Live Review: Spector, Leadmill (29/05/16)

Entering Leadmill after buying a ticket hours earlier, I knew a pitiful five Spector songs. However, their set served to prove I’d been missing out – they truly are one of the finest indie bands around.

Performing in Leadmill’s smaller room as part of their intimate ‘Tenner’ tour to promote their new single (complete with £10 price), the group started with huge tracks ‘Never Fade Away’ and ‘Bad Boyfriend’. A night of expansive, uplifting songs from both of their albums followed, plus a couple of promising unreleased tunes.

Lead singer Fred Macpherson was a charismatic presence, engaging in banter largely at the expense of Nottingham, where they played the previous night. The band’s overall live sound was refined and precise, a testament to years of touring and their musical abilities. A couple of the slower numbers didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but nonetheless they were performed with energy and skill.

The group definitely saved the best until last, with the euphoric ‘Celestine’, previously mentioned single ‘Tenner’ and the now iconic ‘Chevy Thunder’ creating carnage among the crowd. Closing track ‘All the Sad Young Men’ was the highlight of the night for me – an incredibly structured song that incited the warmest response, the whole crowd singing back the massive chorus was truly special.

Leaving the venue knowing “I DON’T WANNA MAKE LOVE, I DON’T WANNA MAKE PLANS…” will be in my head for the next few years, Spector had well and truly won me over. Great stage presence, crowd interaction and, above all, amazing songs fully justified their reputation as one of indie’s finest acts, both on record and live. Fingers crossed album three propels Spector to the same success as bands like Catfish and The 1975 – it’s the very least that they deserve.

8.5/10