SPACE
with Sweet Sweet Lies.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2 Friday 15th March 2013.

Tonight SPACE returned to Bedford Esquires. I did not see them last time and am probably one of the few Space virgins in the room. My pre-gig knowledge consists of a copy of "Spiders" that I was given about 15 years ago and listened to about 5 times. The band are here tonight as part of a tour to promote their forthcoming album "Attack of the mutant 50 ft kebab".
The band don't appear until quite late on and the natives are getting restless. The room goes dark and the Space logo is projected onto the wall behind the drumkit. There is some atmospheric music and then the band appear to large cheers. There are five of them, a fez and what looks like a weird mannequin at the side of the stage. They start off with "Mr Psycho" which is from "Spiders". There is whistling involved. The crowd seem strangely subdued which I find odd because I thought it was quite a well known song. When the singer speaks he does sound eerily like Paul O' Grady. This is not the most disturbing thing though. The band have always been a bit unconventional so they don't really do the 'rock star' look. They do the 'creepy uncle' look quite convincingly! The next song is about having a lover in a body bag. This is "She's In Love With A Boy In A Body Bag" and will be on the new album. We are told that it is "time to get warm" before they play "Money". This is also from the first album but again it doesn't move the crowd a lot.
Space then perform the title track of the new album, which they tell us will be out in October. At this point people don't really seem to be interested. One of the problems that seems to go with having these reformed bands here is that the audience turn up, expect to hear a couple of favourites and aren't really bothered about anything else, especially new material. They are having a rare night out and reliving some youthful memories which I suppose is OK, whatever makes you happy, but does seem a little insulting when a band are trying to move on. I'd forgotten all about "Avenging Angels". Didn't catch all the titles of the songs, but there was one about a girl crying on a webcam and one from "Tin Planet" with Elvis in it. The crowd are now starting to shout "Neighbourhood". They are ignored for the moment, but are appeased by "The Ballad Of Tom Jones". Fortunately Cerys is not here, unfortunately her voice is. There is a song about happy clowns (which they aren't) and one about a friend burning down a school because the teacher shagged his girlfriend - true story apparently.
"Come on Bedford. Let's have some fun"! The distinctive intro to "Female Of The Species" starts up. Now this is a good tune. The crowd think so too as the majority indulge in some gentle swaying. At the end of the song there is the loudest applause so far which elicits a "Did you enjoy that? Nice one". There is a short time for everyone to compose themselves during another new one, "Armageddon", before "Neighbourhood". Now we've reached the level as there is now advanced swaying and some hands in the air! I'm now wondering what they've got left for an encore. The hits continue with "Me And You" although you'd be hard pushed to tell. This has got to be one of the most quiet and polite audiences I've seen. Although the average age is probably mid-thirties, I don't think that is a major factor. The band go offstage and return very shortly after for an encore. They play "Dark Clouds". I find this a bit of an odd choice. It is on "Spiders", but towards the end where it all goes a bit weird. I've always thought this had more than a whiff of "Club Tropicana" about it and that is not a compliment. It somehow segues into "La Bamba" which makes it even worse. Space end with "Drop Dead" and everyone can go home, pay the babysitter and have a nice cup of cocoa. I enjoyed the gig more than I thought I would, it was the crowd that annoyed me. Maybe they don't get out much. The new material played sounds very similar to the older stuff to me. Never easy to pin down to a particular style, it seems that they are still getting on with just doing whatever they like and that can never be a bad thing.

The support tonight was SWEET SWEET LIES and it was nice to see Dom back after a lengthy absence. He says that he played his "first gig on this stage 15 years ago". The band are a seven piece and feature a trumpet and saxophone. A bigger boy claims that the first song sounded like Divine Comedy. There is what seems to be a random mention of the new pope. As the next song unfolds it seems that it is relevant as there are many catholic references. For the next song there is a change of vocalists as the guitarist takes over and it becomes a little more upbeat. They tell us that the next song is on the internet, but fail to mention the title. Another song sounds like the soundtrack to a very miserable western film! The venue is now starting to fill up nicely which doesn't always happen for a support band. although the wooden minefield in front of the stage is in action again as people desperately hug the bar and the back of the room. There is an ex-girlfriend song which is a little rockabilly in a bitter way. There is another song about a girlfriend, this one is overrated. The band haven't played it in six months and there is a brief discussion about whether they remember how! Not sure if this is the same ex or another one. This was a good choice of support for Space as both bands play several styles over the course of a set so you never quite know what is coming next. Maybe they won't leave it as long next time.