Well duh.
I apologise if this seems like an all too obvious choice for gig of the year but, EXCUSE ME, we are talking about SPIRITUALIZED at the SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE playing LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE in its ENTIRETY with THIRTY MUSICIANS including an ORCHESTRA and a TEN PIECE GOSPEL CHOIR what do you EXPECT?
“Don’t talk to me during the show!” I had warned weeks before. This was in the wake of the Primal Scream tragedy and of course, as you can tell if you’ve read the last paragraph, an even bigger deal.
Well that worked. All that happened was that they held my paw when I teared up, as I knew I would, for ‘L & G’ and for ‘Broken Heart’. The sniffles caught me off guard during ‘Cool Waves’ and ‘Stay With Me’ as well. Yes, no, it’s not surprising at all that blending a string section, a gospel choir, and a Jason Pierce, elicits emoshunz, but jeez now EVERYONE knows I am a big softie.
Lame.
For some reason, however, the lights people thought it would be a good idea to strobe it up during ‘Electricity’ and ‘Cop Shoot Cop’. I suppose the intent was to amp up the “effects” of the songs, which I appreciate, sure, but unfortunately, not only was it unnecessary, but it seemed to distract. Alors, no harm done, just a minor niggle. We don’t need to have our eyes open for ‘Electricity’ anyway.
I managed to get rid of the tearcrust (lo-fi gazebands might want that as a name) and croak my guess for the encore. Well, seeing all the strings, musicians and singers we had at our disposal, I ventured that it would likely be something off Let It Come Down.
Yup:
Lucky me!
Image nicked from FasterLouder