Leamington

For setlists, memories and bootlegs etc...

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Starfish
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Leamington

Post by Starfish »

had to laugh at this.

I got a mate of mine into Spiritualized a couple of years back with a compilation of their earlier mellow stuff (LGM, LAG, Pure Phase etc) and so he was quite excited at seeing them at Leamington.

Got this text from him last night:

"Load of shite. Left early, should have left much earlier. Think u spoiled me putting all those lovely soft tracks together. Tonight was just a succession of portions of interminable shapeless loud noise."

:shock: Oh dear.

I didn't go to Leamington, even though it's my nearest on this tour, cos I'm off to RAH tonight.

Judging by the Edinburgh reports, it'll be a good one.
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Re: Leamington

Post by Vindaloo »

[quote=]"Tonight was just a succession of portions of interminable shapeless loud noise."[/color]
[/quote]

That sounds alright to me :D
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Re: Leamington

Post by Greeny »

Ha ha ha - that's genius!

Fucking bring it on!!!!
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Re: Leamington

Post by The Kwisatz Haderach »

Sounds like a top gig to me!
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Re: Leamington

Post by simonbward »

anyone bootleg the gig last night?
i had tix but couldnt make the rearranged date :(
heard they played most of the new album?
PontiacB
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

I went and its only the 2nd time I've seen them, first being Leamington last time.

I enjoyed it more than last time and thought the main set, which was all new to me bar one song which I think they played last time, was excellent, new songs sound brilliant. Personally I could have done without the long 45mins second part (encore) and would have settled for just a couple of old songs, but generally people lapped it up.

Reckon there were 500-600 there in a 1000 capacity venue.

I did record the gig and will post it on Dime sometime. I know there were a load of new songs and its a bit of a moral dilema whether to post shows under these circumstances for me, but they will get posted on youtube etc anyway based on past experience and I'm sure listening to the songs will only encourage people to buy the album when it comes out.
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

Please do post the boot on here. For us Anglophiles stuck in the States it'd be a god send.
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PontiacB
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

They Transmit wrote:Please do post the boot on here. For us Anglophiles stuck in the States it'd be a god send.
Will definitely post on Dime, but would want the OK from a mod from here before I post it here - I don't want to cause any problems and I'd fully understand why they'd maybe not want download links posted here due to all the new songs.
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Re: Leamington

Post by spzretent »

They Transmit wrote:Please do post the boot on here. For us Anglophiles stuck in the States it'd be a god send.
Same for us Yanks stuck in the States......
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

spzretent wrote:
They Transmit wrote:Please do post the boot on here. For us Anglophiles stuck in the States it'd be a god send.
Same for us Yanks stuck in the States......
Seeing you are a mod can I take it this implies that it would be OK to post links here? If so it will be a few days before I can process the recording and sort it due to work and a couple of gigs over the next few days.

Here's 3 photos I took on my cheap camera phone
Image
Image
Image
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Re: Leamington

Post by spzretent »

PontiacB wrote: Seeing you are a mod can I take it this implies that it would be OK to post links here? If so it will be a few days before I can process the recording and sort it due to work and a couple of gigs over the next few days.
]
Yes. Posting a link is fine.
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PontiacB
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

spzretent wrote:
PontiacB wrote: Seeing you are a mod can I take it this implies that it would be OK to post links here? If so it will be a few days before I can process the recording and sort it due to work and a couple of gigs over the next few days.
]
Yes. Posting a link is fine.
Cool - thanks for the response. Hopefully have it sorted by the weekend. Here's a mp3 of one of the slower tracks as a taster.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/n2f33t
They Transmit
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

Good man, many thanks indeed. Very much looking forward to hearing the full set. I'm recording our second album here in LA right now so if you don't have access to any gear I'll be happy to master and clean it up.
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Re: Leamington

Post by jack white »

thanx pontiac

edit: jesus be my air-o-plane/won't get to heaven is different from A&E tour too. tho not the departure of IAWIA. really nicely fleshed out. still country.
fuck! sounds lovely. album should be sweet talk.
gonna burn brightly
for a while
luiandlui
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Re: Leamington

Post by luiandlui »

I was at Leamington and it was great (the back of my head is in one of the pictures above). The main set consisted of all new songs with a long encore including the usual suspects (Shine a Light, Oh Happy Day, Take me to the other side) plus a surprising version of Sway.

The new songs mostly sounded really good, bodes extremely well for the new album.
PontiacB
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

They Transmit wrote:Good man, many thanks indeed. Very much looking forward to hearing the full set. I'm recording our second album here in LA right now so if you don't have access to any gear I'll be happy to master and clean it up.
That would be cool,

I normally just normalise and split because of lack of time and lack of any ear for EQ/ability to use software very well. I'm always afraid of doing more harm than good!

So I'll post a link normalised/split flacs and then if you do get a chance to play with it and improve it that would be very cool. I can always upload the unsplit file somewhere for you if it would be easier.

Recording has come out well, very little chatter and I only had shortish people directly in front of me. I used Church audio cards which are great mics but lack a bit of low end punch, so the bass could may be do with a bit of a boost.
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

No bother, happy to help. WAV would better for me, 24bit if pos. 16 bit would do ok though.
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Re: Leamington

Post by marmalade »

PontiacB wrote:
spzretent wrote:
PontiacB wrote: Seeing you are a mod can I take it this implies that it would be OK to post links here? If so it will be a few days before I can process the recording and sort it due to work and a couple of gigs over the next few days.
]
Yes. Posting a link is fine.
Cool - thanks for the response. Hopefully have it sorted by the weekend. Here's a mp3 of one of the slower tracks as a taster.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/n2f33t

sounds great, thanks for posting this and looking forward to the full set :D
Tufty
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Re: Leamington

Post by Tufty »

Thanks very much for the track Pontiac, sounds really good! Very clean and balanced sounding and am dead impressed at the lack of OTT crowd chatter, well done! X
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Re: Leamington

Post by TheWarmth »

Awesome. I hope he keeps the old title, "Life Is A Problem." Either way, it's a great song. Thanks for the download.
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Re: Leamington

Post by shalloboi »

thanks for posting the clip- it sounds fantastic!
The Black Lodge
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Re: Leamington

Post by The Black Lodge »

I had kind of given up on Spiritualized.
I saw them the last time they played Leamington, I was living only a few miles away at the time so it would have been foolish not to go. It was a good gig. But that was all.
It seemed like Mr Pierce had lost his way, Amazing Grace and A&E were not for me.

But...the gig on Monday night was something else.
The new songs are in the most part pretty amazing.
A return to form.
My only fear is that they will be destroyed by over production when they in the studio and through the mixing process.
It would be such a shame to lose the fragile beauty of it all.

And was it just me or were those lyrics dripping with junk and withdrawl?

Anyway...for now my faith has been reaffirmed.
"I'm a believer..."
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Re: Leamington

Post by stodmeister »

Starfish wrote:had to laugh at this.

I got a mate of mine into Spiritualized a couple of years back with a compilation of their earlier mellow stuff (LGM, LAG, Pure Phase etc) and so he was quite excited at seeing them at Leamington.

Got this text from him last night:

"Load of shite. Left early, should have left much earlier. Think u spoiled me putting all those lovely soft tracks together. Tonight was just a succession of portions of interminable shapeless loud noise."

:shock: Oh dear.

I didn't go to Leamington, even though it's my nearest on this tour, cos I'm off to RAH tonight.

Judging by the Edinburgh reports, it'll be a good one.
As someone who has been a more than a few Spiritualized gigs in my time , the "load of shite" comment obviously come from someone who has never seen or heard them live. That's like going to a Spiritualized gigs and complaining about the lighting or saying that saying that they shouldn't play Spacemen 3 songs

I was at the gig and thought it was fantastic , the new songs encompass all facets of Spiritualized
and I look forward to the new album. I actually felt at times I was being lifted away as the songs were played.

The second part of the set were classic tracks and tracks from Lazer Guided Melodies were played.

Ah well I suppose you can't please everyone but as far as it was concerned it was up there with some of the best Spiritualized gigs I have seen. The venue was not full by any means and the crowd I felt was a little subdued although appreciative.

On saying that I'm used to going to gigs "Up North"
Last edited by stodmeister on Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Take your time , back up a little bit.
PontiacB
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

Think the setlist was probably
1.Hey Jane
2.Little Girl
3.Get What You Deserve
4.Too Late
5.Heading For The Top
6.Freedom
7.I Am What I Am
8.Won't Get To Heaven
9.Mary
10.Dio C'e
11.Encore Break
12.Sway
13.Cheapster
14.Shine A Light
15.Take Me To The Other Side
16.Oh Happy Day

This is based on the Edinburgh thread titles and a review of the recording.
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Re: Leamington

Post by gassjack »

stodmeister wrote:the new songs encompass all facets of Spiritualized and I look forward to the new album. I actually felt at times I was being lifted away as the songs were played.
Precisely how I felt at Edinburgh and RAH.
and through wax seals and padlocks...a hand through my ribcage...past the choking I saw palms and fingers grasping shoulders...collarbone...crushing...I imagined myself hacking desperately at a sea of appendages...freeing myself like a butcher...
gratefulted
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Re: Leamington

Post by gratefulted »

I've been a fan since the start but this was my first gig.I was totally embarrassed not to recognise any of the first set.Fortunately a bloke reading a book told me it was the new album.On this showing I'll be buying it.Only 2 songs didn't really do anything for me which is a pretty good return for your money.The bass at the gig was fantastic and the girls were pretty good when they came through the mix.
One beef I have with the band is that when you can create songs of such beauty why let things degenerate into a wall of noise with such regularity? 3 or 4 times in a night is too much.It totally ruined things for my wife which could have landed me right in it if she wasn't such a top girl.Especially as it was her birthday.
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Re: Leamington

Post by bunnyben »

gratefulted wrote: One beef I have with the band is that when you can create songs of such beauty why let things degenerate into a wall of noise with such regularity? 3 or 4 times in a night is too much.It totally ruined things for my wife which could have landed me right in it if she wasn't such a top girl.Especially as it was her birthday.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ah well
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
runcible
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Re: Leamington

Post by runcible »

gratefulted wrote:One beef I have with the band is that when you can create songs of such beauty why let things degenerate into a wall of noise with such regularity? 3 or 4 times in a night is too much.It totally ruined things for my wife which could have landed me right in it if she wasn't such a top girl.Especially as it was her birthday.
See that's the thing that will divide fans. What I want from Jason is guitar noise - I am far less interested in the tranquil stuff as I don't think he's done that side as well as in the earlier material. I like my music heavy for the most part. The guy is a master at producing sonic destruction and I wish he'd do it more. I remember a gig in York many years ago where it was 2 3/4 hours of total noise - one of the best Spz gigs I have ever seen.
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Re: Leamington

Post by BzaInSpace »

gratefulted wrote: One beef I have with the band is that when you can create songs of such beauty why let things degenerate into a wall of noise with such regularity? 3 or 4 times in a night is too much.It totally ruined things for my wife which could have landed me right in it if she wasn't such a top girl.Especially as it was her birthday.
HAHA! You were aware that this was a Spiritualized show, right? Best review yet...
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Re: Leamington

Post by olan »

gratefulted wrote:I've been a fan since the start but this was my first gig.I was totally embarrassed not to recognise any of the first set.Fortunately a bloke reading a book told me it was the new album.On this showing I'll be buying it.Only 2 songs didn't really do anything for me which is a pretty good return for your money.The bass at the gig was fantastic and the girls were pretty good when they came through the mix.
One beef I have with the band is that when you can create songs of such beauty why let things degenerate into a wall of noise with such regularity? 3 or 4 times in a night is too much.It totally ruined things for my wife which could have landed me right in it if she wasn't such a top girl.Especially as it was her birthday.
Errrm, Have you actually listened to any of the LPs, let along the live album? They are a fair indication of what to expect. It was a Spiritualised gig mate, not a performance by a string quartet. noise/feedback/mayhem is necessary/expected.

And....at least you got to see it :cry:
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

I think the interesting thing here for me as I've not been near this board in a long while are the amount of people that have come to the band via more recent recordings and not having gone through the sonic war version of the band. Not trying to creat factions or stir anything up just found it interesting the varying expectations of what the live show should be about.
On a personal stand point I'm with Runcible and prefer the band lound n nasty with a touch of sweetness....just a touch though not the new ballad vibe which i can't stand.
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Re: Leamington

Post by BzaInSpace »

The last time I seen this version of the band - exactly three years ago - it was nothing less than heavy sonic menace and heavy acid vibes. Sonic war? Certainly.

The closing sequence of 'She Kissed Me>Come Together>Take Me To The Other Side' was astonishingly heavy, heady and insane and with that light show was like staring into the void.

I don't however buy this idea that this could be any less intense than back whenever...
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

I've a recording of the show that I mastered for PontiacB, I think he's going to post it here at some point. I really enjoyed a couple of the new ones but overall its now a version of the band that I don't really understand. I still love Spz but it seems to be a more nostalgic harking back kinda romance...saying that though the version of Sway is just superb.
Overall a risky tactic playing a more or less a whole show of untested tracks, I can understand some peoples disgruntled views. A few of my London based friends went to the Albert Hall and though overall the review was positive they did say a few sprinklings of the classics in amongst the new throng would have livened it up a bit in the first set. Listening to the boot I can see their point. The second track is the killer for me though, tasty.
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clewsr
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Re: Leamington

Post by clewsr »

I'm really looking forward hearing a recording of the Leamington show - I've got a feeling that the new tracks will sound a bit rougher and be a little less saccharine without the choir and horns.
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

Bza, I agree with you but that's not my point, my point was peoples expectations that have come to the band in more recent times. Not some, it was better in my day kind deal. Was talking about overall expectations of the live show. I want it to be loud and sonic throughout, not just in parts. But that's just how I'd like it from my personal standpoint.
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Re: Leamington

Post by flokie »

They Transmit wrote: The second track is the killer for me though, tasty.
I totally thought of your band when they played it! :lol:
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

I've split the recording (mastered by They Transmit) and have listened to the first 6 songs in the car today, sounds very nice and many thanks to him for his work, he's done a top job. I'm out tonight but will try to listen to the rest tonmorrow then will post a link here. My plan is to stick up mp3s to start with then torrent the flacs on Dime, then once that's done will put the flacs up somewhere for those who don't use Dime. Should sort is all over the next few days!
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Re: Leamington

Post by sunray »

BzaInSpace wrote: I don't however buy this idea that this could be any less intense than back whenever...
Sorry Barry, but you're wrong. Don't want to sound like a boring old fart but you weren't there so you can't possibly know. That's not meant to be a dig btw. For me the ballads are a complete borefest and i would much prefer a full gig of sonic war rather than a token 20 minutes at the end. Majority of new material sounds great though. :D

Neil, are you sure you're not getting the second half of the first tune confused with actually being the second song? First song had a noise breakdown in the middle then kicked back in and sounded more like your band rather than what i believe to be the second tune, which my girlfriend reckoned sounded like Jason had written on the toilet such was it's laziness and "Spiritualized Lite" sound!
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

Hey Sunray,

Not sure on the track listing, but it appears to be kinda the second track, just thought the noise breakdown was an interlude. If it is one long track then it is MIGHTY. And to my mind at least highlights how poor/weak the ballads are. Just listening now and yes I think it is one long track, this makes me happy. It also saddens as it shows he can still really crack out killer tunes and arrangements. This perplexes me even more though as to why he keeps returning to the Stones/Dylan/Beatles vibed ballads which aint great...
Before anyone jumps down my throat I'd hasten to add these are just how I liked my Spz tracks served up, sonically challenging with a large amount of grit. I totally understand other fans enjoy different elements for different reasons.
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Re: Leamington

Post by flokie »

Hah I got mixed up too . There's noticeably less clapping between the two parts on the RAH bootleg than there was in Edinburgh (guilty as charged). And now I'm wondering how I didn't notice at the gig - and most likely explanation I can think of was I thought the sound was poor at the very start.
Listening to the bootleg, I have to say quite a few songs just washed over me again, esp. towards the middle of the first set. "Poppy/So Long" is the best ballad by far - although it went on for 3 min too long, turning from beautiful and uplifting to new "Soul On Fire" :/
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Re: Leamington

Post by They Transmit »

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Re: Leamington

Post by TheWarmth »

I can understand the lack of enthusiasm for the ballads, I suppose. Personally, I love "Life Is A Problem" and generally find the quieter Spiritualized material to be beautiful and inviting. I like the balls-to-the-wall guitar business, too, but there is a difference between the band's free-jazz freakouts, which to me get irritating quickly, and the heavy sonic assault of songs like "She Kissed Me" and "Take Me To The Other Side," where the white noise blends nicely with chord progressions and melodies. I, for one, have no interest in listening to 2 hours of "Electric Phase," which I think would be far more boring that a full set of well-played, restrained ballads. There is certainly something to be said for striking a nice balance, though, and that's what I like about most Spiritualized albums and performances.
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Re: Leamington

Post by angelsighs »

I think I'm pretty much in agreement with you there TheWarmth. one of my favourite things about the band has always been that they mix up some fantastic waves of noise with some proper old fashioned songwriting. the thrill is in the extremes that they go to (the only other band I can think that do this, apart from Sp3 obviously, are the Velvet Underground. or maybe Neil Young?)

the danger is if they skew it too much to one side. an album full of ballads can be as boring as an album full of abstract noise. the great thing about Spz is that the noise kind of has context and is trying to express something (frustration? transcendence?).. out of the ashes of a blast of chaos will come a really sweet song.

lets not forget that LGM is quite a quiet and soft album really. and that too has some classic little songs on there. (although obviously I know people are talking more about the live show here).

I don't think there's anything wrong with Jason wanting to do some ballads if that's where his head is at. I just want them to be superior, well written ballads (Anything More, Sitting On Fire) rather than poor ballads (Ballad of Richie Lee, Borrowed your Gun, Waves Crash In). can totally understand peoples frustrations if thats not the direction you want the band to go in. but that's life- bands evolve.

as for my verdict on the Leamington show, it was definitely louder and rawer than the RAH show, but a bit more ragged. sound was a bit muddy.
overall the last Leamington show on the A&E tour beats it hands down. the setlist was really wonderful and well paced that night, and that final stretch of Come Together>TMTTOS was just awesome. sonic war indeed :)

will say that Monday's Cheapster was the best version I have ever seen though. and Sway was much better and much louder than at RAH.
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Re: Leamington

Post by runcible »

As someone who has missed these shows I can't offer a true view. I can, however, say that I am sitting here listening to a recording of Hey Jane from the RAH show and the initial sonic blast is what I look for when I see Spiritualized.

It would be easy to say I don't like the ballads but it's not true. I love Sway, If I Were With Her Now, Take Your Time... But these are all old ballads from yesteryear, so to narrow it down I can say that pretty much all of the quieter stuff from the post Pure Phase period is dull to my ears. I want the volume up - distortion, fuzz, wah-wah, drums pounding, faster pace... This new song Hey Jane contains plenty of that and has my interest well and truly tickled - it sounds absolutely magnificent. The first track someone uploaded here was described by a mate of mine as 'Spiritualized by numbers' and indeed it was - slow and gentle with a few Jesus references. Dull. It's noise I crave and as Jason is someone who understands noise better than almost anyone I look to him more than most.
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Re: Leamington

Post by angelsighs »

let's not forget that the heavier songs can be just as formulaic and dull- can anyone really say songs like I Gotta Fire, This Little Life Of Mine, Never Goin Back, are up there with the best?

those 'early ballads' you mention also have the distinction of becoming much meatier when played live, runcible (apart from maybe Sway). maybe part of the problem is that at some point the band started playing songs live with very similar arrangements to the albums. rather than cranking those guitars and those keyboards up to fill out the sound, and in the process creating something new.

plus all those songs are quite unique in their own way. I agree that it's the identikit tunes with an arpeggiated hymn-intro and references to Jesus that get dull.

I agree that Hey Jane is fantastic. so, so good. more like that please.
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Re: Leamington

Post by jack white »

runcible wrote:Jason is someone who understands noise better than almost anyone I look to him more than most.
is he that person anymore tho? has he been surpassed by fellow noiseniks while he's retreated into his poppier style?

i was kinda hoping he would step up to the challenge of the psych/noise bands of the past 5-10 years & reaffirm his position but he doesn't seem interested in these "sonic wars" & noise as he once was.. he doesn't seem to embrace the philosophy & deconstruction with the same vitality & energy he once did.


tho going back to a point sunray made, which ties in with what angelsighs has been saying, @ least none of the new songs are re-writes of electricity. there is maybe a little more variety with his pop sensibilities coming thru but it does seem to be at the expense of hard rock, the balance just doesn't seem to be quite right for me..
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Re: Leamington

Post by clewsr »

Don't forget LGM was almost pure pop though, at least easy on the ear, it not pop. Anyway that you want me, I want you, Run, very catchy tunes. So Spiritualized started out as the antitheses to noise.

I think Amazing Grace era live was about as noisy as they got, and for me that wasn't a very inspiring period.

I agree with what someone else said earlier - I like a wall of noise, but I ideally need a little hint or a beat or a tune left to cling on to.
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Re: Leamington

Post by jack white »

clewsr wrote: I think Amazing Grace era live was about as noisy as they got, and for me that wasn't a very inspiring period.
it really is funny how things go - for me that tour/live era was the moment i was hooked on the band! i'd a couple of their albums & enjoyed them & AG but i'd never seen them live.
& to put it into context it was a time where i was really disillusioned with rock music.

then that 3 guitar assault on the opening number, Electricity, that was it started for me. those shows were, at times, so heavy loud noisey & brutal & then that's when the likes of Broken Heart etc really shone through.
i think they need more noise to highlight the beauty of the ballads/pop songs more. but being pummelled by those driving grooves & being reconfigured by the wig-outs while picking my brain off the back wall all at the same time is where i want to be. those moments are as good as it gets for me.

in the last A&E tour, again harking back to sunray's comments, there was a definite lull in the middle of those shows as they played a handful of the softer, quieter numbers & kept the noise til the last 2/3 songs.

i prefer the live show with more noise. i do think it helps make the ballads more stunning. i do think there is a balance between the two - i'm not adverse to the ballads/pop songs in fact i love a great deal of them & dislike a few of the rockers, but i do prefer that noise.

& on the topic of LGM i do think there is a storm brewing below the surface of each of those tracks. they have a very different energy that say the more songwriter-y Mama Said that excuses them any sort of criticism.
& i dunno for sure, but were those songs not transformed into noise when they played live? Take Your Time for instance is a rock behemoth. Smilies?
but yea fair point about the pop origins of that album, especially the first track(s). but none of these new pop songs care the same floating spacey glory as If I Were W/Her Now



& can i just say, fwiw/ftr, i think Ballad of Ritchie Lee is great & I would love to hear the full version (18mins?) of I Gotta Fire & I really really like This LIttle Light & Never Goin' Back (tho obv the best rockers on the last two albums were Cheapster & YLYC)
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Re: Leamington

Post by clewsr »

ha ha it is funny, - everyone has their own idea of their 'perfect' spiritualized, and you are only ever going to get for a while until they change again, I remember being massively disappointed when they went away from the LGM sound but I've enjoyed each version of the band.

Agree entirely with what you said about the 'storm brewing' in LGM (nice phrase). I'm not a fan of the slow ballads, for me its the song with vitality and urgency that get me, - where they are noisy or not. Give me Feel So Sad, over say Broken Heart. Even Feel So Sad got beefed up nicely when they played it live

Listening back to the albert hall boot, did anyone notice the one of the songs sounded very similar to the live version of 200 bars? not sure which one it was, but only a good thing in my opinion!
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Re: Leamington

Post by TheWarmth »

angelsighs wrote:I don't think there's anything wrong with Jason wanting to do some ballads if that's where his head is at. I just want them to be superior, well written ballads (Anything More, Sitting On Fire) rather than poor ballads (Ballad of Richie Lee, Borrowed your Gun, Waves Crash In). can totally understand peoples frustrations if thats not the direction you want the band to go in. but that's life- bands evolve.
Wow, the ballads you describe as "poor" are some of my favorites. On A&E, I think the ballads really tower over the heavier rock material. Give me "Borrowed Your Gun" and "Waves Crash In" over "I Gotta Fire" or "Yeah Yeah" any day. I also think "The Ballad of Richie Lee" is one of the highlights of Amazing Grace. We're in agreement with "Sitting On Fire," though ... great track.
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Re: Leamington

Post by runcible »

sunray wrote:
BzaInSpace wrote:I don't however buy this idea that this could be any less intense than back whenever...
Sorry Barry, but you're wrong. Don't want to sound like a boring old fart but you weren't there so you can't possibly know.
I wasn't at the RAH of course but the most recent experiences of Jason making real noise had less direction than in years ago. In terms of intensity I suspect it might be similar but the difference is the way the noise comes out. The wah-wah climax of These Blues on the Pure Phase tour in 1995, particularly at Dingwalls, is hard to convey as it was so brutally crushing. Even more so in 1991 during the wah-wah wobbling of Feeln' Just Fine at the Mean Fiddler - my all time greatest musical moment ever. And again when they played 2 nights at the ICA in June that year - the level of sonic assault was truly astonishing. He does it differently now - it felt as intense to me but just with less depth and texture. Horses. Courses.
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Re: Leamington

Post by flokie »

Amazing Grace took a while to grow on me, and I didn't enjoy the Garage gig back then as much as I enjoy listening to bootlegs from that era now! Cheapster and She Kissed Me are brilliant, but the weaker tracks for me are the other heavier songs (and The Power and The Glory, but I really struggle with free jazz...), while I find no weak link with the ballads. I don't like A+E as much, but have to agree the slow tracks are once again stronger, except I have a real soft spot for "You Lie You Cheat" (what a pity the single was cancelled).

I definitely want to hear the loud tracks at gigs, the quiet part of the 2008 gigs was indeed pretty long, but I think the start and the end more than made up for it, and it was a great choice of slower numbers so that didn't bother me that much. It was also broken through by a fantastic version of "Lay Back in the Sun" during which I found myself actually dancing!

It's definitely not an easy thing getting the right balance, with everyone having different expectations - I'm not sure that's happened this week. Hey Little Girl and Freedom in particular strike me as a bit dull.

Oh and since Take Your Time was mentioned, I'll take the live version over LGM any day.
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Re: Leamington

Post by jack white »

Power & The Glory may be my fave track off AG
great having them back. breaths life into this place.
agree on LBITS on the A&E tour. fair point indeed,
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Re: Leamington

Post by runcible »

flokie wrote:Oh and since Take Your Time was mentioned, I'll take the live version over LGM any day.
I would too but that song never really hit me until a few years later, but I really rate it now. All that feathery stuff towards the end is just gorgeous. Even live it didn't impact on my til I saw them do it at Glastonbury and then I saw the light.
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Re: Leamington

Post by sunray »

jack white wrote:
clewsr wrote: I think Amazing Grace era live was about as noisy as they got, and for me that wasn't a very inspiring period.
it really is funny how things go - for me that tour/live era was the moment i was hooked on the band! i'd a couple of their albums & enjoyed them & AG but i'd never seen them live.
:lol: Yep, life sure is weird. I was ready to give up on the band entirely after the AG album and tour, thought both were awful. I think if A&E had arrived two years earlier i probably would've thrown in the towel.
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Re: Leamington

Post by angelsighs »

flokie wrote: Oh and since Take Your Time was mentioned, I'll take the live version over LGM any day.
same here and a prime example of what I mean by the live version of a track taking on a vastly different form.
another good example is Take Good Care Of It. I know a lot of people dislike the Pure Phase version but I love both that and the power-chordy live version for different reasons.

even later on, I Think I'm In Love, Broken Heart and On Fire are good examples of songs that have taken on very different forms on stage.

it is weird how we all have differing views. I think the Amazing Grace live era was pretty below par. the two gigs I saw were the least impressive I've seen the band play.
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Re: Leamington

Post by niamhm »

I also think "The Ballad of Richie Lee" is one of the highlights of Amazing Grace. We're in agreement with "Sitting On Fire," though ... great track.


very much in agreement with you their Warmth ,Ballad Of Richie lee is one off the best on AG ,to me any way ,btw many thanks to pontiac and Transmit for the work ,listening just now and it sounds great .
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Re: Leamington

Post by PontiacB »

niamhm wrote:
btw many thanks to pontiac and Transmit for the work ,listening just now and it sounds great .
Cheers for this - glad you like it and I appreciate the feedback. I love recording gigs for my own pleasure (been doing it for 27 years!), but great to know that other people enjoy the recordings as well,
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Re: Leamington

Post by moop »

niamhm wrote:
I also think "The Ballad of Richie Lee" is one of the highlights of Amazing Grace. We're in agreement with "Sitting On Fire," though ... great track.


very much in agreement with you their Warmth ,Ballad Of Richie lee is one off the best on AG ,to me any way
yes! such a powerful track, and i remember it being really good live too. Obviously it must be a great song if it survives my slow, sparse, instrumental reinterpretation and still sounds alright. :lol:

sitting on fire is just heartbreaking. I feel like I was spoilt with the acoustic mainlines version/recording, so the album version seemed a little underwhelming at first, but what a song!
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Re: Leamington

Post by angelsighs »

niamhm wrote: "The Ballad of Richie Lee" is one of the highlights of Amazing Grace. .


guess i'm alone in not liking it at all then!

agree that the acoustic Sitting On Fire is better- much warmer and without croaky vocal. studio one good too though
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Re: Leamington

Post by scarecrowz »

PontiacB wrote:
niamhm wrote:
btw many thanks to pontiac and Transmit for the work ,listening just now and it sounds great .
Cheers for this - glad you like it and I appreciate the feedback. I love recording gigs for my own pleasure (been doing it for 27 years!), but great to know that other people enjoy the recordings as well,
Just adding my thanks for this as well - great sounding recording, much prefer this to the RAH set, the new stuff suits the basic band line-up better than the orchestra+choir concept

The new material sounds good to me, can't see why people have problems with it - without going into a song-by-song breakdown, the individual tracks would have easily slotted into various previous album eras/incarnations
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Re: Leamington

Post by sunray »

angelsighs wrote:
niamhm wrote: "The Ballad of Richie Lee" is one of the highlights of Amazing Grace. .


guess i'm alone in not liking it at all then!
Not at all. Always hated that song, amongst many others post L&G i might add.
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Re: Leamington

Post by toomilk »

I went to all three shows and I think Leamington was the best one. The space suited them a lot more than QH and the performance had the least mistakes of the three. Also could be that I consumed the most alcohol before the show, but who knows.

I would love to hear that bootleg.
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Re: Leamington

Post by angelsighs »

I was quite drunk too which added to the fun and made the songs that were excavated for the encore all the more joyous.

gotta say that I preferred RAH to Leamington though. the main advantage Leamington had was that it was much louder.
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Re: Leamington

Post by Jimmy_G »

angelsighs wrote: gotta say that I preferred RAH to Leamington though. the main advantage Leamington had was that it was much louder.
I'm a little baffled by this. Maybe my hearing's battered, but I didn't think it was loud. Noisy, yes, loud, no. I don't find any concerts nowadays to be loud. I've been going to shows for about 18 years now, and they're nowhere near as loud as they were.

I wouldn't be surprised if my hearing had been a little affected, but not to that degree.

What I did hear at Leamington was a very muddy noise for a lot of the main set. The sound man seemed to have no idea of what he was trying to do, it sounded like everything was being forced through a metal barrel. The vocals on the first 3 songs were a complete mess; after that he made some improvement, but never appeared to find a balance. The guitars improved after 5 or 6 songs, but took a while longer to get near a balance.

It was only for the encore that the sound overall started to feel close to right. I was stood centrally, about halfway between stage and sound desk.
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Re: Leamington

Post by angelsighs »

yeh, fair point, it wasn't particularly loud but it was certainly louder than at RAH
without the horns and stuff it was definitely rawer too, but yes i wasn't particularly enamoured with the muddiness of the sound either..
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