SUE TURNER is fascinated by a book that researches who the largely immigrant workforce were that built the Empire State
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A sonic ride to the other side
MIK SABIERS is transported by space rock groove
SET THE CONTROLS FOR THE HEART OF THE SUN: Jason Pierce [Pic: Mik Sabiers]
MARIA DUARTE and MALC McGOOKIN review Sirat, The Testament of Ann Lee, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, and All You Need Is Kill
STEVE ANDREW recommends a Marxist analysis of the long chains of production that global corporations exploit
MARY CONWAY relishes the period detail but misses the drama in this unsatisfactory dramatisation of the subjugated life of George Eliot
IAN SINCLAIR welcomes a mainstream scholar to the ranks of left-wing critique of US foreign policy
PETER MASON is disappointed that the eponymous Count fails to put in an appearance
MARJORIE MAYO is disappointed by the lack of class analysis in an all-too-plausible account of progressive causes
Spiritualized
EartH Theatre, London
★★★★☆
A last-minute addition to the War Child schedule sees Spiritualized take to the stage at EartH in north London. It’s a fitting and intimate venue for the band’s melodic noise, and over the course of 90 minutes wave after wave pulsates and washes over an excited, but mainly seated audience.
Opening with Cop Shoot Cop, a key track from the Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space album, it’s a visual and aural assault from the off.
There are nine on stage. Alongside frontman and sole permanent member of the band, Jason Pierce, there are two more guitarists, drums, keys, bass and three backing singers.
However, the focus is on Pierce, standing stage right facing the side — not the audience — with his guitar, pedals and music stand. He is not so much the conductor but the catalyst for the layers of guitar that build and build. The track ends in a melee of furious feedback and riotous squeals to much applause.
The set ploughs a similar and repeated furrow, loud guitar, repetitive riffs: it’s drone rock, but in a good way. Playing a selection of tracks from seven different albums, as the night wears on more people start to sway in their seats and the atmosphere is enhanced by dry ice and bright lights.
But it is the music that matters. Whether pared back and slowed down, or fast, frantic and furious it wraps and envelops the audience, and expands as the backing singers add gospel-like vocals, and the sounds repeat and build and echo.
It may not be a sonic assault in the manner of My Bloody Valentine which pulverises you into submission with its sheer volume, but it is comparable in how it takes over the vast tiered room and envelops the audience so that you feel you are really floating with the space rock groove, even with some psychedelia and the odd bit of Sisters-ish goth guitar thrown in.
And then all of a sudden, with a simple wave from Pierce they’re gone. No encore, no message, just the music ringing in the ears of a satisfied audience brought back down to Earth after being taken for a sonic ride to the other side.
Brits Week 26 War Child runs until February 27, various venues. For details see: britsweekwarchild.co.uk
