The last time I saw Spiritualized was back in 2002 at the Beacon Theater. It was all laser-guided starbursts, seizure strobe lights and hypno feedback. Not to mention a healthy pillowing of rock-fog throughout; basically full on space madness. It was fantastic fun, and the ex-Spacemen 3 singer Jason Pierce seemed to revel in the psych-lunacy of it all. Well, a lot has happened to Pierce since then, namely that the guy pretty much died (twice!) from pneumonia and tissue damage. He's come back from that white light with more lucidity, re-working and performing music that now fully embraces the gospel nature of his songwriting. For the past year or so, Spiritualized has toured under the "Acoustic Mainlines" tag (a pun off the "Electric Mainline" track), with a healthy dose of ballads and old classics on the set list. At the famed Apollo Theater on 125th street last Friday, Pierce shuffled onto stage accompanied only by his Spiritualized keyboard player, and backing them, a nine-piece string section and choir. The combination of Pierce's storied musical past and his recent brush with death makes for a dramatic premise for sure, and I was curious to see how it would unfold. FULL REVIEW
