Spiritualized

I saw Spiritualized back in February, and was hoping for a little more from this November gig.  To begin with the Roundhouse is a much better venue and has a really special atmosphere, particularly when compared with Bristol's O2 (the more I go there the more I wish I wouldn't.)

This gig was a little strange.  It felt like (like it did at the last one) like J. Spaceman just isn't that keen on being there.  That mysterious musician thing wears a bit thin, especially with such a well established band.  Having said that (and I feel bad for saying it) it may be that being so well established, with songs that people adore and crave at a gig, maybe that makes it difficult to bring new material into a set.  I don't know.  

Despite the above, I really enjoyed the gig.  It felt really refreshing, and so different to GYBE the night before.  I was right up at the front, and it did help with feeling connected to what was going on on stage.  One thing about Spiritualized I love is the way the vocals tend to drip off the melodies so easily.  This definitely is the case on record, and it becomes even more palpable live.  Every syllable means something, and you're supposed to take it all in exactly as it's presented to you.  That's what I really love about Spiritualized live.  The set and graphics are almost a bit underwhelming, but in a good way.  Too much would detract from all the subtleties in the music and you'd lose the psychedelic wonder of the whole package!

Spiritualized feel to me like one of my staple bands.  I listen to them to obtain something really specific from the experience, and after seeing them twice this year, I now know this is how they work live too.  When I really take a minute and think about what I've observed and heard, it's pretty epic and special.

I know I started off sounding as if I was a bit iffy about this gig, but I wasn't.  It's just irritating to me that twice I've felt that I'm watching a very reluctant frontman, but if there's anything about J. Spaceman's public persona it's that he does things his way and isn't pushed by others musically.  His word goes, I guess.  Thinking like this makes me feel better about the whole reluctancy thing.

I'm not going to lie, I don't think I've told you much in this post about the gig, I've just confirmed for myself exactly who and what Spiritualized is for me.  An opportunity to experience a trance like gig with frontman who knows exactly what he's doing, even if it doesn't always seem like he does.