Spacehog - Are back in the UK after a fifteen year absence!

October 8th 2013

London, 100 Club, UK

****1/2

Happy as a hog is space!

Spacehog ****1/2 It's been fifteen years since I last saw Spacehog at the London Mean Fiddler a show that has been embedded in my memory as a night to remember, and this was the last time the band have graced our shores. Spacehog never really got the success in their native land of the United Kingdom as they did in America with 'In the Meantime' topping the charts for quite a few weeks and for them to be launched into uber fame status. The band come to the stage in jump boilers suits, I think to symbolizes hogs in space but sometimes I wish they had something on underneath that they strip down to because after a while blue boilers suits just look a little too simple and this band are very flamboyant.

Open with the quiet and beautiful 'Beautiful Girl' which is a very strange opening number for the band, I wouldn't in a million years have thought they would open with this song. This song came off the bands well under rated second album called the 'Chinese Album' this album has so much depth to it and musical show man ship. The silent melodies and nice vocals are really a sight to be seen and you can see from the moment they start why we are all in attendance tonight. The vocals by Royston Langdon in this song are so strong and powerful and you can see why this is one of the bands most popular songs.

The bands third album 'The Hogyssey' never really hit the UK and is quite hard to find on these shores so it's strange that everyone knows every single word to the bands second song 'I want to Live' which was one of the best songs off this album. Timo Ellis who replaced Royston's brother Anthony in the band has brought a different more grown up feel to the band, which I think he got with his years of experience with artists such as Sean Lennon, Joan as Policewoman, Cibo Mato and the Netherlands.

Also his scruffy unshaved look really works in well with the look of the band tonight and he really looks like he has been playing with them far longer than he has. Anthony really brought something new to the band and his live stage presence was really second to none, he had such attitude and it would have been nice to see the full original line-up on stage again in the UK maybe in another fifteen years we will see this. Apparently though he did turn up at one of the other UK dates, I think it was Leeds but maybe that is just a rumour.

The band tonight really show great versatility with Royston vocal ranges being really spot on with not a bum note in sight and some great piano work to on some of the new material. Some of the new material doesn't have the instant appeal of classic songs like 'Space is the Place' that hit you strong and fast but they have great melodies and depth like on the track 'I wish you were Here', It's also nice to hear a great version of a classic old Queen song 'In the lap of the Gods' which for me being a big Queen fan is nice to hear them give a go at, even nothing will come close to the original track.

A highlight of the set is most definitely 'Starside' off the bands first album that twinkles at the senses and really drags you into the World of Spacehog. Also off the album 'Resident Alien' the repetitive 'Zeroes' is a great slice of Avant-Garde Pop pleasure. 'Zeroes' is a song I have always loved it has a haunting undertone to it and it's space age feel is stunning. I also have to comment on the backing vocals throughout the set by drummer Jonny Cragg who doesn't miss a beat while he does animalistic beats and great high hats while singing great melodies. He really has a great attitude and is great to watch, but then he has always been that way since when the band started all though's years ago and he is a very funny man to.

The piano on new song 'Deceit' is a pleasure to hear even though most people can't see Royston singing it because he is facing in a different direction to the front of the stage. Their is some great banter on stage mostly about Royston's X wives which now includes one of the most beautiful women in the World Aerosmith's frontman Steven Tylers daughter Liv Tyler, maybe she found her Spacehog CD's in 'Empire Records' that is a funny thought.

'Earthquake' is a stormer of a track it's really upbeat and has an amazing tempo to it and is definitely a track that should be played near to the end of the set. This is one of their great numbers that really is unforgettable tonight and is a great lead on to the closer. The classic bass line kicks in and the band make sounds on their guitars that sound like the classic telephone rings at the start of their mega hit 'In the Meantime'. The chorus is really big and everyone knows ever single lick of it and you can see why it spent so long at the top of the American charts, we all sing it and it makes a great end to the bands set. Everyone was waiting for this number and it really does not disappoint and they way they deliver it is electrifying.

Check Out! the classic Video for 'In the Meantime' Below...

They come back onto the stage for a one song encore the ever popular sing-a-long 'Never coming Down' which see's the whole crowd shouting out "Spacehog" just like on their first album 'Resident Alien' a album that I must have played on repeat for years. Spacehog have really evolved as musicians and the songs and sound, well basically is so much better than it has ever been. The band though have aged a little in flamboyancy and the stage presence is very different as when I saw them back in the past, this is not a good or bad thing it is just a different thing. They missed out a few classic hits like 'Space is the Place' and 'The Horror' and massive hit 'Carry On', but then again they can't really play everything, but these would have been really nice to hear. I really enjoyed my evening with Spacehog and I am bound to repeat it when they come back next year, really took me back to my past and good memories so the show was really enjoyable.