Spiritualized LIVE

In the liner notes of their 1997 masterpiece Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, the music of Spiritualized is coined as something “to treat the heart and soul”. As a huge fan of that album in particular, and feeling a little disjointed after a short-lived visit to the homeland, I approached Spiritualized’s performance on Sunday night with a keen anticipation. Surely the warm sounds of the gospel-tinged rock group would be an uplifting way to conclude a weekend?

Given his recent battle with liver disease, one can forgive lead Jason Pierce for lacking charisma, but it was a shame that he displayed little-to-no stage presence. All the same, the gig began on a very strong note. After a wall of reverb-laden guitars announced the band’s arrival, the huge screen lining the back of the stage flashed images of a bustling city as Pierce and co. launched into the gospel chug of ‘Hey Jane’. Followed up by a ferocious rendition of 1997’s ‘Electricity’, it was an amp-crackling opening which set a high benchmark for the remainder of the evening to live up to.

From there, however, the pace sagged as the band began to perform a plethora of mid-tempo numbers from 2012’s ‘Sweet Heart Sweet Light’. While some were pulled off nicely (the fluttering pianos of ‘Too Late’ were really quite lovely, and in a live capacity, ‘Little Girl’ transformed into a tastefully funky shuffle), the concert quickly became repetitious and slightly tiresome, with little variation in formula to elicit surprise as their most recent album was played from start-to-finish. While the new material is largely strong and evocative, on stage it felt a mite too inoffensive, and I started to wish for a little more from the group’s 1990s output to get an airing.

Even in more blustery moments, the musicians didn’t seem to invest any real passion into the music (with the exception of the lead guitarist, who looked like he was having a whale of a time during the squalling ‘Headin’ For The Top Now’). With their songs traditionally so heart-on-sleeve, it was disappointing that the emotional potential of these songs was never fully realised. It wasn’t until the later outings of ‘So Long You Pretty Thing’ and the spectacular light show that accompanied ‘Take Your Time’ that the music started to offer something beyond mere prettiness.

Still, half of those in attendance were really getting into things, with the left-hand-side of the mass in particular bobbing and cheering along to every song on offer. As a casual listener, though, it was merely a pleasant way of spending an evening, with nothing quite reaching the euphoric or life-affirming standards left by other concerts.