Underworld Articles 2010

[TheBang]

Drowned in Sound.

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4...-of-underworld

Quite a good interview:

DiS: [...] there was a very early version of ‘Scribble’ on some of the live tracks you released in 2005. But here it’s a lot more ‘direct’ and short, alongside a few other tracks such as ‘Always Loved a Film’ and ‘Diamond Jigsaw’?

K: The sound is more stripped back and less dense too. It was all very deliberate, yet equally due to a series of coincidences.

K: [...] we have for many years talked about taking over a theatre and playing all our songs that are not about that. We’ve talked about it for 6 or 7 years now and thought wouldn’t it be great to go out and perform these more intimate tunes in a seated auditorium.

K: I think some fans think we favour the [Japanese market], but the reason we do the special editions is because they get swamped with imports cheaper than their own, so if we don’t then the local record companies wouldn’t sell anything. Which is also why it’s out there already, to give them a chance. Plus records are pretty expensive out there.

But right now I’m quite happy to do another record because we’re not trapped anymore. I’m sure somewhere down the line we’ll do something else like a Riverrun. It would be really nice to do a series of evenings that aren’t the anthems.

K: [...] With this particular tour for the first time we used a setlist. More recently we were letting the crew put the set together just before we were going on stage just so they could know what we were going to be doing; how the lights go or how to improvise the video, as they were having to come up with something to whatever tune Rick would drop. With this tour it’s been fantastic as we can think about something else now. If we’d had setlists 20 years ago we’d have been bored rigid but because they’re like a new invention to us we can work harder on other things.

K: We’d put out some club tunes that had done well and [Rick had] got to a point where he’d gone into the studio and couldn’t write anything. . . . [Rick's] missus said ‘get back in that studio and don’t come out until you’ve written a great tune’ and he wrote ‘Rez’. Which spawned ‘Cowgirl’. We have a lot to thank those Essex girls for…

[potatobroth]

K: [...] With this particular tour for the first time we used a setlist. More recently we were letting the crew put the set together just before we were going on stage just so they could know what we were going to be doing; how the lights go or how to improvise the video, as they were having to come up with something to whatever tune Rick would drop. With this tour it’s been fantastic as we can think about something else now.

Well crap. Great for them, terrible for us. I find nothing worse with regards to seeing a live act than knowing exactly what to expect next. Boo.

[whatmakesustick]

Originally Posted by potatobroth

Well crap. Great for them, terrible for us. I find nothing worse with regards to seeing a live act than knowing exactly what to expect next. Boo.

Yeah, thats quite worrying! I have been hoping that the current set list was just a temporary thing while promoting the new album. I must say I am massively surprised to hear this and its not really inline with the improvisation that is often talked about. The other day I was talking to someone who knows that I have seen Underworld upteen times and I explained to them that I could see them so many times because each time I see them its different. Having already been to the Roundhouse and Forum gigs, it does not make me overly excited about Brixton.

Of course there is nothing in the interview that states that setlist will be used throughout the tour. And, maybe they can devise a setlist the night before each gig and that will be different to the previous night.....fingers crossed anyway

[razorpilot]

Hmmm..
I'm seeing them at Brixton then making a special trip up for the Manchester show, so am hoping for some sort of difference between the two.. a Dirty Epic here.. a Juanita there, and maybe a Banstyle thrown in for good measure!

[potatobroth]

Originally Posted by whatmakesustick

Of course there is nothing in the interview that states that setlist will be used throughout the tour. And, maybe they can devise a setlist the night before each gig and that will be different to the previous night.....fingers crossed anyway

That's precisely what he's not saying. There was always a setlist prior to the start of the show. We know this because we've seen countless photos with funny little doodles of light formations, videos, etc.

What Karl is saying is that this tour is pre-determined with maybe a few open spots for an odd track here or there. But it looks like we're getting a very consistent setlist.

I flew over to England to see a show a few years back (that was canceled but that's a different story :P) but there's no way I would do that for a canned setlist.

[jose m]

Originally Posted by potatobroth

That's precisely what he's not saying. There was always a setlist prior to the start of the show. We know this because we've seen countless photos with funny little doodles of light formations, videos, etc.

What Karl is saying is that this tour is pre-determined with maybe a few open spots for an odd track here or there. But it looks like we're getting a very consistent setlist.

I flew over to England to see a show a few years back (that was canceled but that's a different story :P) but there's no way I would do that for a canned setlist.

i wouldn't worry.
there's songs from the new album that they aren't doing and they won't be able to resist dropping some classic's.
i think the "festival" shows are another matter.

[potatobroth]

Originally Posted by jose m

i wouldn't worry.
there's songs from the new album that they aren't doing and they won't be able to resist dropping some classic's.
i think the "festival" shows are another matter.

Well we just have to look at the recent UK gig to know what to expect, don't we? Its pretty spot on to the festival set list. No real surprises there.

Now if they play 4 nights in Japan with the same setlist, I'll be quite concerned.

[Dirty0900]

My stolen setlists from Newcastle/Roundhouse 4 don't match up, things are moved around and even things added in. The iTunes setlist I have is identical to what was played on the night.

Hopefully it will be a random setlist with the new dates and not 20+ gigs of the same stuff.

[King of Snake]

yeah it's worrying. I wonder what K means when hey says they can "work harder on other things" or "focus on something else now".
I mean, what else is there to work on and focus on than delivering a great improvised set? Isn't that what UWlive has always been about? I'd say that if you're gonna do a preset show, then at least use that to come up with some really cool mashups and transitions, but as far as I can hear it's still mostly the same "start-stop" as they've been doing for a long time now (except for Downpipe-ALAF), and all the tracks are pretty much album versions. At least Daft Punk do a total mashup of their music (not to mention a top-of-the-line visual show) even though the setlist is the same every night. Same with the Chems. Same setlist but at least the tracks don't sound like straight album versions (at least last time I saw them which was admittedly quite a few years ago already).
Anyway, still psyched to see them in Amsterdam in November but there doesn't seem to be any reason to go see them at STrP the next as well day this time around.

[cdave2]

Don't remember seeing this one here yet (thanks to the sharp-eyed folk/fellow obsessives over on the Radiohead forums):

http://dcist.com/2010/10/dcist_inter..._of_underw.php