Sept. 25, 2001@ The Black Box Theatre, Galway, Ireland
Take the advice of your peers, parents and advisors and study abroad for at least one semester. Aside from the obvious benefits (new experiences, foreign friends, change of scenery, etc.), residing in a new country allows a brief reprieve from the monotony of the American music scene.
As a temporary student at the National University of Ireland, Galway, this writer has the benefit of being a full-fledged Galwegian for four months. As a music fan, this means everything from seeing Blur videos on MTV: UK to hearing numerous street performers bust out Crowded House’s lovely “Weather With You.”
And while most pubs and nightclubs have a strong affection for tribute bands, Irish venues bring acts that would be hard to come by in the United States.
This brings us to Spiritualized. With the success of 1997’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, the combination of space rock, gospel and psychedelia gained Spiritualized a respectable if cultish following in the United Kingdom.
The newly-released Let It Come Down solidifies main man Jason Pierce as a master of his craft, delving further into themes of human vice and holy redemption behind a tapestry of brass, gospel choirs and full orchestra.
While Spiritualized’s Sept. 25 concert at the Black Box Theatre didn’t capture the orchestral brilliance of the new album, the band left few in doubt of its power to turn swirling atmospherics into tangible, near-anthemic numbers.
Supplemented by a six-piece brass section and a tympani/vibraphonist, Spiritualized took the stage in darkness and opened with the ominous “Cop Shoot Cop.” Pierce, never one for traditional rock-star posturing, stood stage right, showing his profile to the audience without ever addressing his fans, either visually or orally.
This is fine because his songs leave little to be desired, and on-stage banter would only ruin some of the mystique surrounding the band.
The first part of the set contained little from Let It Come Down, but included many fan favorites.
Fists were raised in celebration as the band launched into “Electricity,” an organ-driven throwback to `60s psychadelia. Though a bit by the numbers, “Electricity” served as a good jumping-off point, raising enthusiasm for the brilliance to come.
The only low point of the show came in the form of “Electric Mainline,” a mindless instrumental that found all three guitarists noodling toward nothing.
All was redeemed, however by the set’s finest song “Shine a Light,” as Pierce’s breathless request for the Lord’s salvation was off-set by bottleneck slide guitar and majestic horns. The song proved to be an effective midpoint for the concert, as the second half featured mostly new material.
The concert ended in the same fashion as Let It Come Down, with the set-closing “Won’t Get to Heaven (The State I’m In)” acknowledging the singer’s faults and missteps, while the stunning, gospel-inspired encore of “Lord Can You Hear Me” again asked for salvation in light of these sins.
Like the many Tom Waits tunes that have a spiritual element, you can never be quite sure if Spiritualized is truly interested in Gods’ good graces or if it merely off-sets the tales of drug-induced debauchery that make up the band’s canon.
Either way, the Galway crowd left the concert in a heavenly aura, having just seen one of Gods’ finest sinners deliver two hours of beatific brilliance.
