To say that the return of Spock’s Beard to UK shores has had the prog community buzzing is to engage in significant understatement. The band, who haven’t toured the UK since 2018, are rather making up for lost time, playing a generous seven dates (plus an additional European show in the Netherlands). As a result, there is no small amount of expectation from the crowd descending upon Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms.
This well-proportioned yet intimate venue is the perfect place to catch this enigmatic act up close and personal, and it’s clear that Spock’s Beard are taking the opportunity of touring without a current album to support to air a fantastic selection of fan favourites from across their extensive, thirteen-album back catalogue.
Spock’s Beard open with Tides Of Time, which emerges from a monstrous synth drone as the band saunter on stage, Ryo shaking hands with the front row as he goes. The opening track from 2015’s The Oblivion Particle is absolutely astonishing live. With crunchy chords and soaring melodies underpinned by Dave’s complex bass and Alan’s nimble guitar it’s a great, slow burning start to the set and, when Ted Leonard throws his guitar into the mix, the whole thing explodes, the band revealing in their instrumental dexterity and melodic nous. And that’s not to forget the cracking acoustic playoff at the heart of the song leading, of course, to some epic harmonised lead.
Ryo’s creeping keys launch the dizzying prog of The good don’t last, which sees neo-classical passages doing battle with some weighty damn riffs, before the band head into the acoustic body of this most schizophrenic song. Expect the unexpected as the band lead you through a veritable hall of mirrors, and it’s a joy to watch the interaction between the members, who are obviously enjoying every minute of it. It’s followed by the crunchy rock of Hiding Out, a personal favourite, and a highlight from Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleeps. With a great chorus in tow, it’s a shorter, sharper piece after the dense volleys of The Good Don’t Last, and a reminder to dig out Brief Nocturnes – one of the best Spock’s Beard albums in my view.
Staying with that album, Waiting for Me is a very Hackett-era Genesis-style track, with great keyboard and a taut beat giving way to an up-tempo rocker that gets the crowd going before slowing to allow a lovely solo from Alan. It builds back up though, the irrepressible Alan unable to keep from jumping, and it’s simply an epically brilliant, beautiful, exhilarating piece of music.
Following a good-natured introduction from Ted, we get the bruising intro to the otherwise pastoral On a Perfect Day. Another track offering myriad side quests, it has acoustic interludes, blazing riff-o-rama and memorable melodies, all delivered with brio by a band on fire. And then it’s back to Brief Nocturnes for another highlight in the form of Submerged, the band deftly balancing the longer, harder-prog tracks with pieces that help to clear the air, so to speak.
Speaking of harder edged, the keyboard-led insanity of Harm’s Way offers some great instrumental opportunities for the whole band, who rock out convincingly amidst the flurries of virtuosity, which include a lead vocal from Ryo. If, in contrast, She is Everything is a little rough around the edges, it remains a slow-building, warm-hearted piece with a Floyd feel, and it garners a huge cheer from the crowd. Then there’s One So Wise – from the fantastic Noise Floor – which proves to be a bouncy number with plenty of harmonies and a spacey Jeff Wayne vibe.
The main set closes with Go The Way You Go, which runs the prog gamut from its bizarre, pseudo-choral opening, through space-age synths and plenty of youthful ambition – amazingly still evident all these years in to the band’s career – before taking us through jazz, hard rock, pop, and more, all in the quest for a destination worthy of their arrival – oh and there’s an epic drum solo from multi-limbed maniac Mike Thorne! How to follow such an outpouring? Well, there’s only one option really – the fifteen-minute majesty of The Light, which sees band and audience collapse into exhaustion at the end.
It’s only into the third song that I realise that Spock’s Beard hark back to an era where the stage show was infinitely less important than the music and the passion of the performance. Despite their stature, there are no frills on stage. No fancy lights, no projections… not even a backdrop with the band’s name. Instead, what we get is an absolutely brilliant band playing their hearts out for two solid hours. With Ted Leonard an amiable and engaging frontman, the band keep the audience on side, while the antics of Alan and Ryo – a fearsome duo who seem incapable of staying still no matter how complex the passage they’re attempting – are utterly absorbing. A wonderful, emotional return for a very special band, Spock’s Beard cannot return to these shores soon enough.
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