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It͛s my fourth visit to Manchester; it͛s really cold but pretty nice to be honest͟ announces Kele on
the local radio station Xfm. ͞Sure it͛ll be a bit rough in parts no doubt but I can͛t wait to get going
tonight. Everyone seems to be buzzin͛ and I͛m getting good vibes.͟

After Kele͛s last trip up North with his old band, Bloc Party; he had to impress the gallant
Manchester crowd once more with his debut performance of ͚The Boxer͛, his new album. Being one
of the largest cities in England, it͛s always a challenge trying to win over such a mass of people when
you͛ve been a member of such an awesome band in the past, yet, the UK tour dates sold out in 30
minutes so there͛s all the more reason to be excited; especially with sell-out crowds reaching up to
3000 eager fans.

Is this going to compare to Bloc Party? Everyone was asking themselves. With ͚Silent Alarm͛, Bloc
Party͛s first album, selling over 2 million copies worldwide; the answer is probably, no. But this new
vision that Kele has approached his new album could have more people raving with glowsticks than
crowd surfing with bloody noses. The Klaxons fan may love it, the hardcore Bloc Party preacher may
not but Kele is officially a transformed act.

As the strobe lights flicker and dry-ice floats on top of the stage; Kele plus his new army energetically
run onto the stage with a ͚chip shop style͛ sign hanging from behind illuminating ͚KELE͛ and the
traditional technological, eerie intro music that Bloc Party used to arrive with. With nothing but a
mixer and a synth (no sign of a guitar), you can tell that he͛s going to produce an insane set by the
vibes in the Academy. The song chat was always a massive part of Bloc Party͛s gigs and Kele wasn͛t
going to disappoint as he got Manchester jumping with ͚Walk Tall͛; everyone knew this was one of
the best gigs of the year.

With his iconic baseball cap angled to the side of his head, he was proving everyone wrong ʹ with
rumours before that he was going to be the next Noel Gallagher; awful without his band, yet he was
proving to be back - better than ever. In an interview with ͚CHARTattack͛, he explained how ͞the
album name is ͚The Boxer͛ because as a boxer you rely entirely on yourself; you have to go it alone͟
and Kele was definitely showing he was a heavyweight pulling some awesome tunes out of his cap.
͚On The Lam͛ had the crowds wild side release as they threw themselves everywhere like flies trying
to get out of your bathroom; ͚The Other Side͛, ͚New Rules͛ and ͚Rise͛ also kept the northerners
flying over the barrier. The crowd were calmed by his second single; ͚Everything You Wanted͛, sung
word for word by 3000 people as if it was a rock anthem followed epically by ͚All The Things I Could
Never Say͛ and ͚Unholy Thoughts͛ ʹ which were the pick of the bunch.

The surprise comes later though. Kele threw something special into the mix; a Bloc Party medley.
Kicking on with the show, ͚Yesterdays Gone͛ is a no go. ͚Blue Light͛ is started to be played beautifully
with the once mad nutters calmly swaying their arms from side to side. ͚The Prayer͛ is next on the
agenda, everyone trying to keep their footing then, pen ultimately, ͚One More Chance͛, the upbeat
song that Bloc Party ended their time together with giving all the old fans some memories of the
past. Finally, an encore of ͚Tenderoni͛, his first single on the new album which you can imagine was
awesome with its heavy bassline and with a shock of strobe lights, it͛s over.

The new sound that Kele has produced had Manchester raving, rocking and screaming. With the rest
of Britain for the heavyweight to conquer most people are sure he will have sold just a few million
copies of ͚The Boxer͛ and will come back next year with bigger and better tunes that everyone will
be skankin͛ to. We just need to decide, will he ever be better than Bloc Party?