Music reviews

Published on Thursday 9 October 2008 20:03

Spiritualized **** ABC, GLASGOW A FEW years ago, Spiritualized main man Jason Pierce fell seriously ill with double pneumonia. After a lengthy convalescence, he returned to the business of producing life-affirming tunes with an album, aptly titled Songs In A&E, which was far from anaesthetic.

In almost two decades of songwriting since splitting from Spacemen 3, Pierce has never veered from his signature psychedelic gospel sound but, having taken a more low-key approach to gigs with the Spiritualized Acoustic Mainline incarnation, he and his band of indie scruffs came roaring back afresh with this electrified performance – buoyed in no small part by two formidable gospel backing vocalists, who could be relied upon to elevate any song to a devotional level.

Pierce is a master of rock'n'roll dynamics – tranquil, soothing yet fragile hymnal numbers were followed by arresting cosmic freakouts, shimmering chords worked up to thrilling displays of strident power. The most joyously received material hailed from way back, but retained its impact.

Think I'm In Love and Lay Back In The Sun were epic in scope but, in a set that kept delivering crescendos, they were dwarfed by thunderous renditions of Come Together and Take Me For A Ride, which brought the gig to an apocalyptic climax.

After such a dramatic assault on the senses, there was no need for an encore, though there were no complaints when the group returned with the blissful Lord, Can You Hear Me? Clearly, Jason Pierce has made a full recovery.

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

*****

GREYFRIARS KIRK, EDINBURGH

WITH this sizzling opener to the SCO's new season, the bar has been set incredibly high for future concerts, particularly with the sparky chemistry between the orchestra and conductor John Storgrds.

Soloist Simon Trpceski slotted comfortably into this high-octane mix with a magnificent edge-of-the-seat performance of Beethoven's Piano Concert No 5 Emperor.

Dynamic subtleties can often become a casualty in the struggle for dominance between orchestra and soloists in concertos, but here the Macedonian pianist produced a spectacular array of colours and textures from the Steinway that blended seamlessly with the orchestral sound.

Trpceski also captured the full spectrum of Beethoven's moods, from the militaristic swagger in the first movement and dreamy tenderness in the second to a finale that danced triumphantly to the close.

Although Overture Consecration of the House Op 124 is a more solemn piece, with Beethoven starting out by recalling the stateliness of the Baroque era, this soon makes way for a more lively fugal passage with the music venturing off into more daring harmonic territory while still retaining its serious air of grandeur.

Something of the Beethovian spirit permeates Schumann's wonderfully evocative Symphony No 3 in E-flat major Op 97 Rhenish – inspired by the Rhine river. Storgrds was like a human dynamo at the heart of this intense and vibrant performance by a brilliantly well-drilled orchestra. The reverberant acoustics of Greyfriars provided additional bite, especially in the brass-dominated last movement.

SUSAN NICKALLS

WHITE LIES

***

ICA, LONDON

NEW bands are aware of the dangerously high chances of following up a successful first album with a resounding flop, but in these fast-moving times they can be damaged long before that. It's only October and White Lies have already been crowned the biggest band of 2009. The same happened to Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong a year ago, and they vanished without even releasing an album.

Hopefully this west London trio are made of sterner stuff. As they aired tracks from their January 2009 album at this small headlining show, it was immediately obvious that these are songs that will sound best in arenas. with Jack Brown's rapid, metronomic snares, washes of synth and Harry McVeigh's resounding guitar chords and portentous, neck-straining vocals, theirs was a big 1980s sound that recalled the widescreen moments of Echo and the Bunnymen and Tears for Fears. Similar-sounding contemporaries include The Killers and Editors, who comfortably fill major venues.

Lyrics were black as the band-members' matching shirts. Raindrops, storms and blood all appeared in songs in which bad things invariably happened. Their final number, their epic and tremendously catchy current single, avoided subtlety by being called Death.

It is questionable how much they mean it. Their previous incarnation, the almost successful Fear of Flying, sounded totally different and, for all their glowering, they still seemed jolly nice chaps who might have careers as MPs in 20 years' time. Will people truly fall in love with White Lies? Wait and see.

DAVID SMYTH