This year’s Splendour In The Grass sold out in a record 43 minutes, and perhaps one of the reasons it moved so lightning-fast was thanks to the offer of exclusive appearances of the recently reunited At The Drive-In and Bloc Party, with the caution of ‘no sideshows.’

Well, the UK quartet – following on from Wednesday’s reveal of brand new single “Octopus” – nave now announced they’ll be playing a special one-off gig as a ‘warm up’ for the Byron Bay music festival.

Their original Saturday headline slot at Splendour was to be the band’s only Australian show, and the one chance Australian fans would get to hear material from Four, the band’s upcoming comeback album, in the live setting before its August release. That chance will now come early, specifically for punters at Brisbane’s The Zoo on Friday 27th July.

Supporting Bloc Party on their warm up show will be Brisbane’s own Last Dinosaurs, who have recently been nominated for a Queensland Music Award, and will themselves be playing Splendour on the Saturday.

Tickets are sure to go quickly and are only available to members of the Bloc Party and Secret Sounds mailing lists, so if you’re keen for a spot you need to sign up before Monday 16th July.

In related news, Bloc Party’s newest studio album, Four, is due for release his August (and one of our most anticipated albums of the year). Following a four year hiatus after 2008’s Intimacy, that included break-up rumours, frontman Kele Okereke’s solo career, and at least one elaborate prank, the band have reconvened to deliver an album that frontman Kele Okereke has called “the best thing that we have ever done.”

Describing it as “the sound of four people in a room, loving what they do and doing it to the best of their ability.”

Full details of their warm up show are below, as well as the colourful new clip for “Octopus”

BLOC PARTY SPLENDOUR WARM UP SHOW

Friday 27th July – The Zoo, Brisbane QLD

w/ support from Last Dinosaurs

Tickets on sale 9am Tuesday 17th July exclusively via the Bloc Party & Secret Sounds mailing lists.

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