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Seeing Spiritualized play is always a near-mind-blowing experience, but I wasn't really sure what to expect from last night's show at the Boston MFA. It wasn't the traditional band lineup who I'd seen a few times before; rather, it was J Spaceman on acoustic guitar, another guy playing a Rhodes piano, a string quartet, and a gospel choir quartet. I knew that many of Spiritualized's songs would likely work very well with this band, but I'd never seen Spaceman playing anything but an electric guitar. It was the Acoustic Mainlines tour, so that's the idea, but I'd just have to see.
Well, I left with my jaw dragging along the floor. The new and old songs mixed perfectly and the quartets brought a new dimension to many songs I've heard before. The crowd was into it from the very beginning, even though we were all comfortably sitting in our auditorium chairs. Before the show, someone had passed out little fliers asking us to sing "happy birthday" to J Spaceman before the first song. It didn't end up happening, although a few people did shout "Happy birthday!" to the keyboardist before J came on stage. Oops. They did have similar haircuts...
I think that anyone there would agree that the highlight of the show was the three songs that closed out the main set. From another song (I'm sure which one), the band slid right into "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space," then did "Broken Heart" and finally "I Think I'm In Love." "Ladies and Gentlemen..." is one of my favorite songs by anyone, ever, and I'd never heard them play it at any of the previous five shows I'd seen, so it was a treat just to hear that played. I wasn't prepared for how the choir would really blast the song off into space. Judging from the crowd's incredible reaction after the song, I certainly wasn't the only one who felt that way.
J has never been one to converse with the crowd, or for that matter, really say anything between songs. At the end of the last show I saw, he said "thank you" after the last song, and I think those were the first non-song words I'd ever heard him utter. Well, last night wasn't much different, but he said "thanks" at least three or four times, and genuinely gave the band a hearty applause after both the main set and the encore. Maybe he was just having a very happy birthday. If it were mine, I couldn't have asked for a better show.
Keep an eye on Bradley's Almanac for MP3s of the whole show. I ran into him as we were leaving, and he might have been even more blown away than I was. This recording will certainly be a real treat.
Finally, a note about the opening act. Simple Kid came over from Ireland to open up for this tour and he did a good set of his hippie tongue-in-cheek songs with videos and flash animations projected on the screen behind him. I saw him open for R.E.M. in Dublin this summer, so I knew what to expect, but it was still an enjoyable half hour of music and showmanship.
Jerad posted this in Live | Comments (8)
I think seeing J applaud, wave and SMILE at the end was one of the best parts!
It was "Anything More" into LAGWAFIS ;)
Posted by: keith at November 20, 2007 11:09 AM
Yeah, at previous shows J almost made you wonder if he noticed that an audience was watching! Thanks for the clarification on the lead-in.
Posted by: Jerad at November 20, 2007 12:57 PM
By the way, I got a picture of J applauding (and that might even be a smile) at the end. Check it out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/driveblind/2049325579/
Posted by: Jerad at November 20, 2007 01:38 PM
Behold, the glorious audio...
http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/2007/11/mp3s-spiritualized-live-in-boston.htm
Posted by: Brad at November 20, 2007 02:03 PM
Thanks Brad! I can't wait to get home and out from behind this filter that has the Almanac blocked.
Posted by: Jerad at November 20, 2007 02:30 PM
I was at the Boston show and I thought it was absolutely amazing. I had never seen Spiritualized before and this was truely an astounding show. I was actually crying a little bit because I was so touched. I love that pic of Spaceman applauding. I will be posting a review in my journal and a few pics and video I took with my cell phone.
Posted by: Baby81 at November 21, 2007 02:27 AM
I'd never heard of spiritualized before this particular show, aside from bits and pieces. Since it was at an art museum(and hence the bands name) I was expecting an enlightening artistic experience. People described his work to me as a cross between The Velvet Underground, La monte YOung, and Steve Reich.
What I subsequently experienced was perhaps the worst concert ever performed in the history of music. This is solely my opinion but if I ever encountered this J. Spaceman fellow I would demand my money back.
I could tell he was fucked up on acid when he came out, stumbling, dark sunglasses, mumbling.
He can't really play guitar for beans. I don't mind simple songs with nothing but two-chords, but this guy used the same strumming pattern for the WHOLE SHOW. Not to mention, after he finished one song he would often break into another using THE SAME TWO CHORDS.
Most of the songs consisted of a few painfully bad lines and then one endless, repeated refrain.
When he said "even freer than DMT" I almost burst out laughing. Clearly this guy hasn't had ENOUGH DMT and by the encore I was shoving my way through crying hipsters to the back exit.
People are entitled to their own opinions but when a guy plays two songs in a row with the same chords and similar lyrics one should know they they have been swindled.
Strange, as I like J. Spaceman's music with Han Bennik and Evan Parker.
Anybody else loathe this experience?
Posted by: Brian at November 23, 2007 09:13 PM
thanks a lot for sharing those files...
i've been trying to hear the acoustic mainline in a long time, and finally could afford it thanks to you.
cheers from brazil
Bruno C.
Posted by: bruno at December 29, 2007 09:58 PM
www.flickr.com
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