Gig Goin’ – Spencer Segelov All I Need Is Success St John’s Church Canton Cardiff

To celebrate 20 years of releasing music, Caerphilly based singer and multi instrumentalist Spencer Segelov held a special concert with a 10 piece band in the Capital. This is to coincide with his recent release “I Prefer My Earlier Stuff” greatest hits collection available via Bandcamp. The choice of location was interesting and I was looking forward to an evening of music in a unique setting. 

The evening began with a set from Barefoot Dance Of The Sea a 3 piece vocal harmony group who recently played their first show in 6 years. There were no signs of being rusty as their harmonies echoed around the church. They engaged an appreciative audience and were a great start to the evening.

With the church beautifully lit the scene was set for a special performance from Spencer and his band. The performance was split in two sets the first focusing on songs from his albums. From opener Age Appropriate taken from The Instructions album People Skills and ode to wrestling in The Heat Was Hot, the audience were treated to select tracks from across Spencer’s career. One thing I noticed was the great stories behind the songs this was evident on Waitng For Isabel taken from the album Ep 2 The Only Man Is Me and My Big Speech from the Mitigating Circumstances album. Switching effortlessly from guitar to piano this was a high quality performance from Spencer and the band demonstrating his versatility as a musician and artist. A special moment was Bec Wood from support act Barefoot Of The Dance singing lead vocals on The Ride Of Your Life. The pacing of the set was very well thought out and the diversity of the music ranging from Indie (Disco In Your Heart) to R n B to folk for two tracks from the Signs, Wonders and Miracles album. The first set closed with The Night Comes Looking taken from the album Short Hand which was performed at Cardiff Castle before a showing of Dracula

The second set began with recent single Asylum Records 45472 as funky an earworm as you will hear. This was followed by a personal favourite of mine, The Instructions single Soft Rock Is My Radio made for driving along highways with the top down. This was followed by Hands the closing track of the Ep 3A Quick Win album complete with audience participation from the younger members of the crowd. This was a rip roaring start to the second set and you could sense the band were having a great time with this. The pace eased a bit with the mesmerising! Let’s Pretend with pounding drums and synths. Another Instructions single Home Truths which had a Talking Heads vibe to it was followed by early single Leader Of The Chain Gang based on working in a call centre and got a huge cheer from the audience. We got a toaster solo at the beginning and during Great Enemies a warning against Artificial Intelligence.  As the set came to a close a superb rendition of The Records In Your Dad’s Collection was a highlight. 

Overall this was a superb evening and the unique nature of the venue really added to the ambience. Spencer Segelov in my opinion is an artist that the more you listen the more you discover and his ability to transcend genres sets him apart from other artists. The band were a tight knit unit and provided the perfect backing for Spencer. I think the key to longevity is integrity and Spencer Segelov has that in spades. This was a perfect celebration of his 20 year career here’s to the next 20!

Listen/Buy “I Prefer My Earlier Stuff” by Spencer Segelov Here:

https://spencermcgarryseason.bandcamp.com/album/i-prefer-my-earlier-stuff