Darren Emerson leaving UW was the worst thing that happened to the band!

[Disco dave]

plain and simple!

Everything Everything gave UW the exposure the deserved for being so incredibly sick when they play live!

the only bummer was that after Darren left, the shows were simply not nearly as good at they were pre 2000

enough said!

[Dirty0900]

Oooooooo thats gonna cause some debate

I think as a duo, it wasnt as slick and Rick counter quite intermix everything whilst having a chance to mess around with the songs structure and control the audience. With the addition of Mr Price, I think the shows are back to their best, lots of songs from the past with new ones for the casual fan alongside some cracking visuals.

Do you mean just live as well? Coz if you check the Dubno production credits, you may be in for a shock...

[dubman]

why do people write 'enough said' at the end of deliberately inflammatory posts
clearly there is a lot more to be said from people that disagree with you

but i'd say you'd be almost right up until the previous leg.
but i'll let ol' farts get all bunched up about how the recent shows were best ever and all that because they might give a damn about how this thread turns out.

[Mike]

Well, whilst the comment was quite flippent, ive always agreed that i havent enjoyed the live material as much since the 1999/2000 era..

I know that a lot of the equipment changed for the start of the 2002 festival tour, and it created a new sound. The energy remains, but the anticipation of improvised gems has gone.

I remember reading (or hearing) somewhere that rick had been really keen on recreating the original album sounds in a live format (not sure exactly what that means, but i guess trying to recreate the original recording as closley as possible... i will try to find the interview)..

Rick has the ability to do what he wants with the sound... during 2000, they played many shows where it was just rick and karl, and they sounded terrific! Roskilde 2000 anyone? Born Slippy --> Confusion - Juanita --> Spoonman - New Banstyle --> Nuxx

It sounded really creative and fresh.

I dont think the absence of Darren has influenced much, i think its just the choice of direction that the guys have decided to follow.

[viddy]

Dave comes back and starts slinging mud.....but I have to agree....

[TheBang]

Originally Posted by Mike

I remember reading (or hearing) somewhere that rick had been really keen on recreating the original album sounds in a live format (not sure exactly what that means, but i guess trying to recreate the original recording as closley as possible... i will try to find the interview)..

I'd definitely be interested in that interview if you find it, Mike. Pre-2000, a lot of the songs had different sounds and feels from the album versions. For example, just listen to Air Towel, Juanita, NUXX, and Dark Train from any of the 1996 shows. A lot of differences, sometimes radically so, from the studio versions. If you listen to 2000 or later performances of those same songs, they are much closer to the album versions. I always assumed that was Darren's doing, and Rick returned them to sounding more like the studio versions once he left.

[holden]

In 1994, 95, 96, the improvs were longer, the mixes more continuous, but also, the tracks less well-known and the band less-popular. But unless one was recording what happened behind the desk, one really can't say how much was Darren and how much was Rick.
Anything else is speculation.

[jose m]

i really don't think that the equipment the guys were using on stage was up to doing both faithful versions of the album tracks and the loopy jams they were playing at the time,there was more of a live mixing desk thing going on and there were no computers.
the "album" versions appeared with the advances in the equipment not the changes in personel.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

Originally Posted by holden

In 1994, 95, 96, the improvs were longer, the mixes more continuous, but also, the tracks less well-known and the band less-popular. But unless one was recording what happened behind the desk, one really can't say how much was Darren and how much was Rick.
Anything else is speculation.

Yeah, but I think it's only natural for a band to do less of that stuff as they evolve. I mean the modern UW has like 100 different tracks to choose from. '94-'96 was before "King of Snake", "Moaner", "Jumbo", and "Push Upstairs" had to be played every show.

I think the OP has a point, I don't think that AHDO or OWB are as good as dubno, STITI, or even BF, but they've released an awful lot of good material regardless. I really did enjoy the last two Riverruns and there seems to be plenty of A-grade unreleased material sitting around based on the radio broadcasts and live shows.

[potatobroth]

I know its been mentioned but its worth pointing out more obviously that Darren Emerson is only accredited to Surfboy on the Dubno album. All the rest are Smith/Hyde.