"Amazing Grace" Live

jadams501 · Post by **jadams501** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 3:33 am

I'm listening right now to the widely distributed Canada 10.20.03 show (I forget the venue) and I must say that, despite the dissatisfaction expressed around these parts with AG itslef and the subsequent tour, I think this band was in very fine form.

Most strikingly on less-praised tracks like "Lay It Down Slow" and "Never Goin' Back," it's like spaced out epic country and blues. "The Ballad of Richie Lee" is very pretty as well. It doesn't have the blissed out outer space quality of the immortal Pure Phase tour (I think the follow up to the Acoustic Mainlines tour EP should be an expanded reissue of Fucked Up Inside), but overall I prefer it to the bloated, glossy Las Vegas style of the Ladies and Gents years.

I know there had been some revised opinion about the album, but any thoughts about the tour?

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 9:56 am

From personal ecperience, by the time the tour had reached 2004 the band was on fire indeed. Heavy electricty in a future jazz blues style.

SpaceLine · Post by **SpaceLine** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:16 pm

they sounded fine on that tour i just dislike the setlist. rated x is interesting but the telephone microphone reminded me of tap's stonehenge. then again i like AG at first but i never, ever play it anymore the songs just don't stick like spz tunes usually do.

this was the middle of the show during that tour, no thanks.

04. Hold On
05. She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)
06. Lord Let It Rain On Me
07. Oh Baby
08. Cheapster
09. Medication
10. Lay It Down Slow
11. Never Goin' Back
12. The Ballad Of Richie Lee
13. Electric Mainline

i'll take the bloated vegas version i suppose:
march 31, 98
06. Home Of The Brave
07. Sway
08. Take Good Care Of It
09. 200 Bars
10. Come Together
11. I Think I'm In Love

alan_cohaul · Post by **alan_cohaul** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:20 pm

I like Amazing Grace. I like the conciseness and economical aspect of it. Like someone said, I don't find myself going back to it as often as I did at the time that it was released, but I like the rockingness of it. It's definetely their most rocking, fuzzed out record, and I kind of like the stripped down yin to the other albums' built up yang. "Let It Come Down" was a bit too orchestrated and built up, but I do still really like that record, too.

mojo filters · Post by **mojo filters** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:00 am

alan_cohaul wrote:I like Amazing Grace. I like the conciseness and economical aspect of it. Like someone said, I don't find myself going back to it as often as I did at the time that it was released, but I like the rockingness of it. It's definetely their most rocking, fuzzed out record, and I kind of like the stripped down yin to the other albums' built up yang. "Let It Come Down" was a bit too orchestrated and built up, but I do still really like that record, too.

I have the same kind of feeling about both albums, though go back to AG as much as LICD. However the Paradise Boston (good Q) boot from 2003 sounds great. I thouht the AG tour was superb (though maybe if I'd heard the FUI era (with full brass etc) it would probs beat it) as the newer songs sounded so good and the classics like Take Your Time lost nothing. Songs like Cheapster are made for live perfomance and Never Going Back always sounds much better live, especially that more stipped down raw r'n'r feel. I guess the real big hitters like Come Together and Think I'm in Love really sound best with a fuller royal Albert Hall-like band though.

There's not many bands as adept as Spz at using the different live line-ups to their very best effect, in my opinion!

Zenchan · Post by **Zenchan** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:09 am

I personally compiled a live version of the album out of numerous bootlegs (with the exception of The Power and Glory, which to the best of my knowledge was never performed live). I prefer it to the actual studio album.

Samuel · Post by **Samuel** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:11 pm

I got to see them in Newcastle when they were touring Amazing Grace and its easily my favourite gig of all time. I hadnt heard anything pre-Let It Come Down and was completely blown away. Got to see them do an in-store in the afternoon before the main show, which Jason promised would be "louder" and by Christ was he right! The band was on fucking fire.
From the bootlegs I've heard of older shows, I feel like The Amazing Grace stuff adds real power to the live experience. Fingers crossed for a full band tour for the new album, and I hope they play This Little Life Of Mine.

toomilk · Post by **toomilk** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:40 pm

jadams501 wrote:I'm listening right now to the widely distributed Canada 10.20.03 show (I forget the venue) and I must say that, despite the dissatisfaction expressed around these parts with AG itslef and the subsequent tour, I think this band was in very fine form.

Can I bum this off anyone?

PM please?

dselevan · Post by **dselevan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:31 am

It was a pretty lame album and the tour was only good for the light show. Even Sonic Boom left before the concert was over, but he seemed happy that Spaceman was sitting down again.

alan_cohaul · Post by **alan_cohaul** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:16 am

dselevan wrote: and the tour was only good for the light show.

Elaborate....what was wrong with the shows/ tour? I would have thought that they would have just ripped on that tour, seeing as they really amped things up. I would imagine that it would have been much pared down, unlike the Spiritualized of previous tours.

dselevan · Post by **dselevan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:05 am

1. Jason's voice sounded awful. Even on the Pure Phase tour when the band began experimenting with noise, his voice really grounded the show and made it a complete experience. His voice almost sounded metal or even arena rock on some of those new songs...

2. The intense interaction of the band was not there. I remember seeing John and Jason interweve these insane guitar parts, with Sean playing some insane wah-wah harmonica solo and Kate playing keyboards. On this tour, there were so many people on stage, and it just didn't seem like they were interacting like the same band. Jason was sitting there playing his parts and the rest of the band were playing their parts perfectly well. I just didn't get the feeling that I was seeing SPIRITUALIZED.

3. The show felt rather orchestrated and pre-meditated compared to older incarnations. I remember Jason saying on MTV 120 minutes in the UK that he never wanted to sound like a band just playing the record loud for a bunch of people, that he wanted to be more like a jazz band. This show felt like the last show I had seen, and even the show before that. There wasn't much difference between any of the 3 shows I saw in that period of time.

This is just my opinion. I think the band is awesome and I can't wait to see the new Acoustic Mainline tour..

mojo filters · Post by **mojo filters** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:21 am

dselevan wrote:2. The intense interaction of the band was not there. I remember seeing John and Jason interweve these insane guitar parts, with Sean playing some insane wah-wah harmonica solo and Kate playing keyboards. On this tour, there were so many people on stage, and it just didn't seem like they were interacting like the same band. Jason was sitting there playing his parts and the rest of the band were playing their parts perfectly well. I just didn't get the feeling that I was seeing SPIRITUALIZED.

This is just my opinion. I think the band is awesome and I can't wait to see the new Acoustic Mainline tour..

re the last line, are you not a bit late? Thought I saw the last gig on Satuday...apart fom ATP I guess.

As for interaction, I thought I saw Jason giving pretty clear cues to the band recently - most noticabily to Thighpaulsandra who always seems to have 1 eye on J while playing.

dselevan · Post by **dselevan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:43 am

The thing is, it is totally possible you are right. But in a huge sold out club, with Jason sitting down, you can't really see much. Much different than leaning against the stage and watching them, with their eyes closed, at the Whiskey. Many bands pull it off with such a large crowd - it seemed more lack of effort than ability. They didn't seem to want to pull off the same show they used to. This is just my opinion. I was bored. And I bet there will be an Acoustic Mainlines album and tour - there always is!

good dope/good fun · Post by **good dope/good fun** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:12 am

dselevan wrote:It was a pretty lame album and the tour was only good for the light show. Even Sonic Boom left before the concert was over, but he seemed happy that Spaceman was sitting down again.

Amen.
Hey man.

mojo filters · Post by **mojo filters** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:09 am

dselevan wrote:This is just my opinion. I was bored. And I bet there will be an Acoustic Mainlines album and tour - there always is!

There already has been a tour, and I imagine the band will be busy in 2007 touring the new album.

Fingers crossed for a live Acoustic Mainlines album - there have been at least 1 gig that good sources confirm were multitracked (as opposed to off-desk) so the material is there...whether the end product lives up to J's strict QC is another matter, but we live in hope!

dselevan · Post by **dselevan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:56 am

At least it will make B Sides like Let it Flow or other times Spiritualized have put live songs as B Sides. They have done this since the beginning (Smiles, 100 Bars, etc. etc) so, you know, they are a brand and will sell what they think will sell.

I'm listening to Amazing Grace again to see if there is something I missed before....The second song...well, it rhymes niceley.

helterskelter · Post by **helterskelter** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:09 am

Brighton and London were recorded by Tim Holmes, who used to be in Death in Vegas. Seems to me that the aim is to release them, infact Ben Crook has said as much here.

Tim Holmes is a Cool guy - think he's into SP3/Spz. He did a couple of b sides with sixbyseven that were heavily influenced by SP3, has worked with The Early years recently on their lp and produced the Flowers of Hell lp.

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:26 pm

dselevan wrote:
I'm listening to Amazing Grace again to see if there is something I missed before....The second song...well, it rhymes niceley.

i like it

mojo filters · Post by **mojo filters** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:43 pm

dselevan wrote:I'm listening to Amazing Grace again to see if there is something I missed before....The second song...well, it rhymes niceley.

If you mean the CD release, there is a term like 'half-rhyme' that describes it more accurately [/pedant]

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:16 pm

Not strictly amazing grace but from the tour. How good is that version of Electric Mainline? Still got that sting at the end but its got such a good build. Same with Take your time. Really really good. the band sounds massive, but not MTV massive with lovely separation between the drums and guitars. When they build up that wall of noise it just sounds perfect.

dselevan · Post by **dselevan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:16 pm

I couldn't make it through the CD. I don't mean to bash anyone's music, it just wasn't my thing. Acoustic Mainlines will be refreshing when it comes out.

dselevan · Post by **dselevan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:24 pm

I've heard that song so many times....I liked it better when it was a surprise what happened.

"Amazing Grace" Live

"Amazing Grace" Live

Re: "Amazing Grace" Live