Spiritualized Scale Stratospheric Heights
You could call it the permanent prescription: Spiritualized commence their set with 'Amazing Grace', 'You Lie You Cheat' and 'Shine A Light' as a means of inoculating the audience into their world. Live and, in particular, with festival appearances, Spiritualized have staked out a reputation for bringing their audience to stratospheric highs from early on. A mix of grace and noise has defined the Spiritualized live experience, not simply because of the 'shoegaze' moniker they and their contemporaries were originally tagged with, but because of a devotion to what music could do and could be.
Spiritualized mainman Jason Pierce's previous incarnation in Spacemen 3 was marked by brazenly copped riffs from the Stooges, Laurie Anderson and Kraftwerk - an ambition that made imitation into a form of invention. Delivering albums that were stunning in their desire and determination to make music that would genuinely take them somewhere, Spacemen 3 eventually imploded after flying too close to the sun. From the ashes, Spiritualized grew as a surreal, hypnotic and immense experience, both astonishingly gentle and violent (often at the same time).
Time changes slowly, if at all, in the Spiritualized world view. The religion, relationships and narcotics narrative remains and will no doubt continue with their new material such as 'Life Is a Problem' - which sadly was not played tonight. Pierce has never made any apologies for the course his music has taken, with three different line ups having come and gone since the formation of the band, each working to their master's vision. Pierce has resolutely marked his ground since penning 'Walking with Jesus' at the tender age of 18, and tonight that song, which typically marks it's protagonists failure to walk the line, is given a laid back countrified outing. The truly gorgeous 'Good Dope, Good Fun / Lay Back in the Sun' from 1995's 'Pure Phase' returns to the set, while a reworking of 'I Think I'm In Love' signals a concentrated attempt to build an overwhelming physicality of sound. 'Take Your Time', 'Come Together' and a heroic 'Take Me To the Other Side' reiterate his manifesto: both delicate and visceral, marrying fiery grandiosity with a lonely vulnerability, Pierce has it down. He aims for the stars with no apologies, and holds your hand in the gutter.
Spiritualized set list:
'Amazing Grace'
'You Lie You Cheat'
'Shine A Light'
'Cheapster'
'Walking with Jesus'
'Soul on Fire'
'I think I'm In Love'
'Good Dope, Good Fun / Lay Back in the Sun'
'Take your Time'
'Come Together'
'Take Me To the Other Side'