Beyond the Valley of the Stephanie: the greatest concert of my entire life

spiritualized. philadelphia. tla. last night.

the phrase "completely blown away" does not even begin to cover it.no doubt in my mind that it was the greatest concert of my entire life.an electric mainline straight to my heart and soul.

my face hurt from smiling so much.i was swooning at the sonic sounds to the point i thought i was literally going to faint from the vapors complete with hand at forehead like some spacerock scarlett o'hara. take the best orgasm of your life and extend it continuously for two hours.it was a lot like that.i was utterly speechless, spent and euphoric by the time the concert let out.

i can't believe for a minute there i considered not going to the show.
i've seen spiritualized before.i didn't necessarily feel the *need* to see it again.the first time i saw spiritualized i think that that experience was a bit sullied for me due to the fact that i went to a jason pierce interview/meet and greet the day before the show at a local record store.

during the interview and when i met him i have to say that jason came off as a bit of a pretentious prick-at the very least in comparison to having met the one the only sonic boom the very same week.(one of the only moments in my life i've ever actually gotten speechlessly starstruck)

with jason it was one of those experiences where sometimes it's better not to meet your heroes so as not to be disappointed.i got some really great rare items signed but the experience was disappointing.the show still managed to be emotional for me though-in fact i cried at the show at the sheer beauty and magnitude of it all and that i was *finally* getting to see songs off of ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space

and lazer guided melodies

and pure phase

albums that i listened to on a daily basis for a number of years...

j spaceman aka jason pierce and sonic boom aka peter kember have been 2 of my biggest musical heroes from the time i received spacemen 3's perfect prescription as a birthday gift from my uncle dave around the age of 14.

it was unlike anything i ever saw/heard.with a song title like "walkin with jesus" i didn't know what the fuck my uncle was trying to pawn off on me at first. i remember reading the liner notes on the taang reissue- a guy has a car wreck and it doesn't matter because everything is just fine because he's listening to this album.i knew that rock and roll had that kind of power and that the album i was holding in my hands was definitely worth some serious listening.
to say that this album changed *my* life would be an understatement.
but i digress...
so anyway...part of me felt like well,i've seen spiritualized. and while it was beautiful and moving it sort of depressed me in some way but i'm fairly certain it was partially because of that particular period of time in my life.but the thought crossed my mind- do i need to see it again? i also read about the coachella show where they covered "true love will find you in the end" and thought that was kind of in bad taste. while it is originally a daniel johnston song everyone *knows* sonic boom already covered it.

i mean what was he trying to pull here?it just seemed kinda wrong and i really just didn't want to see that live.
BUT something in me told me i had to go.
i can't believe i *ever* doubted jason pierce after seeing last night's show.
i'm still high in a euphoric afterglow this morning from it.i feel genuinely sorry for anyone who did not attend last night.i can't imagine anything being greater than that. (i haven't gotten to see jesus and mary chain or the fall yet,iggy and the stooges are on saturday and the my bloody valentine show is in september but i can't imagine they are going to be able to come close to pulling off something that blows me away as much as last night did.it just doesn't seem humanly possible).

i can't really remember a set list in full but i *know* these were definitely played:
sound of confusion,shine a light,electricity,come together,soul on fire,lord can you hear me when i call,take me to the other side,lay back in the sun....

wow....just....wow.