend in the City,” started off quietly and heartfelt, progressing into a roar of drums and whine of electric guitars. The lights are strobe lights one minute and angelic sunbeams another, matching the tempo changes in the music.

The crowd wass excited and hyper-stimulated, but the layout of the theatre (with structured seating and a limited amount of dancing room) constricted the wild abandon that the band seemed to be encouraging. The open area by the stage was packed and security guards block of the area, admitting no one.

“I thought Wisconsin was the beer capital of the world,” Okereke said, commenting again on the crowd’s tameness. This concert marks the band’s first time performing in Wisconsin.

Bloc Party, continued with songs like “Hunting for Witches,” “The Prayer” and “Positive Tension,” seemed to take on the challenge of shaking up the crowd. It appears to have worked.

As the set continued and the energy climaxed, the crowd began to forget the presence of formal seating and follow Okereke’s wishes.

Okereke jumped into the crowd during “She’s Hearing Voices,” security guards close at hand; he immersed himself in the crowd for a minute or so before heading back up to the stage. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

The band concluded their encore with “Helicopters,” from their debut album “A Silent Alarm.”

As Bloc Party left the stage for the last time of the night, Okereke thanked the audience and said, “Hope to see you soon” – a sentiment that sat very well with the audience.

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