Show was amazing, I thought they sounded incredible and the performance was really spot-on. It had been awhile since I'd seen them, and it lived up to every expectation. It was great to hear them in an extended fashion with such a nice long set. It was also super cool to see how happy they looked to be performing, and how many smiles I saw on the faces of people in the crowd as I looked around. I feel like the joy of Underworld is a rare thing that I don't see much in other music acts/audiences.
My setlist thoughts:
I Exhale - sounded way better live than I expected, really felt like it came to life in a concert setting.
If Rah - love this song, so I was excited to hear it. Sounded excellent.
Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream of Love - A thrill to hear the full version, I felt like this is where the show really came alive and felt like the essence of Underworld.
Ova Nova - thought all of the new songs sounded better live than the album, and I love the album
Nylon Strung - This also sounded excellent, although I think I like the more personal experience of this one from listening to the album, as opposed to a show. It moves me more emotionally when I listen by myself. Didn't expect that.
Two Months Off - this thing bangs so hard live, it's such a great song for their show
Eight Ball - really enjoyed this in a live setting, way more than I thought I would. I like the song but was curious if it worked live. It really did, I loved the groove of it.
Jumbo - always great, those synths are just so warm and blissful.
Ring Road - this didn't work that well for me personally, I don't totally understand the inclusion of it in their set. I like the melody of the OWB "Ring Road" much more, and to me, replacing this with something from Barking would have been way better. But I'm nitpicking
Push Upstairs - I had never experienced this live before, so I was crazy excited. Really slammed.
King of Snake - WOW. This set the place on fire. I thought I was having a seizure, it was amazing! Karl was out of control on this one.
Faxed Invitation - definitely a strange place for this after KoS, but I like this song alot and was bummed they didn't play the full version. I would have liked to hear that build on the big sound system.
Dirty Club - this was really cool, a great mashup of things and I loved the way the vocal sample cut through the mix. Karl's vocals seemed a bit quiet on this one. Maybe it was T5's acoustics at play.
Low Burn - thought the placement of this was a little off, would have liked to hear it earlier in the set. Sounded great though.
Rowla - Rick was killing this, it was intense. It was really cool to see him just on his own out there tearing it up.
Rez - really enjoyed Rez, I feel like he did some different things with it than I was expecting. Sounded excellent, lights were great.
Cowgirl - a classic, but man it just works so well live. I forgot how awesome it is to hear it live in a room full of hardcore UW fans.
Born Slippy - I also forgot how great this is live. I think as a fellow hardcore UW fan, I always say I'd trade this for something like Moaner, but I can see why this song is such a staple. Really blows the place out at the end.
Bummed they left out "Dark Train", that's one of my favorites. Oh well. Surprised they don't play anything from Barking....perhaps because it was an album with more collaboration and doesn't feel as much like a true Underworld album to them? Not sure, it feels like a part of their catalog to me. I think "Always Loved A Film" or "Scribble" could have worked really well somewhere in the set. But I won't complain, the show was amazing and I'm grateful to have seen them again. Who knows if it will be the last time I get to do so.
Wife got a great photo of Karl, and I grabbed one of the Terminal 5 Underworld posters. Hid it behind some tables and went back for it after the show...it was a little crumpled, but I may scan it and do some photoshop work on it to add some color, etc and make a print of it for my wall.
