Friday night’s Spiritualized Ladies and Gentleman show was impeccable. 

After a loud, rumbling noise filled the gorgeous Radio City to hush the crowd before the enormous curtains unveiled the expansive 30 piece band (9 piece choir, 6 piece horn section, 8 piece string section, and 7 piece rock band) the tension in the air began to build.  But right before the music started the stage crew had to remove a disco ball that seemed to have dropped from the cieling to crash on the stage.  I was really confused at first.  I thought it might have been part of the show.  It was stage.  Anyway back to the show…the sound was extremely precise even during the noise freakouts that bridge many of the songs…some of them were so loud I was forced to plug my ears.

Jason Pierce, AKA J. Spaceman sat to the right (good thing, because he could’ve been killed by the disco ball) on a stool in front of a song book playing rythm guitar and singing  in a pair of large sunglasses, and very casual attire overseeing all the musicians bring to life his masterpiece.  He didn’t say a word the whole night - except for Thank You at the end - which was fitting in order to avoid the flow of the concept album.  It truly is a work of art.

I’ve always imagined what it would be like to hear the album live, because it’s so lush, and complex, layered, and sonic.  But I never imagined it could be performed so perfectly, and powerfully.  I am happy this was my only experiece with Spiritualized live because it seems it’s the only way it should be performed.  A regular rock band could never do the album justice.  If he had tried it may have risked being a disappointment.

The album with all its druggy depressing content can be very heavy and hard to listen to on any random night so seeing it in this setting forces one to experience it the way it needs to be experienced.  I would bet that most of the audience didn’t say a word during the performance. I know I didn’t.  I felt like i was the only one in the theater, it was a real trip to turn around and actually see how many other people were there with me.

My second row center (BBB PIT) ticket got me a free t shirt shrink wrapped in a pill box similar to the packaging of the album.  A really nice bonus.  How much is this worth on ebay?