Spatial AKA Orchestra

I'm writing this in Manchester city center - I came down yesterday to catch the show by Jerry Dammers and the Spatial AKA Orchestra, and I'm very glad I made the trek! The Spatial AKA Orchestra is Dammers' tribute to the might Sun Ra, and obviously what he would rather be doing than joining the Specials re-union tours. The show was a full on musical epic that clocked in at over two and a half hours, and counted up to nineteen musicians on the stage (not to mention a dozen mannequins in Egyptian costume holding guitars and synths). The big-band music covered some of the work of Sun Ra (of course) but also a lot of "outsider music" by the likes of Joe Meek, Eric Satie, Martin Denny and a few choice Specials tunes ("Man at C&A" which was blended into Ra's "Nuclear War" and "Ghost Town" which was moulded into the brooding epic "Ghost Planet"). They are playing Edinburgh tonight and I recommend anyone who's about to head along - you will not be disappointed. Here's a clip of the Spatial AKA Orchestra in action:





And big up to Kelvin for putting me up for the night - cheers geezer!