“I think you caught us on a good night,” mused Kele Okereke, midway through the first of two sold-out shows in Brixton, and the thunderous cheers that already greeted every song leapt up another notch.

Relentless touring since the release two years ago of Bloc Party’s million-selling debut, Silent Alarm, have undoubtedly helped to turn the shy 26-year-old singer into a surprisingly fun, engaging frontman, but his confidence comes mostly from his band’s new material. While early Bloc Party was always a crowd-pleaser, their poppy post-punk lacked soul. Ironically, a second album about the soullessness of modern life, A Weekend in the City, has made their passion rage.

On record, some of the new songs struggle to gel, their more marked electronics at odds with their rhythmic rock, but live, few felt less than rich, raucous stadium anthems. Song for Clay bolted from the blocks, led initially by a lone Okereke and a loud crowd that had learnt the lyrics to every new number. Hunting for Witches , about the tabloid take on immigration, saw the singer swing his guitar through the air like a light-footed dance partner and spit out his lines as though in disgust. When he punched the air, a thousand arms followed.

The recent single I Still Remember was one of the night’s tamest tracks, but it benefited from the use of five giant light pillars, which pulsed like psychedelic heart monitors. Yet it was the less obviously poppy songs, including a juddering, techno-tinged The Prayer and a disorientating, strobe-lit Uniform that were the set’s most effective songs.

Of old favourites, a thumping Banquet and a revamped version of This is Modern Love that recalled a young U2 were the standouts until a four-song encore that began too down-tempo then lurched into life during She’s Hearing Voices. Okereke hopped down from the stage to shake hands with fans, then jumped into the crowd and re-emerged crowd-surfing while still singing.

Helicopter was as frantic a closer as you’ll hear all year, but by then Okereke had proved his point. Bloc Party bland? No more.

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