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Lupine can Howl and bark all they like. It might have
been all very well for the bitter sacked Spiritualized
three, who went on to form the Bristol based hoary psychedelic
rockers, to grumble all the way down to the dole office
back then about how Spiritualized's engine room had
been ripped out and the enigmatic J Spacemen wouldn't
or couldn't recover from their absence. Ha! They didn't
really think that through did they? Because eventually
he was going to return and that he has with the awesome
majesty of 'Let It Come Down' makes their claims look
really quite stupid if truth be told. And on tonight's
breathtakingly crisp warp-factor evidence that engine
refit suffers not a jot from lack of miles on the clock.
They may have taken the leather jackets, a bunch of
yellow-brick-road guitar solos and Sean Cooke's hair
with them in a huff, but they didn't see to snatch anything
of any real worth from Jason Pierce's grasp.
He still remains as secretive, nervous and as recluse
as ever up there, tucked away at the right of the stage,
at a 90 degree angle to the audience as if this might
somehow shield him from our watchful gaze. Lights rarely
trouble the bodies on stage either, instead working
an absorbing fantasia above. No initial noticeable change
in him since dragging 'Ladies and Gentlemen…' around
the country, but with the move towards coherence, clarity
and classic song structures on the new album comes a
new desire for his voice to be heard, and above a faint
dreamy whisper at that. On bone-bare album high 'Don't
Just Do Something' especially his quivering voice can
be heard towering almost confidently above its stripped
down simplicity, losing the strings of the recorded
version, but joining with long term collaborators The
London Community Gospel Choir to bring it to a rounded
crescendo. It's perhaps a bit surprising that 'Let It
Come Down' is only touched on in measure tonight, but
even with the 20 people who grace the stage at points
we don't even come close to the 100s that sculpted the
album's grandeur.
So over two hours, joined by an enduring atmosphere
and punctuated by strobe-fuelled intensity, we see Spiritualized
and Jason Pierce for what they are, where they've gone
and what they've become. The fuzzed-out, smacked-up,
acid-vision of the years gone by is certainly evident,
but more as a magic carpet carrying a new focus. 'Won't
Get To Heaven (The State I'm In)', this album's 'Cop
Shoot Cop' - also mind-blowing tonight, sums up the
meeting of this man's two minds most succinctly; towering
and ambitious, reflective and withdrawn. 'Electricity'
may have seemed a little flimsy next to the company
it chose tonight, but 'Come Together' rumbles out of
the droning omnipresent background like a dormant volcano
waking from slumber and is just about one of the most
stunning pieces of live music Crud has ever been party
to enjoy. Dipping back into 'Lazer Guided Melodies'
and 'Pure Phase' days the likes of 'Take Good Care Of
It', 'Shine A Light' and 'Take Your Time' glow stronger
than ever and going back even further, Spaceman 3's
'Take Me To The Other Side' is rough and uncompromising.
More than just an album PR this was a defiant show of
strength and completion. Billed as 'An Evening With
Spiritualized', it was that and more.
James Berry for Crud Magazine© 2001
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