Jason Pierce has led something of a harrowed existence over the course of his long-running musical project, Spiritualized.

Traversing a course led in equal measure between the stars and more than a fair share of hospital wards, Pierce and his vision of psychedelic gospel utopia, has rarely been more realised than with his 2012 album Sweet Heart, Sweet Light; nor with his carefully crafted stage show, which has gained a reputation world over for its sonic and visual mastery.

Whilst years of fighting a number of serious illnesses have taken their toll (only in his mid-forties and preferring to sit throughout performances), Pierce’s resolve to battle on, coupled with his meticulous nature in both recorded and live setting, have honed a performer collected and calm as a Hindu cow.

In short, he is in control of his setting. Mostly.

The set begun enthusiastically, with Spiritualized collectively accomplishing their well-rehearsed sense of urgency, riding the fine wire between appearing disciplined and unhinged, again a product of Pierce’s fastidious control.

Early in the piece comes ‘Hey Jane’, just one of the many highlights from the outstanding new album.

The song twists and builds towards complete sonic combustion, before reinventing itself as a bright Kraut-tinged pop number.

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Throughout this rendition it becomes increasingly apparent that Pierce’s rig isn’t behaving as expected, with the guitar tech ever present, addressing a problem with the pedal board.

The band play through this, stretching the nine minute belter out to fifteen whilst the tech scrambles at Pierce’s feet with patch leads and pedals, before technical order is restored and the song winds up with the album’s titular refrain “sweet heart, sweet light” roaring from Pierce and his stripped back, two-piece gospel vocal ensemble.

‘Electricity’ from 1997’s Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is next, and brings with it further guitar troubles. Years of flirting with death has afforded Pierce an enviable composure.

As of this tour, the man sits stoically on his stool facing stage left throughout entire shows, with nothing more than a customary ‘thank you’ at the end of each performance as audience acknowledgement.

It’s at this point though that he’s up, flinging his guitar down and retreating from view to disquiet from the crowd, as some fuckwit near the front flings a bottle to the stage, narrowly missing Pierce.

The band take the cue and leave also, though not before bassist John Coxon takes more than a moment to register his displeasure with the assailant.

With the stage dead, the hapless tech was left to fumble with the pedal board until, some ten minutes later, the band saw fit to return.

Sticking to the set list, the band revive the show with ‘Freedom’, but battling performer unrest and an unruly crowd, this rendition appeared labored at best.

Crowd favourites ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space’ and ‘So Long Pretty Things’ followed, bringing with them the first positive signs that the show may indeed go on, after close to an hour of troubles.

The rest of the set and encores lifted from both the Spiritualized and (previous incarnation) Spaceman 3 catalogues were solid, though somewhat uninspired.

Cutting across free jazz, Britpop, drone, and psychedelic rock n’ roll, Pierce and ensemble appeared unsettled, leaving the crowd with the distinct impression that the sound issues that plagued a considerable portion of the show found no resolve to the players themselves.

With highlights few and far between, this proved unfortunately a disappointing night for all concerned.

Check out the photo gallery of Spiritualized’s show at The Hi Fi here.

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