Live Review: Spoon

The guy/girl ratio inside Forum Theatre tonight is heavily weighted with testosterone – we’re talking 90% bloke.

And these punters aren’t your regular gig goers, either; they’ve made a special effort to head out on a school night and take in some tunes that hark back to their uni dorm days, holed up and trying to woo desirables or hatching plans for doing so at a later date. A roar goes up as Spoon stride out on stage and frontman Britt Daniel sports a smart black suit and burgundy shirt. This band means business and it’s all about The Sound. There’s a mic failure a few songs in, which sees Daniel scooting off stage for a replacement. At the conclusion of the song he ponders aloud, “I think we got it under control, right?” Don’t You Eva’s bassline stops us in our tracks and Daniel’s insouciant vocals ooze cool. He could very well be an international Tim Rogers. The Ghost Of You Lingers is an experimental masterpiece.

Playing six out of ten tracks from your new album (They Want My Soul) is a gamble not many bands would be brave enough to make, but Spoon just do as they damn well please. The set is loaded with less familiar songs and they even roll out a brand newie, Satellite, which features a cracking piano solo and beseeching, “I know I love you more,” vocals – absolutely incandescent. And then Do You transports us direct to Joyville. Extended versions of songs show off the band’s supreme musicianship and I Turn My Camera On oozes swag.

Spoon fans are a voracious bunch, and some friends are shushed in a booth at the rear of the venue. There’s a reverence about those in attendance that may have the band wondering whether we’re digging it. But then all go mental in demand of an encore. Daniel really is the ultimate frontman and we’re delighted to hear a cover of Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Memory Lane. It’s a fantastic song by our local heroes and when Spoon dig in, it sounds even more incredible than the original. Strangely, scattered punters yawn through zealous applause. Spoon serve up The Underdog (now that’s a hit!) last and we’re all smiles as we sing along with those brass blasts and bust out some obligatory daggy dancing.