Entering the Opera House district marks a complete assault on the senses. The Opera House is coated in video projections, fire soars up 3 stories into the sky and within the walls of the main section of the Opera House Spiritualized are playing their milestone record, Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space in its entirety, a performance that has only been done a handful of times for world class festivals such as 'All Tomorrows Parties'.
Tonight’s performance features a 12 person gospel choir, an orchestra, horn section and of course Spiritualized themselves, an on stage count between 30-50 people at times.
First the gospel choir enters, followed by the horn section and orchestra. The stage already seems packed, then Spiritualized enter with leading man Jason Pierce (J. Spaceman) taking a seat to the right of the stage, overlooking the proceedings.
The band gets straight into Ladies and Gentleman with the albums title track. From the start a spectacle is on show with anticipation always building for 'that' Timpani hit or when the horn section explodes through the speakers. Ladies and Gentlemen is performed spectacularly but it feels as if there were a few technical issues and the band struggled to get into the groove even though the track had performance qualities worth the admission price alone.'Come Together' picks up where Ladies and Gentleman leaves off and takes the show into rock n' roll territory as what it does on the record. In the live environment it takes it one step further with Jason Pierce and the other two guitarists playing off each other in ways that has to be seen to be believed. The addition of the horn section adds even more depth and attitude to a track that was already bursting at the seams. The track has everyone in the seated venue singing along and nodding their heads but possibly a bit confused as what to do with themselves in the seated environment of the Opera House. Come Together finishes with a bit of a jam that sees most of the onstage members participating in perfect harmony.
The 8 min (on record) 'I Think I'm in Love' begins in a shroud of mystery and it’s so far the most atmospheric song of the set. The harmonica featured in the track resonates through the Opera House like a knife cutting through butter. The gaps in the song make for good introductions to the walls of sound and when the full extent of the band are involved it makes for quite amazing live work. The end sees the gospel choir chanting the songs name with an all out jam session being the background canvas.
The keyboard intro of 'All of my thoughts' starts up and the crowd are already mesmerised with the string section and organ leading into a fuzzed out wah noise jam that almost hurts the ears. Jason's vocals in this song are as intimate as on record if not more so. As with all the songs so far it’s hard to pick a high point within the track.
'Stay With Me' takes the show from an already amazing show to a once in a life time gig. Jason's vocals coupled with the choir and the rest of the band makes this one of the highlights of the set and the instrumentation of the horn section and the bass and percussion takes this to another level. The lead guitar cuts in with such an intense volume at the beginning and sends the crowd to quite literally floating in space. A sing along ensues and the track resonates just so much emotion that you would have to be made of stone to not be marvelled of all that is going on in front of you. This song in this environment marks new heights for music as an art form in both live performance and artistic merit. It called for the first standing ovation of the night and a deafening cheer by the audience and I was damn sure participating!
What 'Stay With Me' achieved with marvel, awe and breath taking soundscapes, 'Electricity' some how managed to take it one step further with balls out rock ‘n roll guitar and traditional rock spectacle that would have stadium rock bands in marvel and people suffering from epilepsy needing life support. The strobe lights that act as the bands back drop are literally blinding and explains why Jason Pierce is wearing sunglasses at night. The almost simple and a tad cliché rock ‘n roll lyrics are delivered in such a unique way and this marks the point in the show where the audience are confused as to whether to jump up and dance in the all seated Opera House or to sit back and watch the intense spectacle in front of them.
The uplifting sounds of ‘Home of the Brave' sees an explosion of bright lights and colour. Notable kudos go to the drum and percussion section for this song with both of them working together to create an amazing driving backdrop for what is really a bleak song delivered in a positive way. Home of the Brave opens the way for the instrumental 'The Individual' to shine. The feed backing guitar coupled with the wails from the horn section almost mark a descent into madness then an ascent into space.
I get unnerved in my seat as my favourite Spiritualized track; the atmospherical 'Broken Heart' is up next and instead of the space overtones of the recording. A harmonica paves the way for the track and sets it up to be a western work by Ennio Morricone. The strings and horns enter with the tortured pleadings of Jason Pierce. A low light environment sets the mood and within my chair I had to resist the temptation of letting out a tear at this beautiful work (although some people within the crowd could not). The addition of the reverb drenched harmonica turned this song into another entity and reinforced within the crowd that this is one of the greatest shows our country has seen.
'No God Only Religion' brings the crowd back from heartbreak and as with other instrumental The Individual brings them back down to the lower realms of the human psyche. As with The Home of the Brave, This track really showed off the talents of the Percussion section.
The gospel choir's leader has taken back her place at the front to run the band through the track that justifies their presence at tonight’s show. 'Cool Waves' is the calm to the storm that has been the show so far. Jason Pierce's vocals are just amazing and when he sings the chorus with the choir it is hard to tell the highlight. This is the track that the horn, string and gospel sections can show the range of their more traditional backgrounds. If there wasn't a monster of a track left this could have ended the show and no one would be disappointed.
The last track off Ladies and Gentlemen, 'Cop Shoot Cop' has a run time of over 17mins on record and is a number that goes through all the motions. The key to what made this track on record was the loud/soft dynamics and in the live arena these are pushed beyond belief. The verse sections conclude with a thunderous jam where guitar is let loose and all the members on stage make as much noise as they can. After the second verse the strobes that propelled electricity to new heights are back except during these guitar sections… There are even more of them!!! A blinding strobe section compliments the music and takes it to all new levels with the strobes on full blast for around 3-4mins. My pupils dilated and I could quite literally see stars during these strobe noise sections and then when I felt as if my brain was on the verge of exploding. The smooth jazz of the verse riff cuts back in and everything is calm again in space. A huge applause and comments between audience members is nearly louder then the music and Jason Pierce thanks the crowd in a rare moment of audience interaction. The band then walk off stage and everyone within the Opera House are awarding the band a standing ovation.
The band walk back on stage and run through a one song encore of 'Out of Sight' which is over within a blink of an eye and although the intensity of Cop Shoot Cop is still resonating within my own and the audiences head the song is almost unregistered. Spiritualized leave the stage once more and thank the crowd which sees the house lights go up and the crowd wanting more, yet still insanely satisfied.
The spectacle that was on show tonight was undeniably world class and explains why this band is headlining this amazing unique festival. Jason Pierce is an enigma, he is a tortured soul who resonates so much beauty through his art. He is almost socially awkward on the stage and rarely makes eye contact with the crowd let alone interacting with them. He has been quoted as saying that playing the Ladies and Gentlemen shows have gotten him excited about making music again. He has been through a lot in his life and career and he has cemented the fact in the audiences mind tonight that he is worthy of any praise that bestowed upon him.
This show reminded me of the spectacle that was Sigur Ros in 2008 and The Flaming Lips at Splendour in the Grass in 2009. Everything was there, spectacular musicianship, an amazing set list and more. The confidence and talent of all the musicians and crew involved tonight was above par. With so many people on stage the Sydney Opera House seems to be by far the most fitting environment to stage this show.It is most definitely one of the best performances I have ever seen and will see in the foreseeable future. It complimented the legacy of the album as well as exceeded and rewarded the expectations of the world wide audience that this festival has drawn.
If Spiritualized do this again sell your house, car or whatever it takes to see this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Bradley Armstrong
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