So, Rescue Rooms in Nottingham is a small venue painted black, tight and long, with an upper gallery, five clear light bulbs, two hanging from the ceiling, three on the stage floor. The usual 40+ audience stood with there own personal space around them, pints poised on Friday, March 16th.
No drone of earlier times.
The band entered:
Keyboard-Mark Arnold
Bass Guitar-James Selfox
Drums-Kevin Bales
The Gospel Singers-Claudia and Wendy
Lead Guitar-Doggen
Guitar and Vocals-Jason Pierce
Pierce was wearing a Velvet Underground t-shirt, and white jeans. Gone are the silver trainers, replaced with “Wild at Heart” type snakeskin loafers.
Bales started the beat “Hey Jane” with an unmistakable intro. The video released online this week once watched gives it a darker feel than when it was played back at The Albert Hall in 2011.
Pierce’s voice, best it’s been ever married with Doggen’s insane guitar playing… He is part of that instrument isn’t he?
All blended together with Wendy and Claudia’s dreamy over tones.
From the beginning of the performance the visuals hit you, being played over the heads of the band onto a stage sized white backdrop, occasionally moving down to blanket the band. VJ Paddy Farr clearly is an expert in his art. Selfox’s face, his eyes closed, a comfortable addition.
“Lay Back In The Sun” at the Oxford gig four days later, brought surely the best quote ever heard – [deep breath…]
“In 1,000 years there will be someone who will invent a time machine just so they can come back to relive this moment”!!
“Oh Baby” brought back the ‘90s vibe with feedback strobes and thumping. It was like being in a mini “best of” Spz gig, with a few new ones sprinkled in between. The Kaleidoscope of repetitive patterns changed from a Tron to Barbarella feel.
The numbers backdrop during “Twelve Steps” was outstanding, building into a fantastic visual blur that took you exactly where it was intended-to a place where if you’d never taken a drug in your life you’d thought you had then!
Coming on for an encore, “Electricity”, we were transported back twenty years, blinding strobes lighting up the crowd, some squinting, others with their eyes closed, each of them part of the designed experience.
The Bristol gig on the 21st was the best so far.
To answer Pierce’s question of, “Why are you going to so many gigs?” when your correspondent caught up with him at the train station, “Is each show so different?”
“Of course…”
Different building
Different audience
Different performance
Different atmosphere
But the same fantastic Spiritualized.
