Any reviews / news on Cocoon gig??

[Troy McClure]

I'm curious what was played...I'm sure it was enjoyable and you all went mental...and danced.


--Jason

[grady]

The photo on the blog today had me eager with anticipation to know what type of set was played and how it would go down as the last show at Cocoon was something quite special.

Is it really that quiet here?

[TheBang]

i think they are sleepy.

[TomTom]

Hey I just got up after 5 hours sleep because the night didn't end after the gig was over. I had a fantastic time yesterday night and Underworld rocked Cocoon like only they can do it. They entered the stage directly without any warmup act in advance and played in front of a packed club.

They started the gig with Crocodile but together with Beautiful Burnout it was the only track from their recent album they played. They played a lot of older tracks from Beaucoup Fish, 2nd toughest of the infants and older albums...aural heaven.

I won't even start with a set list in chronological order because I had one beer to much to do this but some tracks I remember are:

Crocodile (opener)
Beautiful burnout
Moaner
Pearls girl
Jumbo
Push Upstairs
Two months off
Luetin
Born slippy Nuxx
Spoonman
Mmmhh Skyscraper I love you
Rez/Cowgirl (Encore)

As usual they played the tracks in unique versions and also some of the transitions were new to me (maybe they used them on previous gigs on their tour but not on the recordings I have heard so far).

Karl's voice was pretty clear though it was the last gig on their tour but he looked a bit tired on stage...maybe it was like this because the stage in Cocoon is pretty small sadly....dunno. He did not move much or danced around. This was quite different from the last times I have seen them but no complaints on my side, we had lots of fun and the crowd was in a good mood so I am sure the boys had fun with us as well.

What I love about Cocoon is their superior sound system (took my ear protection out but have no ringing in my ears today), their lasers and especially their cold fog machines...nothing better than a fat SWOOOOOSH flooding you with ice cold fog during a momumental breakdown in a track...besides the cooling effect also good for the atmosphere.

Here are some cell phone shots from yesterday night:

































Thanks to Underworld for a fantastic night!

[BeautifulBurnout]

Fab!

I remember the fantastic cold swooshes of air too - they should be mandatory by law in every club, I reckon.

Sounds like a great gig with yet another lush setlist. They have really done us proud on this leg of the tour. And I wonder if Karl looks tired because he was up partying with Sven Vath the night before? He was pretty knackered at the last Cocoon gig too.

There is something about the atmosphere in Cocoon that I really loved the last time. Architecturally it is magnificent for a start. And I was amazed at how lovely and friendly the crowd were for a club - not like some of the London clubs, where people can be quite cold.

So envious - wish I could have made it this time round too.

Thanks for the report and the photos.

[Dirty0900]

Originally Posted by BeautifulBurnout

not like some of the London clubs, where people can be quite cold.

At some London gigs i've been to, there's been zero atmosphere. It's ok to smile and move!

[Leon]

THEY PLAYED LUETIN!??!Q
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[nosajmunson]

Originally Posted by Leon

THEY PLAYED LUETIN!??!Q
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Yeah, what they said!

I love Luetin live, not often that they play it. My favorite is still the John Peel 12-10-2003 brodcast where they opened with it and that sad sounding sample loop.

Cocoon looks sweet. Nice pics from in the trenches. Actually gives you a feel for the club for those of us who have never been there. Nice.

[holden]

Mmm Skyscraper and Spoonman?! Nice!

Ah, i see that you said this isn't exactly chronological...first i saw it i wondered, what the heck is "Moaner" doing so early in the set?

[m.g.]

Just out of a Frankfurt - Paris ICE hi-speed train... & back home now...

What can I say (& add to TomTom review). Erm... it was just really great & really different than any other UW gig I saw, recently or not. They started @ 10:00pm & finished @ 1:08am, & I really had the feeling that Rick didn't wanted to stop playing (I was as close as possible from the center right of the stage, as you can be anywhere in Cocoon, no barriers, fences, etc...). The gig never really stopped during these 3h08, I didn't have the feeling that Rez/Cowgirl was a "proper" encore... or let's say that the encore was Jumbo & right after Rez...

I also had at some moments the feeling that Karl was kinda "tired" or even sad (Mr Minghella's death?), he was definitely dancing less than usual (but the stage there is quite small, specially with the new disposition of the gear). Imo, he was definitely not singing like he usually sing (nothing negative here...) he sounded just "different", improvising quite a lot, using a lot of different effects on his voice (not only vocoder). It was just different & great. In the last 3rd of the gig, Karl started to be as smiling as he usually is, dancing more, etc... which was very cool.

I also had the feeling that Rick improvised really more than usual. I heard intros/outros, beats & loops I've never heard... which was amazing, specially as, as I said, the gig never really stopped. It was obvious that they had a few fuckups (due to the amount of improvs?) but I never had that much the sensation that Rick (& Karl & Darren indeed, but specially Rick) was(were) literally "creating" new things, here & now.

The sound in Cocoon is great &... I don't know... this place must have something special as the 2 UW gigs where I was, 2006 & yesterday are leaving me like "shocked" because of their quality. Yesterday was really very intense, tight & kinda unique gig. I can't say more for now...

I don't remember they played Luetin... but here's what I remember as a (as chronological as possible) setlist that I could note on my cellphone:

Crocodile
Mmm... Skyscraper
(unknown intro)/Peachtree?
(unknown intro)/Lenne Penne
(unknown intro)/Beautiful Burnout
Two Months Off
Glam Bucket
(unknown improv)/Can You Feel This Bass
Juanita
Spoonman
(unknow improv + Karl Jam)
Nuxx
(unknown intro)/Moaner
Pearls Girl
Borialis?/King Of Snake
Rowla/Cherry Pie
Push Upstairs
Jumbo
Rez/Cowgirl (not as a proper encore as I said...)

I do hope that this gig was somehow recorded (like Hamburg & Berlin) & that we'll see this appearing one day on uwlive as downloads (free or not... I'd be delighted to buy them, I have to say...).

VoilÃ*... my english is probably too poor to express what I felt last night, but I hope that confusedly you can see what I meant here... I'm still blown by this amazing show... Thanks Rick, Karl & Darren (& everybody involved @ uwlive HQ in making this possible...).

PS : in advance, sorry for the possible mistakes in my setlist

ps2 : sorry TomTom, I got your PM too late... & at the time you were entering Cocoon, I was having a dinner in the restaurant inside... & I can confirm that the food is really glorious there