Spacey Jane @ Electric Brixton: so much energy that I’m still dizzy
Well… hah. It was a sure sign that we were in for a treat at Spacey Jane last night when some of the adoring fans had to persuade the bouncers that they were sober enough to be allowed in.
After being punched in the face by the wall of humid body heat, we squeezed ourselves in at the very back with not even the slightest opportunity of moving further forward for the packed crowd.
Weightless was the first taste of the show for fans who unleashed encore level screams already. It was a flawless performance of unmatchable energy and talent. And when I say unmatchable energy, I mean it. Ashton’s spinning bird kicks are something many people can’t do ever, nevermind with a guitar in hand- and playing it without a hint of a mistake.
A few songs in and Ric Flair ‘WOO’ outbursts were popping up like whack-a-moles throughout the venue. It was rowdy. Like, on a scale of one to Euros, it was England being one nill up in the final- a happy chaos. There was no room for a mosh pit during the show, however, people had to wait until the leaving music came on for that.
Throughout the show you could see people turning to their pals and shouting their appreciation for the band in their mates ear. It was justifiable. The summer kissed guitars unlocked your serotonin and slapped a smile on your face, the presence of each band member had your eyes strobing across the stage attempting to take it all in and the wall of sound had you swaying in any available space you could find.
Now, it’s true that some shows can lull around the halfway mark, but Spacey Jane make that impossible. If I move like they did last night, I cannot walk the next day. The fact that they could still play their instruments made it more of a magic show than a gig.
Like the 1975, their poppy nature has an undercurrent of heartbreak and self-reflection that fans clearly relate to. They were definitely the favourite band of some people there last night. At multiple points the crowd carried the vocals for Caleb, giving him a brief well earned break.
I thrived off the fact that they were clearly thrilled to be there. “I don’t know what it is about this country”, exclaimed Caleb as he applauded the UK fans for consistently being the greatest crowd.
Bopping through the night to songs like Lunchtime, Feeding the Family and Skin, time flashes by. As we approached the end there were so many arms in the air that it was like the unavoidable pit of spikes in Mario.
There was no choice for the band on the encore, it was a demand of the crowd.
It concluded how we all wished. Ashton was still spinning around more frequently than Boris Johnson has a new scandal, Caleb jumped into the front row of the crowd and the stage blinders were on full brightness to highlight just how pumped everyone was.
Funnily, I found Spacey Jane by going on Bands in Town and putting in the smallest radius to my house like an old man. Who’da thought I’d find an admired band with sold out shows carving a hole in the indie space.
I may have found them by chance, but I’ll never forget that show. They’ve successfully crossed the pond.