Poltergeist is the new group created by Echo and the Bunnnymen's Will Sergeant alongside fellow bassist of the same band, Les Pattinson and last night saw them play a gig on home soil at The Kazimier.
The set draped all in white with a reel to reel tape recorder to one side set the scene nicely and brought an eeriness to the place as the crowd awaited the group. And once a short message was announced by someone dressed like an extra from a Clock Work Orange via a megaphone the guys, dressed in white hooded tops, took to the stage to the sound of "Dem bones"
What followed for the next hour was a set of compelling and hallucinogenic music which wouldn't have gone amiss at an Andy Warhol shin-dig and with the projections of such images as ventriloquists dummies and clowns flickering against the white back drop you at times felt as if you were a part of some macabre nightmare created by Oliver Stone.
Poltergeist have taken it upon themselves to let the music speak for them. Not a word is uttered by the band and at times it almost seems like they are oblivious to the applause and cheering after each song, completely immersed in playing and relaying their music to the people.
Moving from one song to the other, without so much of a hick up, is credit to the band who are obviously masters in their field and the lack of any communication to the audience only strengthens the effect. You actually don't even need to be watching the band to enjoy the music.
Leaving the stage the same way they entered after their last track , silently and without fuss, left you thinking "what just happened" and the introduction of the lights drags you back, reluctantly, into the real world.
