Bloc festival earlier this year announced 10 shows at a converted warehouse in East London, their first shows since the problems of the ill-fated Bloc Weekend 2012. Prior to that festival, Bloc had been renowned for the quality of its weekends – especially the line-ups (a memorable one for Release being the Aphex Twin show and the pitch darkness of Autechre’s set).
Fast forward to 2013 and the third of Bloc’s new nights, the L.I.E.S. showcase. Fitting with the ethos of what made Bloc such a good festival, this line-up shows cutting edge acts (on the night that I visited, L.I.E.S. performed their first UK showcase), while other nights host acts of international stature (Model 500+Juan Atkins played the previous month and the final night of the ten will feature Man Parrish on June 1).
Paired down, and very old school, Bloc have taken it back to being all about the music, as it should be – more information of the remaining 7 nights can be found at www.bloclondon.com.