Improvs and new tracks and mixed sets

[stimpee]

I just wanted to get this offa my chest:

I love the new tour set and the idea behind it of bringing Darren into the picture to let Rick fiddle and improvise. I understand its gonna take some time to really get the feel of things again after a) playing a more song based and less improv based set last time b) having someone new helping in the live set and c) having new tracks to get right.

I was the one who asked Rick for a more "flowing" set in the dirty chat when they were answering questions one time for the radio and Rick sounded a bit miffed but this is exactly what I meant. More improv and less breaks between songs. This is what sets bands like Underworld apart from other live electronic acts and gives you the sense that what youre hearing is unique and will never be played again the same.

At the Heineken Music Hall, I was quite happy to have subsitituted Dark Train and Two Months Off from the set in order to have more new tracks and more improvisation. That's what makes it unique. I'll always favour hearing new material over a crowd-pleasing favourite.

Karl: I didnt care that there wasnt time to play Tin There (you were gonna play it instead of Moaner weren't you? ;)) and I look forward to flying over to Budapest now to see how the set has evolved for the Sziget Festival. Who knows, maybe I'll hear Dark Train, TMO and Tin There - i mean Moaner - there after all.

So if you're going to see UW on this summer tour, give em a bit of slack because they're still trying to get things just right. This aint an ass-kissing thread, just a response to the people who are whining to redress the balance.

[potatobroth]

well put. that said i have enjoyed every single underworld show that i have been to and countless others that i have heard second hand (read: recordings) and look forward to whatever comes my way.

[holden]

Check underworldlive today. Karl addresses the exact thing you're talking about!

[Forgotten Sanity]

It's very hard for me to believe that some view the AHDO concerts as a low point for Underworld, when they were some of the best concerts I've ever attended.

As uwlive indicates, they're not stupid. They know that they want to get their shows back to the MKII era, it's just that no one wants to see the labor pains, everyone wants to only see the baby without respecting where that baby came from. Give them some time and patience, there's already a marked improvement from the AHDO leg of tours, and I'm sure that it will continue to get better and better.

P.S. - Hey Karl... I really hope that you don't feel like you have to defend yourself, your shit's locked tight, always has been, always will be.

[Raz]

Amsterdam 2005 was my first UW gig and it was awesome. Finally got to hear PG live with the new "fucking mental ending(TM)" and although I missed a few of my favourite tracks, all of the new stuff more than made up for it. Thanks to the guys for playing it all - I know they were nervous a few months back but the whole of HMH was bouncing up and down so I hope that encourages them :D

Slightly OT, it's a shame most of the dirts missed the meeting with Karl but we'll wait slightly longer next time, Mister bounce around geezer :)

[stimpee]

I made this post before reading today's UWlive.com post so its kinda apt that it pops up now. The only thing I want to add is that I really really enjoyed the AHDO tour and that the final two Somerset House gigs were very special and i'll never forget them, but I do welcome a return back to the more improv-style gigs that I remember from Sheffield in 1994, Phoenix Festival in 1995 and the legendary Que Club in 1996 gigs where I witnessed not just some of the best UW gigs i've ever been to but some of the best gigs by any band i've ever seen. I guess this is why I'm still here years later typing these words.

now playing: Tin There

[Raz]

Stop showing off with all your gigs!

/me clutches his one ticket forlornly :(

[joethelion]

ok - somewhat related / somewhat not...

so that improv after PG in the Exit Fest broadcast, it has bits of two other tracks in it:
Barrel of a Gun (UW Hard Mix [easier to tell on the instrumental]) and the beats from "Bungalow with Stairs 001"

...and who thinks that the AHDO Tour was that bad????

[holden]

ok - somewhat related / somewhat not...

so that improv after PG in the Exit Fest broadcast, it has bits of two other tracks in it:
Barrel of a Gun (UW Hard Mix [easier to tell on the instrumental]) and the beats from "Bungalow with Stairs 001"

Good ears, joethelion! i don't have the recording handy, so i'll just ask...is this before or during the "Vision, C'mon" part? i was really hoping that that was a new song...looks like it might just be an improv with snippets of former UW tunes.

[holden]

Stop showing off with all your gigs!

/me clutches his one ticket forlornly :(

One is better than none!

(holden clutches no ticket, goes to seek solace in 70ish Underworld bootlegs, dreaming he was there :( )

[Raz]

One is better than none!

(holden clutches no ticket, goes to seek solace in 70ish Underworld bootlegs, dreaming he was there :( )

I feel your pain...

[groovypanda]

Phoenix Festival in 1995 and the legendary Que Club in 1996...my two favourite underworld gigs :)- in fact phoenix was so good they played twice but the friday night in the dance tent was just...awesome :D

[stimpee]

my two favourite underworld gigs :)- in fact phoenix was so good they played twice but the friday night in the dance tent was just...awesome :D
yes indeed. you wont find underworld doing that anymore. either playing twice at one festival or indeed probably playing in a tent. though i must admit i was quite mashed for the first gig on the outdoor stage that day :) i think they were supporting The Orb in the dance tent later.

[Dirty0900]

Check underworldlive today. Karl addresses the exact thing you're talking about!

Yer,thanks for answering my question on the interview process Karl.

Top banana!

[sanblaster]

...and who thinks that the AHDO Tour was that bad????





That tour kicked ass. Perfect blend of impros/album songs..

[stimpee]

That tour kicked ass. Perfect blend of impros/album songs..
It was a period of transition, but a highly enjoyable one. How to tour with only 2 people. Now comes another one with Darren helping out. I think things can only get better.

[oversight]

It certainly must be a transition, looks like they are back on a new track. After i heared 'You Do Scribble' [according to bbc1 radio (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/dance/nightingale/annie_nightingale_archive.shtml?20050708)] in the HMH, i was pleased to find the Exit Festival recording which also contains this track. I've heared the song for 20+ times and it indeed 'utterly amazing' quoting the taper.

[holden]

According to the BBC:

Underworld Live from Exit Festival
Underworld - Pearl Girls (Junior Boys) ;)
Underworld - Kenny Penne (Junior Boys)
Underworld - You Do Scribble (Junior Boys)
Underworld - Born Slippy (Junior Boys)

That'd be two honest-to-goodness new tracks! Sure they're likely to change, but i'm glad we'll hear 'em again (i.e. not a one-off improv)! :)

[oversight]

I too think so, the versions of these songs at the Exit recording have the same structure as performed at the HMH so I hope to hear it on the new album one way or another. The audience responded VERY excited hearing a drum'n'bass track which still sounds so Underworld. Btw this 'Kenny Penne' track indeed resembles 'Barrel Of A Gun - Hard Mix' a lot, it's an even better remix!

'Pearl Girls' as in 'Born Slippery'? ;)

[King of Snake]

I noticed that barrel of a gun loop in there as well. At first I thought it was an improv thing or maybe an intro part to the drum and bass track, but it seems it another track on itself. Maybe it's kind of like banstyle/sappy's curry, ie tracks that consist of mutiple parts/tracks.

[joethelion]

ok - so there's the rain bit, then the fast bass-drum, then right at 12:23 the Barrel of a Gun beats fade in. As soon as Karl says "vision" in comes the "Bungalow With Stairs 001" beat

although that track time will probably be different for everyone, as I've read that there's multiple recordings of this. I d/l mine f/ here, it starts w/ the interview and the mp3 file was named "uw_live_at_exit"

...so it really could end up being just an improv or a proper track... I mean I was the only one who noticed it at first, and they're such miner parts of the song you know? Also a lot of electronic bands will reuse bits from here and there - even Underworld have done it (see Big Mouth -> Dark & Long)



Good ears, joethelion! i don't have the recording handy, so i'll just ask...is this before or during the "Vision, C'mon" part? i was really hoping that that was a new song...looks like it might just be an improv with snippets of former UW tunes.

(edit)
and AHDO wasn't the first time R+K played live together without Darren. They toured in '00 to promote Everything Everything. Those shows, were improv heavy, but they did sound a bit more... 'simple' but I don't mean that with a negative connotation. Beats were emphasized a bit more, and Push Upstairs finally got a proper live tweaking (see Roskilde 2000, also only one of two known performances of Banstyle & the only one where Karl actually sings the lyrics)

[holden]

see Roskilde 2000, also only one of two known performances of Banstyle & the only one where Karl actually sings the lyrics)

Ooh yeah! i'll have to dig that show out! i remember that track being part of an awesome mix at that show.

[oversight]

...so it really could end up being just an improv or a proper track... I mean I was the only one who noticed it at first, and they're such miner parts of the song you know? Also a lot of electronic bands will reuse bits from here and there - even Underworld have done it (see Big Mouth -> Dark & Long)


A plausible theory indeed; the Vision/You Do Scribble connection could very
well be similar to King Of Snake having a long intro as performed at Glastonbury '99 and Fuji Festival '99.

[the mongoose]

hope not cause Vision sucks compared to You Do Scribble (IMO) :cool:

[stimpee]

Anyway, I'm glad this thread has been a criticism free zone mostly. Goes to show that most of us really do like the new material and direction.

[King of Snake]

Check underworldlive today. Karl addresses the exact thing you're talking about!

does anyone have a copy of this post or can summarize what Karl said? I was on holdiay for a week and missed it.