They've not changed too much  They appear accompanied by a troupe of backing singers, and a crisp, clear sounding brass section  This enhances the performance immensely, making the songs more dramatic and mature sounding  However, the tunes are still underpinned by a dated "shoegazing" production.

Shoegazing was a style of alternative music popular with indie kids back in the early nineties, typified by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, and early Boo Radleys  It was so called due to the performers, who'd often stand motionless onstage looking intensely in concentration at their guitars, while hiding behind floppy, post-Madchester fringes  Fun as all that was at the time, it all sounds a bit tired now, and Spiritualized kind of maintain that spirit, but replace the lack of chord changes with a more melodic and melancholic atmosphere these days.

Songs like 'Electricity' are probably their most effective tracks live: faster, more rock based anthems with more clout on the stage  They still hark back to their "our organist has the easiest job in the world" two-sustained-notes-throughout-the-song days though, and have a tendency to drag out the slower numbers for far too long.

As musicians they all sound extremely competent and strong  Jason Pierce's vocals are pretty much incomprehensible, and he's hardly the most loquacious of frontmen, but for that "moody" type of music, I guess he's hardly going to be a barrel of laughs is he?

The most annoying aspect of the gig was the joining together of tracks with improvised guitar noise for sometimes minutes at a time  And why no 'Stop Your Crying'?  That recent single would have gone down a storm with the audience.

A pretty enjoyable gig, but I'm not particularly tempted to rush out and buy the albums (though new album 'Let It Come Down' has received rave reviews in the press).

Review: Andrew Morrison