Spiritualise me
Before we begin today let me implore any music snobs to turn away now. Because after the mention of J.Spaceman (Jason Pierce, ex- Spaceman 3, now of Spiritualised) performing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall last night, we are suspending the usage of words like 'sublime' and 'awe-inspiring'.Now with vagaries behind, let's discuss the reality of J.Spaceman's sold-out and highly touted 'gig of the week': an acoustic set of old and new material accompanied by a string quartet, gospel choir and guitarist. Which combined to produce combinations that blurred the boundaries between soul, garage rock, orchestral pop and gospel. Stop sneering, music snobs, we won't be using word combinations like 'free' and 'jazz' here - words that, generally, should be kept well apart, like sardines and ice-cream.
J.Spaceman live is an emotional musical journey of redemptive fear-inspired cold turkey. Much of his music takes the floating state of heroin addiction as a base, and then lays the shivering, sweating, lonely state of rehabilitation over the top. Like James Blunt crossed with Chris Issak on a come down, his lyrics facilitate a trawl through the murky depths of your heart. J.Spaceman unearths feelings akin to watching Wife Swap- you love the shameless self absorption, but feel simultaneously repulsed with yourself. Enjoyable until you realise this is as good as it gets. Like how Kate Moss must feel about Pete Doherty. See we knew we would come to understand that relationship one day.
Check here for remaining J. Spaceman UK tour dates.
posted by City Slicker at 10:02 am
12 Comments:
Awesome review
Love my daily City Slicker :-)
Pierce is legendary. How did you get those tix?
Psyched for the new album. January 2007 is it? Glad to hear J Spaceman is back from his near death experience and here to tell it all again.
Just got back from seeing Jason Spaceman tooin London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, it was rad - but got caught by the police having a quick smoke at one of the stops but apart from tht it was a remarklably smooth journey without incident
He is rad !!
did you actually like the gig or not? i can't tell. it's like some review in the wire ... :)
It is hard to not like Spaceman Max. However you define like. Although personally I consider Ladies and Gentleman and OK Radiohead to be the end of Britpop.
did he come dressed in a zoot suit?
Just booked up seats for his show at the Sage.
Looking forward. I like to be depressed. I am a Smiths fan.
Hey CS do you like your picture because I was there too! Agree rather okay gig nothing spectacular though. And all the Jesus crap?
My scores here:
1. Coolness of crowd: 6/10 - not very, nor was it particularly studenty or hairy. Just kind of normal I guess. But warm and supportive for the band.
2. Bob quotient: 4/10 - very poor, score would have been worse had it not been for a Regina Spektor look alike in a beret and curly ringlet combo picking up a few marks for general "nice hair".
3. Annoyment factor: 7/10 - an appreciative audience let down by consuming too much booze before the gig, leading to constant comings and going to the loo - not very sociable in a seated concert hall.
J Spaceman has taken rock n roll back to the very moment of its conception, when Robert Johnson stood at the crossroads wrestling with selling his soul to the devil in return for immortality. Spaceman has reimagined a different outcome to that struggle, one where Jesus wins, and the blues and rock n roll lie down with gospel and country.
I too SPENT nearly two hours in the company of J. Spaceman on the South Bank and it was tremendous. He was quietly impressive and backed by a string quartet and a trio of singers and a pianist. All the classics got an airing, I closed my eyes during some and felt lifted levitated out of my chair. It was insuperable. Also this week I got a call from a woman who spent time in a Venezuelan jail for smuggling drugs ...
Needed some percussion -- the fender keyboard gave it some movement, but not enough.
Worked best if you sat back with your eyes closed and let it wash over you...
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