When I made my way into Massey Hall for Spiritualized there was a palpable buzz, people were excited as to what these English rockers might bring to the festival. Not long after I took my seat, none other than Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning sat almost right in front of me two rows up. How’s that for a celebrity endorsement? When they came out lead singer and guitarist Jason Pierce sat down in a chair off to the side of the stage while the rest of the band took their spots all spread out. Pierce wore all white while the rest of the band only had black on in an interesting possible subtext. They started with a low tempo beat that sounded like “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. They played the very gospel song “Lord Let It Rain On You” from 2006’s soundtrack Hoping For Palestine. The two backing singers made you feel like you were experiencing a sermon being delivered.
Playing “Electricity” off of their seminal album 1997’s Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, really got the crowd going. Breaking out slide guitars and furious organ playing woke up the dormant audience. Current drummer Kevin Bales has a Ringo Starr like playing to his style. It is very calculated and interesting little flourishes included. The band’s spacey jam band sounds like if Bob Dylan and the Stones went through their gospel stages after hearing Phish and Yellow Submarine. All the instruments were soaked in effects to give an otherworldly feel to them. The bands lack of movement was made up by the lights going off in an almost seizure inducing fashion.
At one point in the set Pierce started singing into a second microphone, which sounded like he was making impassioned pleas over the telephone with its lo-fi sound. The set was filled with songs mostly from their most famous album like “Come Together” which sounded like a call to arms to be with your kinship. Everything about their set was epic and grandiose. The band brought the song to a thrashing climax and Bales almost knocked over his entire cymbal set. When the set finished Pierce muttered into the mic a simple “Thank you, thank you” before walking off stage to a standing ovation. Why bother speaking when your music is so powerful it feels like you are at mass on a spaceship.
