Are you in Stuo’s gallery?

Popular review aggregation site Metacritic recently named Spoon as the best reviewed band of the decade, citing their consistency and addictive qualities as the key factors contributing to this achievement. To anyone present at the Astor Theatre on a chilly Friday night in central Perth, this would not be surprise. Drawing from each album from this period and the recently released Transference (which also garnered similar praise); Spoon unleashed an extremely enjoyable twenty-four song set full of quality tunes.

Spoon’s appeal seems to lie within lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel’s incredible melodic gift, and his ability to implant an undeniable swagger within each song. Unfortunately for support band and local lads The Leap Year (who musically were not far removed from Spoon), they couldn’t quite imitate this quality. Too commonly they fell into long instrumental passages where both guitarists appeared to be playing exactly the same thing, which consequently sucked away any interest previously built.

Surprise Party and New Room (which were the first two songs played) seemed to bleed into each other with both relying heavily on dual guitar strumming, which tended to create a wall of sound that lead singer Rob Schifferli’s vocals struggled to break through. Penultimate track When I’m Michael Douglas featured a more downbeat 90’s alternative sound, while final song Pioneer Village Idiot took advantage of a nimble riff to create more interest through some long overdue variation. The Leap Year played a solid seven song set that was in dire need of more variation between songs; however their passion or enthusiasm could not be faulted.

After a short intermission Spoon took the stage, each member exuding the coolness that seems inherit in each piece of music attached to the name. Opening with The Mystery Zone, the first song released from new album Transference, Spoon quickly settled into a zone of their own, creating an atmosphere where each song sounded fresh and strangely spontaneous. Leaving little space between songs, they breezed through Got Nuffin and Natural History cover Don’t You Evah before playing fan favourite The Way We Get By, which brought about the first sing-along of the night.

The highlight of the night came particularly early in Spoon’s set, with the band playing an incredible version of the morbid Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga cut The Ghost of You Lingers, complete with sound effects and wonderfully atmospheric keyboards. Following soon after, came two surprising covers; Love Song by the Damned and Modern World by Wolf Parade, before Spoon returned to original material splendidly with Gimme Fiction standout I Turn My Camera On.

Daniels briefly adopted an acoustic guitar to play fan favourite I Summon You, which brought about the second main sing-along of the night. Spoon capped off this section of multiple fan favourites with a stripped down version of The Underdog, before launching back into their more experimental side with Kill The Moonlight opener and keyboard-heavy Small Stakes. Returning to the acoustic, Spoon ended their set with a minimalistic yet atmospheric rendition of Black Like Me.

Spoon appeared back on stage after a brief break for a five song encore which included current single Written in Reverse, Rhythm and Soul and Cherry Bomb. Originally planned as a four song encore, a couple of hardcore Spoon fans made in onto the stage and convinced the guys to play one more, which turned out to be the rapturously received Jonathon Fisk. Playing songs ranging throughout their last five studio albums, Spoon delivered a set rich in quality tunes; highlighting their consistency along with their experimental tendencies.

Are you in Stuo’s gallery?