2010-08-27 Rock en Seine, Paris

[bazwint]

Was no one else there? :confused: :rolleyes:
Setlist -

Downpipe
Always Loved A Film
Two Months Off
Scribble
Bird 1
Rez/Cowgirl
Between Stars
Diamond Jigsaw
KoS
NUXX
"Standard" but by no means ordinary. The new songs, especially Scribble, sounded wonderful. Karl was on top form, even giving it Pete Townsend windmills during the Diamond Jigsaw powerchords (finished with a short guitar solo too). Nice touch dancing behind the screen for Cowgirl ("I'm invisible"). What a fuckin awesome band.

[King of Snake]

still weird to see them do the same setlist gig after gig suddenly. Yes ok they're festival gigs but still in the past even at festivals they would mix it up a bit.

[fraser]

Was no one else there? :confused: :rolleyes:


I was there, resplendent in my lovely new dogboy t-shirt. Alas the french crowd didnt seem in the least bit interested in either my t-shirt or the gig itself. Crowdsurfing at an Underworld gig? Seriously? Wasnt so much peace, love and togetherness as a bunch of rude folk pushing their way past. Worst vibe I've ever experienced at an Underworld gig :(

Maybe I just got unlucky and stood in the wrong place...

Some of the new stuff works a treat (I'm looking at you, Downpipe!) but I felt other tracks like Diamond Jigsaw started well but failed to go anywhere.

I've never said anything even slightly negative about Underworld in about 15 years, what the devil is going on?!

[Mike]

"Standard" but by no means ordinary.

Sorry, what was "un"ordinary about it?? They probably just downloaded their own recording of the iTunes festival and played that whilst pretending to do stuff :P

[bazwint]

Sorry, what was "un"ordinary about it??Well I was amazed how good the new songs sounded live. Agreed about the static setlist. Very surprising. But they're on a different tack here. I thought playing the iTunes fest was incredibly cheesy but if they sound this good I'm going with them. When we get some Underworld shows I'm sure they'll be back to mixing it up.

The crowd around us at the front were great. I saw a crowd surfer during TMO which was bizarre but he looked totally off his nut. Not a biggie.

[bazwint]

I've never said anything even slightly negative about Underworld in about 15 years, what the devil is going on?!
Sorry you didn't enjoy it, man.

[m.g.]

Was there. And I enjoyed it a lot.

Typical festival format (having to start at 11:15pm and obliged to finish at 0:30am) so it can't never be (and it's not the point in this kind of "exercise") like, say... Den Atelier 2005 or Cocoon 2006 (for those who can see what I mean ;)).

First time I heard the new songs live and I found very interesting to "see" what they became after knowing how they were (as it'll be great to see how they'll transform them later). And they were working very well to me.

Even just arriving from Japan (7 hours of jet-lag and about 30°C less) Karl was amazing as always. And I have to say that I always feel very happy to see Rick smiling and singing.

Just not exactly the 2005-2008 Underworld, not yet "the" Underworld they'll be in 2-3 years, but still very and undoubtedly Underworld.

I'll have no free time by the end of the year to be at their "proper" gigs and I'm already envying a lot the ones who'll be lucky enough to be around :mad:

It was just as great, uplifiting and different as the... erm... quite numerous times I've seen UW live. And I wish them all the very best and maximum success for Barking.

VoilÃ* :)



ps : I loved the new lights (specially the LED ones) and I've never heard before this ending they played on KoS

[fraser]

Just not exactly the 2005-2008 Underworld, not yet "the" Underworld they'll be in 2-3 years, but still very and undoubtedly Underworld.

Yeah, it's this transition phase that I struggled to deal with I think. Its entirely unfair for me to expect the new tracks to have the same impact as Rez/Cowgirl or KoS. I remember being unimpressed the first time I heard Two Months Off live, but it was excellent on Friday night. I guess I'm not ready to make the transition myself just yet and would have preferred the majority of tracks to be "classics" rather than the "future classics" :)

I've seen Underworld 8 times in five different countries in the last 3 years so I should probably the last person that starts complaining when they change things up a bit!

[m.g.]

I've seen Underworld 8 times in five different countries in the last 3 years so I should probably the last person that starts complaining when they change things up a bit!fraser, my post wasn't at all reproaching or criticizing your feelings, and I can absolutely understand this "transition phase" which you are struggling with... (I also have the same stuggling with Scribble) my post was only about my thoughts re: this gig, their new songs and my feeling about "where" UW is now... so, nothing personal indeed ;)

[fraser]

fraser, my post wasn't at all reproaching or criticizing your feelings

That's ok, I didn't interpret it like that at all. My only struggle is with myself :)

[jose m]

Sorry, what was "un"ordinary about it?? They probably just downloaded their own recording of the iTunes festival and played that whilst pretending to do stuff :P


oh yer

[sanakan]

. And I have to say that I always feel very happy to see Rick smiling and singing.

Seems you were at the same show as I did (http://www.borndirty.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17045) ;) I, too, liked the way Rick was enjoying himself. It seemed to me that he's had more time for "enjoying" the show (as opposed to being the only(!) one responsible to keeping the basic flow running. I was surprised, and very glad for him to see him doing some lyrics (he had before during live shows, but only *very* seldom, as far as I remember).


I loved the new lights (specially the LED ones) and I've never heard before this ending they played on KoS[/SIZE]
:D same feeling here, too :) Both about the lights (ok.. I'm a sucker for led matrices) as well as the KoS improv (I assume it was the same) - that was wicked, right?!.



To get back on topic: I for one am abit sceptical about UW's new material.. apart from "Downpipe" (which is a very *very* good track at a live show), I find the other new material to bee "too pop" for my taste. Then again, I'm more into the mellow/dark/quiet side of Underworld.

still weird to see them do the same setlist gig after gig suddenly. Yes ok they're festival gigs but still in the past even at festivals they would mix it up a bit.
I've been giving this some thought, too. I've realized during the write up of the Zurich show's tracklist, that it is the same as previous shows this year. My conclusion about this are:
- Festival gigs are normally limited in the duration. Giving the amount of new songs that they presented (ALAF, Scribble, Strumpet, Between Stars, Diamon Jigsaw - already half of the show!!) and the regular songs that they *have* to play (NUXX, Rez/Cowgirl), there is not much time left for other, spontaneously chosen songs.
And, to be honest: It's just us dirts that "benefit" from changing setlists, as most of the "regular" people won't track the songs across different gigs...
Also I guess that a fixed setlist makes it way easier to plan for a) the visuals, and b) the duration of the show (which I guess is very important for festival gigs).

[m.g.]

Seems you were at the same show as I did ;)
The truth is that when I've read your post about Zurich festival, I also thought that we were at the same gig. And what you say about festivals is absolutely true... and that's why I normally hate festivals :D

I also believe that the fixed duration of these shows + short amount of time between the end of Paris show and the beginning of Zurich (with buses and trucks) + the "balance" with old songs/new songs + Karl just coming back from Japan were not helping for long impros and random setlists.

BUT (and knowing all that) seeing Karl's joy and energy, how responsive was the audience to the new songs (audience obviously not being as purist as most of the people in this forum) and Rick's constant smile really "made my day". Having seen them about 20+ times here and there, I was quite surprised about how great the new songs were "live" (even being a bit sceptical at the beginning). I also think (and like) that the new material highlights the fact that, amongst other things, Karl trully is a fantastic singer.

So, besides the festival "conditions", I loved it and I'm just looking forward to seeing them in a 3h++ own show in a proper venue.

[mat]

Some videos taken at Rock en Seine : http://cret.in/res/

[Mike]

Updated on the Gigography:

http://uwlive.rowla.com/gigs/view/400