North London Food & Culture

Review: Spector at The Dome, Tufnell Park

The longstanding NW5 venue was rammed for the antics of this captivating London four-piece, says Stephen Emms

Spector at The Dome, 11th June 2015. Photo: Andrew Benge
Spector at The Dome, 11th June 2015. Photo: Andrew Benge

We are so busy scoffing pizza at Aces and Eights that we miss support act Big Deal, who we raved about at last year’s disastrous Camden Crawl. Which means, hitting the slight inclines of Dartmouth Park Hill, we’re just in the nick of time for Spector.

Who? The group fronted by Fred Macpherson, of course (he was the bloke in Les Incompétents and Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man). They whipped up a bit of heat with their debut album, Enjoy It While It Lasts, back in 2012, and this sell-out show is to celebrate new single, Bad Boyfriend.

Our first observation is that lots of very, very young people are lingering between bar and stage, Strictly Not Drinking. In fact, dozens of teenage girls have been patiently sitting on Dartmouth Park Hill for several hours. We know because we passed them earlier, when the sun was still at its height.

So this is a band with a devoted following: a good thing, right? And the fact that bassist Thomas Shickle (who’s also a model) gets his kit off completely in the video for new single Bad Boyfriend can’t have failed to stir a few hormones, too.


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Swirling new song Don’t Make Me Try kicks the show off, beautifully layered with harmonies and clever lyrics. But things really pick up with standout track Strong Look, another new one with a splash of 90s rave pianos about it. Its winning hook – “What good are arms if I can’t hold you?” – works well because it’s impassioned, if just a touch ironic too. Cue mass swooning from overheated teens.

Oh, and by now the hardcore fans are going nuts. There’s crowd surfing aplenty – isn’t it sweet that no-one’s banned that yet? – but it’s when the group embark on the opening chords of Bad Boyfriend, already a near classic, that the room erupts. The lyrics are quite sparkling – the world-weary Macpherson knows how to work a pun or two – the only (purposefully?) cumbersome line being “my battery’s ten per cent/let’s generate content”. But still, the whopping chorus, one that surely the ageing Barlow or Robbie Williams would kill for, instills a group singsong. A nice middle eight, to boot.

Spector: '
Using his hair like a weapon: Fred Macpherson (second right) and chums

Macpherson is a natural – however hackneyed that might sound – and he’s impeccably dressed in buttoned-up white shirt, his long hair used like a weapon, before being finally tamed behind his head. And throughout the performance there’s interplay between him and Shickle, who lollops about grinning, gesticulating and generally being affable.

The new songs – which seem to reference influential 1980s bands like Furniture and the Icicle Works as well as more recent (80s-inspired) fare like Editors – continue with the set highlight, Cocktail Party, in which charismatic guest vocalist Bryndon lends a truly soulful touch. A hit-in-waiting.

A couple of newer tracks leave everyone a little more stationary, before the anthemic Killers-like strains of both Never Fade Away and All the Sad Young Men, highly melodic singalongs with exquisitely morose lyrics (the fail-safe recipe, of course, for the perfect pop song).

There’s no encore, and no Grey Shirt & Tie, a corker from the debut album. Instead, Never Fade Away is what the hundreds of fans are yelping – quite hauntingly, in fact – as they spill out onto the unpredictably chilly north London street.

For details of upcoming gigs and releases, follow Spector on Twitter @spector

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