It was on a Thursday night in a packed, perspiring room at the Nottingham Rescue Rooms that the evidence was provided that Spector have really, truly, arrived.
The gig had it all. From the moment the opening bars of melancholic synth-pop tune ‘Lately It’s You’ began to echo across the room, frontman Fred MacPherson had the crowd eating out of his hand. This continued as the band included seven songs off new album ‘Moth Boys’ within the opening nine hits of the setlist, with the electric pace of ‘Twenty Nothing’ and the hardcore fan-pleaser of ‘Grey Shirt and Tie’, which has made a surprise reappearance on the early dates of the tour, the exceptions. Other than these, the audience voiced their unanimous approval for ‘Stay High’, while Kyoto Garden was sung with such emotion from MacPherson that the only surprise was that the lighters did not come out in the audience!
‘We feel like we’ve warmed you up enough,’ he proclaimed before launching into the well-known ‘Celestine’, quickly followed up by the frenetic ‘Friday Night Don’t Ever Let It End’ (a favourite for yours truly!). The main set closed in predictably triumphant style, with ‘Moth Boys’ track ‘Using’ been debuted live. ‘That’s the first time we’ve played that song live, and it’s about the 150th time we’ve played this one Nottingham,’ was the proclamation as the riff of ‘Chevy Thunder’ exploded into life, and chaos ensued from front to back of the adoring crowd.
Following the lyrically-impressive ‘Never Fade Away’, the band left the stage, only to return following the shouts for an encore to conclude the set for good on ‘Moth Boys’ debut track ‘All The Sad Young Men’; which even with the high standards that were evident throughout, could have been the highlight of the evening.
On the basis of Thursday night, Spector are a band that are nowhere near as well known as they should be, but the loyal followers they have are certainly being provided with the enthusiasm, passion and energy of a band that are new on the block, as opposed to one with three years of experience. ‘We want to be as big as the Arctic Monkeys, just like every upcoming British band,’ Fred stated when I spoke to him before the gig. Every band has to start somewhere with this end goal in mind, and in the opinion of this humble fan, it is both a privilege to have been able to attend a Spector gig in such a small venue, and a tragedy that more people did not attend.
If you’re in two minds about attending a Spector gig the next time the opportunity comes around, go. You will not regret it.
Archie Banks
Comments