[dss]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, formerly of this parish back in the brown era. I've seen UW in several formats over the years - there's the big festival UW, the smaller university tour UW, the academy tour level UW and the Karl Hyde mini UW - all of which have been different experiences. Saturday's gig was one of the most fun and enjoyable gigs I've seen them do. Watching Karl sitting at the side of the stage cheering Rick on during Surfboy and Rez is another example of why this band has always been about more than just the sublime music - there's love there. From the beautifully stark typography to the minimalist lightshow (I loved the rising sun during Bigmouth) and the chance to hear tracks we'd all never expected to hear live (especially after the run of disappointing setlists in the past couple of years), the whole show was staged perfectly, which quickly dispelled any fears of it being a boring, seated run through.

I'm still slightly suspicious of a laptop based set up that, to my mind, removes the opportunities for spontaneity that used to be so key to UW live, but that's a tiny gripe in an album run through format. Being up on the balcony meant we had a great view of what Rick was doing throughout and it's clearly a step forward from what was a fairly embarrassing set of KCRW videos, but it would be nice to see some more synths come back in to play. I really hope revisiting dubnobass... and who they were when they made it has an influence on the live direction they take in future. It's not necessarily about having Karl hoon it up and down the stage as he used to 15 / 20 years ago, but feeling part of a unique, live event has always been the appeal and that, to me, has been lost in the last 5 years or so.

But anyway, an awesome gig in a surprisingly appropriate venue. Roll on March!