Taking an album that clocks in at just under 70 minutes and turning it
into a full-length concert is a big ask. But this evening J Spaceman
and his associates managed to do just that, performing their lauded 1997 release
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space in its entirety.
When it was released, the album received many awards and was the subject of legal wranglings with the
estate of Elvis Presley, as a result of the title track having
incorporated the lyrics and melody from Presley's track Can't Help
Falling in Love. As a result, an alternative version of this track had
to be released on subsequent pressings.
Thankfully, when playing live Spiritualized perform it as originally intended
- which works very well indeed, particularly with a choir singing the
refrain and merrily sashaying throughout the evening. They were
great fun to watch, particularly during various freakouts that
occurred.
One male chorister really got into the zone, and proved to be
particularly adept at shaking his groove thang. At full pelt, they were
a force to be reckoned with - which brought to mind the Edwin Hawkins
Singers arrangement of Oh Happy Day, which Spiritualized have covered.
(It was released as part of the live album Royal Albert Hall October 10
1997.)
To the left of the choir were the brass section, who came to the fore
on Come Together. This was also an indicator of how the songs from the
album were to be transformed into lengthier versions of themselves, allowing for
both extended discordant extravaganzas (complete with retina-burning
strobe lighting) as well as more contemplative and rather wrenching
versions of tracks like Stay With Me.
The latter had the phrase "Stay
with me, baby don't go", sung by the choir over and over in a
wonderfully rhythmic manner that was almost meditative. Though in a delightfully
surreal way, the guitar riff morphed into something very similar to the
distinctive synths on Berlin's Take My Breath Away, as featured
on the soundtrack to Top Gun.
On the issue of lighting, they opted for the Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire? school of thought, probably blowing
a significant portion of the budget on it. But it was very effective, and
there were several lovely touches, not least having a starry background
appear as the album's opening line floated over the speakers.
Another
was during Stay With Me, when several banks of lights were directed
towards the disco ball, flooding the hall with swirling yellow light - simple, but effective.
It was a welcome addition, given that Mr
Spaceman isn't one for moving about much (or indeed, at all) on stage,
preferring to sit with his guitar and trusty Apple laptop nearby.
This being the Royal Festival Hall, the seated crowd mostly limited themselves to
polite clapping. Though when things came to a close they did give a
thoroughly appreciative standing ovation, and did so again after the encore of
Out Of Sight, from the 2001 album Let It Come Down. It was great show and a prelude
to their return to London at the Barbican in December.
GIG:
