Of course it's a bit samey. I thought the same thing. I think right now they're at a bit of a "crossroads" of sorts. At first, all of the "improvs" they were doing were just Darren playing and sequencing his own tunes. Now they're at the point where Rick seems to want to be more involved and more in control again and make it an actual "Underworld jam."
I think today's show was a beginning of things to come. They brought out old tunes, old lyrics, rather than just re-sequencing Cowgirl, Rez, Pearl's Girl etc. they actually effected bits and pieces of the track, and Rick
actually sang on Cowgirl. We saw this at the Roundhouse as well, where Rick time-stretched Pearl's Girls vocals.
Compared to the sets they've been playing lately it was a big change. I'm not saying that it was a huge change from their old style, I'm not saying it was fantastically unique, I'm saying that compared to the recent tour gigs they did a lot more to the tracks than what they've done in a while. I see this continuing through every gig, and I see it progressing into something more over time.
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MFLB