Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When the five musicians that make up Space come home to Liverpool, there is a the sensation of static electricity that rises up through the floorboards of which ever venue they have decided to play in and the expectation of a high tempo and seriously fun evening to be had.

The audience inside the East Village Arts Club certainly could feel that air of expectation, the small tingle of excitement that comes naturally when a much loved band comes back to their roots for a gig and with Tommy Scott, Franny Griffiths, Allan Jones, the indomitable Phil Hartley and Ryan Clarke, who never seems to keep still and gives the energiser bunny a bad name, all in the mood to deliver, there was not to be a disappointed person in the room at the end of the night.

Watching Space on stage is like having a moment of pure realisation that they exemplify a certain belief, a fact, that Liverpool’s music scene, its history not only survived where others died for a while during the 90s but that no matter where you come from, if you stay in the city for even a short while, you acknowledge the infectious way the music seeps into your skin and very being. The adrenaline shot given to you in terms of the music from the likes of Space, Cast, Amsterdam, The Lightening Seeds and Ian McNabb becomes part of you and its one that you can never turn away from.

With tracks such as Mister Psycho, Begin Again, Drop Dead, the brilliant Crying on the Webcam, the title track to the new album Attack of the Mutant 50ft Kebab and the sensational Female of the Species all being performed, the singing and response from the audience was not just heartening, it was the culmination of that belief.

As always though the biggest cheer of the night went up for the song Neighbourhood, the defiance from the band and crowd alike was like listening to the battle cry of a general on the front-line, the rest of the country may have had issues with the city in the past but ask anyone who comes here now, they cannot get enough of what they see. Infiltration and charm by stealth with bands such as Space leading the way.

With Tommy Scott in a very playful mood, one very lucky young lady joined the band on stage for the encore of The Ballad of Tom Jones, it was a moment in which the usual film of Catatonia’s Cerys Matthews, who sang on the original version, took a back seat as the young lady poured every nervous fibre into giving as good as she got to a very amused and smiling vocalist.

The tracks from the forthcoming album that were played on the night were greeted just as wildly as old favourite and judging the reaction to them, this next album is going to be phenomenal.

A great night out as always provided by the band, one in which blew all the autumn blues and cobwebs out of the system.

Ian D. Hall