2015-03-06 London - Hyde and Price

[markreed]

Hyde and Price again.

Dark And Long
Mmm Skyscraper
Surfboy
Spoonman
Tongue
Dirty Epic
Cowgirl
River Of Bass
m.e.
Rez
Bigmouth
Born Slippy
Nuxx

(I'll sleep on it, but it doesn't feel right with Darren and not Rick). Karl more talkative than usual.

[jetpig]

Am I reading that right as slippy AND nuxx or is there just an extra new line? If so, wow, that's been hiding away for a while....

[markreed]

I always think of Nuxx as starting with the heaven chords, and Born Slippy as the drums. Maybe that's just me?

[TheBang]

NUXX live starts with drums, rather than the chords like the album version.

[DoctorRad]

Karl was fairly talkative at Bristol as well...

[BishBash]

Karl more talkative than usual. Karl was fairly talkative at Bristol as well... Alas the crowd was talkative last night too. Too much so.

[surfboy1985]

Who was the support for the London show?

[markreed]

I thoug Tongue, River Of Bass, m.e. and Bigmouth seemed to deflate the crowd a little. The response to Dirty Epic, Cowgirl, Rez, Born Slippy etc was euphoric as normal.

[BishBash]

Who was the support for the London show? It was a DJ set. I was asking about this on the Bristol thread pre-gig yesterday, Steve Hall was mentioned but I don't know for sure who was DJing. Even a guy at the venue could only tell me it was a "very special guest dj" I thoug Tongue, River Of Bass, m.e. and Bigmouth seemed to deflate the crowd a little. The response to Dirty Epic, Cowgirl, Rez, Born Slippy etc was euphoric as normal. I agree with you on the tracks that the crowd got excited about. I just think its a shame that the crowd couldn't/wouldn't listen to the quieter tacks that you mention. I thought Bigmouth was reasonably well received, at least when Karl was honking on the harp.

[skyscraper101]

This is why I'm generally not all that enthusiastic about the whole of dubnobass being played from begining to end.. there are tracks fro this album which just don't work in big venues. Tongue, and River of Bass are the obvious examples. I thought M.E. was pretty good but the audience were too loud and pissed up to make it enjoyable.

It would be enough to do the tour in honour of the 20th anniversary and play the biggest tracks but swap those slower numbers out for a couple of classics from second toughest or beaucoup fish.

Then the fact that every track sounds exactly as it does on the album removes much of what I loved Underworld's live shows for... the tweaking and experimenting with effects and delays and tempos in the stems, the seamless blending of tunes together, the overall manipulation which set every night separately apart. Rick not being there just dampened the overall effect. Darren did ok like, but he's not one to take the limelight or do anything interesting with the music. It's not his to mess about with anyway.

Personally I hope they'll get back to playing more of the better tracks from all the first three albums, and start mixing it up a bit more on stage. I want to see a live show, not a playback with live vocals.

[markreed]

It certainly felt a lot more rigid than RFH. Having seen the Smith/Hyde/Emerson, Smith/Hyde, Smith/Hyde/Price, and now Hyde/Price, the Rick-less version of the band is the least convincing. I know Rick can't help being ill, but I overheard conversation around this outside from others that they couldn't tell what Darren actually did apart from press "start" and "stop". (Harsh!). Certainly on some of them, I think there were sections where the whole song is largely preconfigured and arranged and Darren's role is to ensure that the set runs on autopilot.

Since drum machines don't get tired, I can't see why the set was 25 minutes shorter than RFH, apart from the fact that too many instrumental tracks would highlight Rick's absence even more. The band could've come on at 8.30, and play an extra 45 minutes of say, "Pearls Girl", "Jumbo", "Two Months Off", "Crocodile", "Always Loved A Film", "Dark Train", etc. The whole evening did feel it had an element of 'waiting for the hits' from the crowd.

[TheBang]

It was a DJ set. I was asking about this on the Bristol thread pre-gig yesterday, Steve Hall was mentioned but I don't know for sure who was DJing. Even a guy at the venue could only tell me it was a "very special guest dj"
I saw a picture and can confirm that it's Steve Hall.

[skyscraper101]

I only noticed one bit of deviation from the script from Darren, which was when the kick and hi-hats were temporarily muted out of Nuxx, and even then I couldn't tell if that was pre-programmed (possibly by Rick?). Re-watching Everything Everything again now, and it all seems so far away,,,,

[holden]

I also rewatched E,E the other night! Never gets old.

Well, you all are lucky to see Karl and Darren live. Of course I hope that Rick feels better soon. But the dubno show is a pretty rigid gig...I think I'd rather hear some improvisation and some other tracks tossed in the MUX. But then, its been a long time since UW have ventured to America, and we will take what we can get! As in, additional shows beyond the Hollywood Bowl?!

[//\/\/]

It was excellent anyway, just to hear tracks live for the first time *ever* (for me) Smithless does make it feel a bit Wizard of Oz-y, but this show is atill miles better than the shows they've dialled in since, ooooh, Dazza got binned off and they got noodly. Crowd was great - yes we talked during slower tunes; but it's a gig not your headphones. It was also great to meet Stimpee and Jason Roth after Sooooo, so many years! Last night is high up there as one of the best uw gigs I've ever seen....

[whatmakesustick]

It was excellent anyway....

YEAH, some positivity in this thread. I (underworld fan) was with some friends (not underworld fans, just fans of a good night night), and we had a fantastic time at the gig. Nice touch with the warm up too :)

So some people used the slower tracks to grab a beer...so what! They wanted to party and why not at a jammed Hammy Apollo on Friday night with a great atmosphere. I thought Tongue sounded much better at the Apollo than the RFH by the way, even with people talking!

All the upbeat tracks were brilliantly received including Bigmouth with people digging the harmonica. And finishing with Nuxx for the 3000+ crowd on a Friday night was perfect.

What's with all Price bashing. He was on/off stage during the RFH show helping Rick and this show ran smoothly with him at the controls. Hats off to Pricey for stepping in and rocking.

Okay, there is less improv at these gigs, but i don't see how much improv there can be at a 'playing album from start to finish' show. I love the improv and track mixing, too, but we have not had too much of that lately. The last was probably the Oblivion gigs, but the atmosphere and response what much better at the Apollo than the roundhouse gigs.

[nbeazy]

Hey guys - This show was incredible to me, but I can understand the air of negativity. I am a fairly young American transplant studying here in London, young enough so that I would have been maybe 11? since the last time UW made it to Chicago, so obviously this was my first real chance to see the guys without traveling to Ultra or some place too far for a youngin to go.

Dubnobass has been one of the seminal electronic albums for me, one of the ones that truly sucked me in to the genre when I first heard it, so naturally this was going to be an experience for me. I, too, was sad to see Rick's absence, but all in all it was incredible. I wish I had been around for the days of Karl going nuts on stage - he was still dancing around a bit, but clearly it's catching up to him these days. Bigmouth was definitely received well by myself and the crowd - too bad some of them wanted to leave to refill during the slower tracks, but I loved them - they are just as much a part of dubnobass as any of the other tracks. The only things I was left longing for in the end was a) for them to keep going forever and b) hear them do Dark Train, especially because I know they had done it for the RFH show (I had just arrived in London the day before that show so logistically it didn't work out for me to attend).

All in all, first time underworld gig for me - I know it won't live up to the epicness it once was, but it was still epic for me!

[nbeazy]

I also rewatched E,E the other night! Never gets old.

Well, you all are lucky to see Karl and Darren live. Of course I hope that Rick feels better soon. But the dubno show is a pretty rigid gig...I think I'd rather hear some improvisation and some other tracks tossed in the MUX. But then, its been a long time since UW have ventured to America, and we will take what we can get! As in, additional shows beyond the Hollywood Bowl?!

Hey... we can hold out that one of the Chicago summer fests will snag them as a surprise. It's been a while since Lollapalooza was able to get something REAL interesting on their lineup, and North Coast was able to snag The Chem Bros a few years back... anything is possible..

[markreed]

http://www.thefinalword.co.uk/content/view/1304/35/

review and pics and typos.

Hmm. Not trying to show negativity here, let's be clear on that. However, not announcing before the show that Rick Smith isn't performing? That's poor manners.

Simply put, we have commitment bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment). We've spent the money, cleared the diary, made the journey, and well... we're at the show. If you'd've told me when tickets went on sale, that it would have been Price/Hyde, and not Smith/Hyde, maybe I wouldn't've bought a ticket. Maybe. Managing expectations is no bad thing.

[skyscraper101]

Okay, there is less improv at these gigs, but i don't see how much improv there can be at a 'playing album from start to finish' show. I love the improv and track mixing, too, but we have not had too much of that lately. The last was probably the Oblivion gigs, but the atmosphere and response what much better at the Apollo than the roundhouse gigs. That's why I think the idea of playing this album track for track isn't such a hot idea. The only advantage was I knew exactly when to go to the toilets (during surfboy lol). I thought the Roundhouse gigs were actually way better. Except for the graphics and lights, which were better on this tour. But the Roundhouse had more improvisation, more variation of tracks from across the albums. More energy overall. Also the version of mmm...skyscraper they did on the second night in 08 was possibly the best version I ever heard. Rick brought it out of nowhere, and completely amped up the b-line. God I sound like a geek. Fact is, they're getting older. Karl barely danced on Friday. He sounded down about Rick not being there when he explained his absence. Darren Price was cool but he doesn't seek the limelight and seems happy enough just to do the job but not play to the crowd. He just pointed to Karl for all the applause. I can't see how they can ever return to being the band I saw back in 1996 when I was 15 and its a shame but the clocks can't be turned back and I'm just thankful I was there, then.

[//\/\/]

Hearing tracks live for the first time - brilliant. Anybody clamouring for mass-improvs hasn't been paying attention to their gigs since Dazza left - since then they've been processional live. This was all about dubno, and apart from not adding Spikee to the encore, they delivered. Atmosphere was the best in years as well. The downside? Pulling it off without Rick really makes it a bit of a Wizard of Oz affair...

[twicezero]

Also the version of mmm...skyscraper they did on the second night in 08 was possibly the best version I ever heard. Rick brought it out of nowhere, and completely amped up the b-line.

2007? Or do i have missing stuff?

[amhilde]

Hi - new to the forum, but I was at this show and its one of those shows that has just stuck to me in a confounding way. Been listening to Underworld since 96 but as an American I didn't have a chance to see them live - in fact I never had seen them before Friday. Almost missed this gig too if I hadn't seen the notice in Time Out!

I thought the show was great and Karl was fantastic to watch, but damn the crowd pissed me off. Soooooooo much chatter, jerks getting beer and then heading to the bathroom, idiots standing around little backpack teepees because who knows why. Agree that while it was great to hear the album, in this instance with this band and this type of music, its perhaps not the best format. I still had a great time but I think it could have reached higher heights - maybe having Rick there, maybe less jerks, maybe a less restrictive format. I did plenty of partying in fields in the 90s to Orbital and co. and know how great it can be to get a blinding set, so I was a little disappointed. I will admit that part of it was probably my fault for standing in No Man's Land 10 rows of people back rather than mooshed right up at the front like I would normally have done for a show like this, but I had banged my knee badly earlier in the week and it really needed some space.

So now I am hooked, as I thought I would be, and am checking upcoming gigs to get another hit, hopefully a better one this time. Berlin is on my birthday, which would be a wonderful present. Likelihood that it is a "free" set and not the Dubno line up?

Finally - glad to have found an online forum for this group! Always makes finding out new/more information helpful.

[whatmakesustick]

Not being funny, but the guys were playing a show (Billed as a dubno show) on a Friday night at a sold out Hammy Apollo in their home town (ish). You should have expected beer (toilets normally follow), talking and errr...dubno. Again not being funny but it's a pitty you could not make the hyde show at Union chapel - great intimate chilled out show.

Anyway, great you finally got to see the guys.

[amhilde]

Naw, that's fair - a misalignment of expectations perhaps :) First time at that venue too so I wasn't real sure what to expect, and while I really liked the venue itself, I suppose I underestimated the crowd's reaction/involvement.

I now live here permanently, and while I moved over only last year, it certainly would be fantastic to at least be aware/catch the shows, whatever they may be, as they come up. I was gutted last fall to find out I had missed them at RFH and thrilled they had announced additional shows for March. Now they are on my radar more permanently, and I hope to maybe lurk a bit more on here to see news as it happens. Christ, I may even do the Facebook!

[TheBang]

So now I am hooked, as I thought I would be, and am checking upcoming gigs to get another hit, hopefully a better one this time. Berlin is on my birthday, which would be a wonderful present. Likelihood that it is a "free" set and not the Dubno line up?
I think it's likely that the festival shows (starting in May) will not be Dubno live, but we won't really know for sure until the first date.