Fischerspooner - Scala gig/general musings

[Kittens-In-A-Hoodie]

Well now.

Late night Fischerspooner, or at least the present version of the band that used to be Fischerspooner, did their thing at the Scala.

Perhaps you were there too?

Mr. Fischer having quit the group some time ago left Casey Spooner as, essentially, a solo artist, and it was on this basis that he made the recent so-so album "Odyssey".

However, for this round of live outings he's recruited a 5-piece band, comprising a drummer, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and backing singer.

Which of course means that the skeletal electro-lovliness of Fischerspooner Mk. 1 is now banished forever, and tracks like "Emerge" and "The 15th" are turned into noisy, raucous rock-outs.

Mr. Spooner himself seems to be carrying quite a bit more weight these days, and reminded me of Gary Glitter with his "are you ready to rock" type on-stage antics. Great costumes abounded of course

It seems clear that he's set his ambition high, and wanted to turn Fischerpooner into a sort of Killers-type pop/rock combo, presumably in order to conquer the world and become a stadium-filling rock-n-roll band.

Two problems with this however: Firstly, the material just isn't strong enough, and secondly, it dispenses with the thing (or set of things) that made Fischerspooner special and exciting in the first place.

Artfulness is replaced by pantomime; arch electro-pop is replaced by Duran Duran out-takes.

Somehow, I can't see there being a third album.

A shame all round.

[enriqueponce]

I think Odyssey is far superior to the first album. 'Never Win' and 'Just Let Go' are much better songs than 'Emerge.' I don't think a second album would've been a possibility had they stuck to the same formula as the first. I was expecting a re-tread of the first and was pleasantly surprised when I heard it.

Has Fischer actually left, then? Can we expect a name change to Spooner?

[Kittens-In-A-Hoodie]

enriqueponce said:

I think Odyssey is far superior to the first album. 'Never Win' and 'Just Let Go' are much better songs than 'Emerge.' I don't think a second album would've been a possibility had they stuck to the same formula as the first. I was expecting a re-tread of the first and was pleasantly surprised when I heard it.

Has Fischer actually left, then? Can we expect a name change to Spooner?

I'm sure the brand name is far too string to permit a name change at this stage.

I have to say that the live act bore little resemblance to the album, everything was "rocked" up considerably.

Casey S. made a snide remark about the crowds enthusiastic reception of "Emerge", saying that the song was "out of fashion" and that the audience should be "off listening to the Scissor Sisters instead" - a comment born from jealously if ever I heard one. He clearly sees "Emerge" as an albatross around his new bands neck, but oddly with this new presentation and direction he seems to be trying to emulate the Sissor Sisters at the same time.

[nnnumb]

Its a pity if Warren has left. Especially considering that he writes all the music.

As much as I love Fischerspooner (they're one of my all time favourite groups), I can't escape the feeling that Casey's just too eager for success, and he'll compromise in order to succeed. He should really just carry on as before and let everyone else catch up, rather than trying to fit in with the mainstream.

I still think "Odyssey" is the best album released this year so far though. Of course, once Goldfrapp return that'll probably change.

[Kittens-In-A-Hoodie]

nnnumb said:

Its a pity if Warren has left. Especially considering that he writes all the music.

Actually, having said this, I'm now not sure if it's true. I read somwhere on-line that they had parted ways, and Casey said at the gig that he'd made the album alone (despite the various guest writers etc on "Odyssey").

On the other hand I know that Warren spent 2 years working full time on the album, and did some photoshoot promotion when it was released. Perhaps they did their bits seperately and never met up, in a kind of Donna & Barbara stylee?

[passionoia]

I think Warren directed the "Never Win" video...didn't he?

[Trixie]

There is no indication that Warren has left on the official website.

I think that Odyssey is a fantastic album - certainly my album of the year so far. Tracks such as Happy, We need a war and Cloud are utterly perfect, as is indeed a lot of the album.

I certainly didn't take his emerge comments seriously. I think he was just playing with the crowd as he knew it was what we all wanted to hear.

I didn't see the band tour during the #1 era, but hear that their gigs were amazing, flamboyant and expensive. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing them at Manumission in Ibiza where I expect such antics may come back.

Trixie