Oblivion Ball Tokyo Live Streaming

[dubman]

guys it always turns into this.
yes, we're spoiled, yes of course we appreciate all they do for us. and no thats not a token disclaimer before i take a deep breath and head into a diatribe, i really do appreciate all the things they rig to bring us as much as they possibly can. we enjoy an interctivity with this band shared by few, and especially by those as big as underworld.

but for the love of fuck, can we finally start to approach these things not as immunity granting devices of awesomeness but as actual creative endeavors open to some form of criticism and raise the possibility that for everything they're talking about and for all the excitement generated that our imaginations seem to continually run a bit wilder than what they're actually doing?
it *was* a bit... disheartening to see that after months of reported tweaking and different ideas and renewed post-hospital excitement that it was a. the same 'tour' show and b. the same setlist as the night before, which are mild variations on the setlists this whole tour. i'm not talking about doing some grand experimental thing (though it's entirely possible and not *so* cracked out), but you can do something different to what we've been seeing recently without going off the deep end.

i'm not talking about whether they should do these things or not. i'm talking about whether these could be missed opportunities of some kind to really extend on a limb and surprise us in some way, especially when you're recording and releasing them. we have 5 releases of what could have been some beautifully ruthless run of the dynamic and off-the-cuff potential of underworld at their real-time flexibility and adaptation for the moment, and instead we have 5 releases of, by and large, the same thing. i found myself looking for which two had the most difference between them so i could snatch them up if i dont get the others, which by now is a real possibility. i should be wanting all of them.

nothing beats actually being there, and it's easy to look at it with this sort of distance when viewing it on a computer screen, but that also gives us a conceptual eye for their live setup that says that for all the creative flow and energy this duo experience on a daily basis, and for everything else they've done before that proves they're a top-caliber group of music AND design, what they've been doing on this recent incartnation of the tour is showing that there's a lack of fluidity and a sort of stagnation within the setup. there's a thousand different ways to end an underworld set brilliantly than with just jumbo. moaner doesnt have to be the climax of the show that leads to exhausting whatever's left in everyone (it was actually really great and refreshing when played early in the second london set. that sort of energy should feel like part of a set, not just driving it home), the seocnd half of the show doesnt have to be a string of hits after showcasing the shiny new album stuff in the first half, but it's been nothing *but* this.

all i'm saying is may we please air some reservations without being countered with how special all the "stuff" we get is, and treat the live and interactive experience with the same creative standards that we do their albums? it's great that they still do albums, but should we be so grateful for them as to not note what's wrong with them? how is Underworld Live much different than that?