Spoon in London

(The black boxes are videos...duh!)
This was definitely a highlight night in London. Tuesday February 16th brought fellow Jive Turkey Braeden Eastman to London to witness another legendary Spoon concert. This would be my 5th Spoon show and maybe it was my favorite. To go through the rankings before this show, we start with...

Number 1: October 2007 Freshman year college at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia- This was the moment when the band became one of my favorites. It was my second time seeing them and they were amazing. Best set list I have heard them perform. I was also able to get the set list for it. Crews consisted of Kiwi, Timbo and Jack.

Number 2: Summer 2008 at Prospect Park in Brooklyn with the White Rabbits. Amazing venue for a show and one of the best opening sequences from them. The energy on the first two songs, "They Never Got You" and My Mathematical Mind" was mind blowing. Ducky foolishly missed an incredible show. Crews consisted of Edward Van Small, Jeff Feldman (Original Spoon Legend) and fellow Spoon and Metric fan Hannah ZL.

Number 3: Summer 2007 in New York City. I forget the exact park where the concert was held (Battery Park maybe?) This was my first time seeing them and it was a free concert. I didn't know Spoon too well but this was the first time seeing them and it got me seriously into them. Epic HP crew consisting of Feld, Hannah ZL, Grace, Melissa and Lydia. What made the night was even though we got soaked, we had one of the most legendary Edison Diner visits ever. And trust me, that is saying a lot.




Number 4: Spring 2009 in Lancaster Pennsylvania. A solid venue but the show lost value because we had to watch from the balcony cause some of us were not 21. We didnt have the best view but it was still a great show. Some new songs were played as well which was pretty cool. Crews consisted of Ducky, Jack, Shuttle, Pepe and Lillie


Anyway back to tonight. After getting some dinner, Hillary, Braeden and myself hit up the tube to Camden Town. Braeden didnt actually have a ticket for the show but we were hoping that we could find one outside the show. As soon as we got off, some shady guys were offering to buy and sell tickets. After some hilarious fight between these two scalpers, obviously competing business men, Braeden paid a little extra for a ticket to an incredible show.

We got into the Electric Ballroom which is an awesome venue just a little after doors opened at 7:30. After an initial celebration, followed by purchasing a beer (I love being legal), we moved to the front of the floor right in front of the stage. I knew this was going to be good. While it was my 5th time seeing Spoon, there was a little extra excitement with this show. The new album, the show being in London, seeing it with two people who had never seen Spoon all added together.

(Note: Videos are of lower quality because they wouldn't fit on the blog otherwise. I might post some of the better quality ones on facebook or something.)

Around 7:50, the White Rabbits came on and put on an incredible show. They were amazing and their performance was just as good as Spoon's. Not a terribly well known band but their first two albums are definitely worth checking out and they are incredible live. My second time seeing them but I was up close for this one.

Highlights include my two favorites "The Plot and "Percussion Gun



After switching sets, Spoon came on around 9:00 pm and delivered an incredible show that may rival the concert at the Electric Factory. I always try to guess what the opening song will be and I was thinking maybe something from the new album Transference but right away, Spoon established that this was going to be a special show. No sooner had they taken stage when the opening guitar chords from "Don't Make Me A Target," their opening track from their 2007 album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. I was completely caught off guard but knew I was in for something good.

Second came "The Mystery Zone," which is one of my favorite songs off the new album. Britt Daniel is warming up nicely in this one.


Next came the one two punch of The Beast and Dragon Adored" and "My Mathematical Mind,"
two of my favorite Spoon songs. Sorry for my singing in the background, but it is a concert. I just love when Britt struts the line "Cool!" and points his finger in Mathematical. Great guitar work.

The 5th song was "The Ghost of You Lingers" which is nothing special in my book and probabaly one of my least favorite Spoon songs but still enjoyable in concert. Next they went from the new album with "Is Love Forever?" which has definitely grown on me. Such a great song live, and while I didnt like it at first, I am starting to hear the catchy nature of this short pop song which I earlier thought had none. Opinions change.

They went back to Ga with "Don't You Evah" which was a song I hadn't seen them perform live the past few times I saw them. They followed this with "Small Stakes" which is hands down one of my favoirte Spoon songs to hear live. Check out Eric Harvey on the keyboards play with his head under the instrument.

The followed with a cover of a song called "Love Song." I didn't hear the original band and there was nothing special about this one.


What seemed like the halfway point in the show, Spoon kicked off the second half with the single off their new album "Written In Reverse." Amazing live.

They stayed with Transference and played "Who Makes Your Money" with help from Stephen Patterson of White Rabbits. The rest of the show fucking incredible. They played "The Way We Get By" which I had never heard before live, followed by "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb," and more back to back Gimme Fiction with "They Never Got You," maybe the best song of the night and "I Summon You."

They would end their first set on stage with Rhthm & Soul," Got Nuffin" and one of my all time favorites "Black Like Me." The guitars on "Got Nuffin" was another highlight of the show.


The Encore really put the finishing touches on a memorable Spoon concert in London. They opened with "The Underdog" which is one of the most popular tracks. Surprised me a bit with "Nobody Gets Me But You" from the new album which was pretty good live. They came next with the classic "I Turn My Camera On" and ended with "Jonathan Fisk."


Another legendary Spoon concert! I snagged the set list, bought a bootleg Spoon shirt for 5 pounds and ended the night with Lamb Doner. What could be better?