Spiritualized “Pure Phase” at Manchester Apollo – 24th March 2025

Photo Credit Paul Evans

WORDS AND IMAGES PAUL EVANS

"Spiritualized tonight have been nothing short of breathtaking. It’s been intimate and expansive, drawing the audience into the bands world and holding them there until the very last note."

Few bands can create an atmosphere as transportive and immersive as Spiritualized. The band’s sound is one of contradictions: intimate yet vast, delicate yet overwhelming, mournful yet celebratory. Tonight, Manchester’s Apollo is about to be taken on a mesmerizing journey through shimmering soundscapes, hypnotic drones and waves of celestial sound all under the guiding hand of Jason Pierce, better known as J. Spaceman.

Albums such as “Let It Come Down” (2001) and “And Nothing Hurt” (2018) have showcased Pierce’s ability to turn personal pain into universal beauty and craft music that feels like a desperate plea to the heavens. The band’s live performances are legendary, often featuring large ensembles incorporating strings, brass, and gospel choirs to fully realize the celestial expansiveness of their music. Tonight, the band play their “Pure Phase” album in its entirety and are one of the few bands capable of blending bliss and sorrow into a singular, otherworldly live experience. Good times await.

The stage, which is bathed in deep blues and greens, evokes the feeling of drifting through space, is perfect for this evening’s dreamlike descent where music and emotion are about to become indistinguishable. The hypnotic groove of Medication eases the seated audience into a trance-like state. The pulsating bassline and shimmering guitars creating an immediate sense of movement, as if the Apollo itself is slowly lifting off the ground. Pierce’s detached, almost weary vocal delivery adds an emotional depth that hints at both longing and resignation as he allows the waves of reverb-drenched sound to wash over the crowd. It’s a stunning start, Without a pause, the band transition into the gentle guitar slides and floating melody of The Slide Song, before Electric Phase seems to reveal new layers of swirling sonic textures in tonight’s live setting, building gradually before giving way to moments of explosive intensity.

The ensemble of musicians balance tight control alongside free-flowing spontaneity and Pierce’s vocals ache with desperation during All of My Tears. The song’s simple yet haunting refrain feels like a direct plea to the heavens, while feedback-drenched guitar lines add an impending sense of urgency as the audience sways as if lost in their own private reveries. With Let It Flow, the band lean into their more uplifting, euphoric sound. The song’s hypnotic vocal rhythm and soaring melodies feeling like a release after the emotional weight of the previous tracks as the band fully explore the song’s delicate arrangement and hypnotic grooves. Laurie Anderson’s Born, Never Asked has always been an inspired song to cover. Tonight, the song is transformed into something almost sacred. The performance feels weightless, as if suspended in time, providing a transcendent experience and a profoundly moving moment.

The second half of the set sees the band at their most dynamic. Electric Mainline builds slowly, layers of sound intertwining before reaching an explosive crescendo that feels like pure cleansing. The pulsating rhythm and soaring instrumentation made it one of the most euphoric moments of the evening. If you’ve never laid down in a sunny field after a few

beers listening to Lay Back in the Sun you’re missing out and tonight the song continues the momentum. Its driving beat and swirling guitars urging the audience to surrender completely to the music. Good Times brings a sense of joyous abandon, with its infectious and exuberant instrumentation reminding everyone that, at its core, Spiritualized’s music is as much about celebration as it is about introspection.

As the set approaches its end, Pure Phase acts as the gentle landing of a dreamlike descent, its lush, ambient textures enveloping the audience in a sonic embrace. Spread Your Wings carries that dreamlike feeling further, its melancholic beauty lingering in the air before Feel Like Goin’ Home with its slow, meditative pacing and poignant lyrics encapsulates the night’s emotional journey. The audience sit in hushed reverence, hanging on every note, as if reluctant to let the moment end.

If the rest of the set has been a gradual ascent into the heavens, tonight’s last song is the moment where the ship breaks apart and drifts into the unknown. Cop Shoot Cop’s sprawling, chaotic structure, with its bursts of free-jazz noise and relentless rhythmic pulse, pushes the audience to the brink. It is Spiritualized at their best. Overwhelming, intense, and utterly mesmerizing and a perfect encapsulation of everything that makes Spiritualized’s music so extraordinary . As the final notes fade into an ocean of feedback, the audience sit in stunned silence before erupting into applause as the bans leave the stage, allowing their music to linger in the air.

Spiritualized tonight have been nothing short of breathtaking. It’s been intimate and expansive, drawing the audience into the bands world and holding them there until the very last note. Few bands can create such an immersive, transformative live experience, and tonight has been a reminder of the power of music to transport, heal, and elevate the soul. a testament to Jason Pierce’s ability to craft music that feels both deeply personal and cosmically vast.

SETLIST

1/ Medication

2/ The Slide Song

3/ Electric Phase

4/ All of My Tears

5/ These Blues

6/ Let It Flow

7/ Take Good Care of It

8/ Born, Never Asked

9/ Electric Mainline

10/ Lay Back in the Sun

11/ Good Times

12/ Pure Phase

13/ Spread Your Wings

14/ Feel Like Goin’ Home

Encore:

15/ Cop Shoot Cop...

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