"last Underworld only shows...for a really long time"

[whatmakesustick]

Okay I'm worried....as mentioned in the underworldlive.com thread there have been odd concerning reference to 'the last we will pass through here for a while' on the diary and this article confirms it. I was going to put it in the articles thread but it might be deserving of its own thread!

Seems like next year they will be visiting as many festivals as possible before taking a break from touring for a while - and I get the feeling that's not a break so that they can write the next record...

"So, this is it. These shows now in the UK are the last Underworld only shows that we're planning to do for a really long time. It's going to be really interesting, no sadness, but a lot of joy. We'll be playing to our own crowd, because next year it's going to be full on festivals. Then at the end of next year we've got a lot of plans. The things that we haven't been able to do for the last 20 years, that we'd like to spend some time focusing on."

http://www.egigs.co.uk/index.php?a=13679

[mel]

im worried about this too cos i didnt get into their gig on saturday and this quote seems really ominous

[Geo]

This whole quote doesn't make me worry at all.

Do you really derive from this quote that they'll stop touring or stop making music?

They'll still play at festivals, plus they seem to have a lot more projects to work on :)

[potatobroth]

It makes certain that i'll need to book a cross-Atlantic flight to see their next tour :P

[whatmakesustick]

Do you really derive from this quote that they'll stop touring or stop making music?


No, not exactly. I think there is a lot more music to come one way or another. As for the touring, it worries me because in answer to the question, Karl said a 'really long time' 3 times as if to make the point and others have also noted the tone in some of the diary entries. Also, the quote about 'things that we haven't been able to do for the last 20 years' got me thinking - they have been touring and making music for the last 20 years so to me it implies that they will be doing something different.

My guess is more Luminous, Exhibitions, Bungalow, Amient/downtempo one-off shows, etc (all of which I find very interesting by the way!).

But thats just my opinion.

[joethelion]

hmm...

yea - maybe like - they mean "Underworld - only" in the sense of like... maybe they'll make music with other people, as a group.

kinda like "Breaking & Entering" or what Brian Eno & U2 did with "Passengers" (which might just be U2's best album)

[holden]

well, shi* just a few shows in the US, and i missed them this time. Sweet memories of 2007 NYC.

But hey, it must be a hard life touring, and none of us are getting any younger. So cheers to UW for their tour to date. Hope to see you soon with a new setlist or new material. In the meantime, thanks for the spectacle and the banging new tunes!

[hypeless]

It makes certain that i'll need to book a cross-Atlantic flight to see their next tour :P

or the pacific - they seem to love japan...

[Dirty0900]

There just touring at my house.

[stimpee]

Well, firstly, think back to 2002. That was the end of the Underworld-only tour. In 2003 they played only festivals, and after V-Festival in August 2003, they only played Electraglide in Japan in November. Afte that Underworld didnt play anywhere in 2004, and only came out of hiding in the summer of 2005, and even then it was festivals only. They didnt play any of their own gigs until November 2005. Thats a full 3 years without Underworld-only gigs. For UK fans, they didnt play an Underworld-only gig until October 2007 which is almost 5 years after the last.

Do you consider that to be a long time? Did you realise that this occurred? It happens. And besides, I hope the rumours are true about involvement in the Olympics or who knows, some other big project. There could be soundtracks and exhibition work, and there will be festival gigs I'm sure.

We have to be thankful that they tour almost every year at all. We have the opportunity to see our favourite band every year. Some bands just go into hiding and dont release material for a very very long time, or split up. Fingers crossed theyre not going to do that, but I think the band deserve a rest as I'm sure its very stressful and tiring. Think back, to Greece in 2007 when Rick was attacked and the gig was cancelled, or in late 2007 when he got pneumonia and a whole half of tour was cancelled, the chaos at the HARDsummer gig in LA in 2009, and the cancelled We Love Sounds down under. I'm not surprised, but of course I'm disappointed (as a music fan). I hope they get rested, write some great new material and get to work on some exciting projects and come back stronger than ever.

[GoatSucker]

That interview is great. Sounds like they are going to be flat out.. Shame I can't see them play again for the end of this your, but looking forward to their new projects..

For those that haven't clicked...

Any other festival dates you've got lined up for next year?
Yeah, yeah, there's a lot, I saw the initial sheet which is all kind of pencilled in and there's a lot. It's going to take us all over the world again. There's a lot of countries that we're going to need to visit once more.

You've done work with Eno and Mark Knight's Toolroom what was that like?
We're still working together. We're working on quite a lot of projects, there's several albums being remixed as we speak for release from the work that we've done (with Eno), both with our ensemble 'Pure Scenius' where we played Sydney Opera House and again in Brighton. There is hours and hours of material there, and I've also recorded about 18-2o hours of material just between the two of us. There is a lot of material still to come out, and once we've finished this tour, I'm going to go back into a studio and continue the projects we've done together.

Lastly, if you had two months off, starting in the morning, what would you do with it?
I know exactly what I'm going to do, because it's booked. It's a fantastic project the Rick and I are recording through December and January which you will know about soon. We're really, really excited about it.

[Champiness]

Well that's a relief.

[whatmakesustick]

Do you consider that to be a long time? Did you realise that this occurred?

I did not realise that - I guess with living in the UK it was easy to hop over to the mainland to catch a gig anyway.

We have to be thankful that they tour almost every year at all.

Believe me, I am thankful. But for me, Underworldlive is such a big part of the whole Underworld package that I would be sad if it disappeared again for a few years or even worse for much longer. And of course they need to have a break. Everyone needs a break at some point.

But from the interview and diaries (yesterdays diary again) I just feel that they will do these final own shows, and then a massive festival run next year which kind of feels like a farewell run. I point again to quotes again about doing things they have not been able to do for 20 years and visiting counties 'once more'. I think they will be involved in loads of projects which I am really excited about, I'm just not sure if I'll ever be rucking up to Brixton for a gig that ends in a barn-storimg Moaner at 2am.

I write this hoping I am wrong, and that you are right!!!

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

yeah, this is disappointing. I've been a UW fan for about 10 years now and yet they've never come anywhere within 500 miles of me (and I live in the US!!) Come back soon...

[TheBang]

They've never come within 500 miles of me either. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.