GIG NUMBER FORTY-TWO
Who
The group were very interesting. The lead singer had astonishing triangular sideburns, a few of the band wore quite unnerving smiles throughout, and one looked like the footballer Juan Sebastian Veron and was wearing a hat (breaking with the bands regulation uniforms a bit!). The Spree also had a theremin (as everyone should) and put the trumpet around it to give very interesting sound effects! The show started off with the tracks from their album before loads of new songs: perhaps mixing things up a bit would have been better? They changed the chorus of It's The Sun to give it a more upbeat edge which the record could had done with. Soldier Girl was probably the obvious highlight as the intro sounded truly electric! Against all expectations, a moshpit built up although I steered clear this time round. They also sang happy birthday to their soundman and, after delivering a Bowie cover at the end, the whole band took a great theatrical bow: a touching end to a very good show!
Mark: 7.5/10
The Polyphonic Spree
Support
Athlete
Where
Manchester Debating Hall
When
22nd October 2002
Price
£11.00
Who with
Dan, Ben, Dave
Position
Towards the front
Comments
After the interesting diversion of Alec Empire, things moved back into more "conventional" territory for The Polyphonic Spree, who proved to be more than just an amusing novelty act. Indeed, once I got round my initial view of them being some crazy 24-piece band dressed in robes, I actually realised that their music overshadowed any gimmick. The venue was jam-packed and I had to stand right at the back for Athlete, who actually had a pretty good song called You Got The Style, which I was shocked to recognise. They used a theremin (like The Polyphonic Spree) and they were generally a cut above the average support, although definitely slightly mediocre as critics suggest. They have since gone to extraordinary lengths to affiliate themselves with mediocrity of course! I managed to move right towards the front for the main act and also bumped into some mates, which very nicely compensated for my lateness! The band fitted surprisingly easily on the stage, probably because half of them are actually just a choir standing in the corner who either provided backing vocals or an onstage moshpit! However, the scissor-kicking trumpeter often ran out of space nevertheless!
