2010-10-31 HARD Haunted Mansion - Los Angeles, CA

[stimpee]

The Benelux 2005 gigs had the green laser, and karls mic/cam for Lenny Penne/YDS. Not really high budget on the effects. Only 3 of the 3hr gigs (the 4th was I Love Techno, and the Yellow Room was soon totally full). I must say they were some of the best Underworld gigs ive ever been to (i was at all four of them. 4 days, 4 gigs). As for money made, well who knows but the tickets prices were reasonable. Of course, Underworld are popular in NL, and are always welcome at ILT. The Ancienne Belgique gig was a sell out in 2008 too, were the Amsterdam HMH 2005/2008 and Rotterdam 2008 gigs. I see your point about "low budget" though. There is a difference between a 20+ city tour of the USA where "schlepping" would definitely be the word to describe it. But there is always a compromise and a 10 city tour (and i mean fairly big cities by US standard) would be possible IMO. But what do i know... I only see the EU side of things and have only seen UW once in NYC (great idea, Central Park by the way! what a gig!)

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

BLD, I feel you, but I live 3.5 hours from Chicago, and I'd drive that in a heartbeat to see them...ever since I started following them religiously in 2001, I don't think they've been there since. Totally agreed that LA, Oakland, and Boston is not a tour...how about something for those of us who don't live on the coast?

[jose m]

Originally Posted by 34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j

BLD, I feel you, but I live 3.5 hours from Chicago, and I'd drive that in a heartbeat to see them...ever since I started following them religiously in 2001, I don't think they've been there since. Totally agreed that LA, Oakland, and Boston is not a tour...how about something for those of us who don't live on the coast?

man....you've joined them in the twilight years

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

Originally Posted by jose m

man....you've joined them in the twilight years

i thought so too myself...when 1992-2002 came out, i thought no way they would ever produce 16 more tracks of this quality again..

however, it is 2010 now and they are getting damn close! i've always been pretty amazed by the consistancy of these guys.

[BrotherLovesDub]

I spent about 1500 to see them in 07. Two shows in SF and one in Denver. I paid airfare and hotel for all days. I know about traveling to see them. They last played Seattle in 99. A show that sold out quickly.

[TheBang]

Lightweights. Come back when you have to fly a minimum of 2500+ miles to see any show.

[BrotherLovesDub]

Originally Posted by TheBang

Lightweights. Come back when you have to fly a minimum of 2500+ miles to see any show.

You live in what most people call 'paradise'. No sympathy for you. You choose to live in an island paradise rather than actual civilization.

[khouri]

A crucial component of touring is awareness. If Underworld aren't filling venues, it's because people don't know they're still putting new music out, assuming they've even heard of Underworld in the first place. I can tell you that hardly anybody I spoke to at the aborted Hardfest gig last year had any idea who Underworld were.

The solutions to that problem are -- and here I go again -- Internet presence and content distribution. All the major electronic acts that have remained or become relevant in the last ten years, from oldies like Daft Punk to the new lot like Fischerspooner or Justice, have done so in part by making their music wildly available and heavily promoted. Underworld willingly opted out of that industry system -- in my opinion, to their peril. With the exception of A Hundred Days Off, Underworld have spent most of the last decade making it nearly impossible for the casual listener to discover and obtain their music:

The early albums' availability is spotty at best; their greatest hits package is, I believe, out-of-print; their RiverRun series of EPs and singles were released in the most bullshit fashion imaginable; the 3-disc Live in Tokyo record, arguably the best Underworld release of all time, was practically impossible to obtain; the Sunshine soundtrack was hopelessly delayed; Oblivion With Bells was a proper album with proper avenues of distribution, but the promotion was dreadful: homemade music videos, bizarre single choices in the form of Holding the Moth and Ring Road, assuming you could buy them in the first place (I don't have a record player, so no Ring Road for me). Of course, some of this stuff is available digitally, but what if nobody knows it exists at all?

Finally, the Underworld website is demonstrably lacking, to put it mildly. True, the shop is now equipped with a good chunk of the back catalogue, assuming there are no longer problems buying any of it, but the site itself looks really unprofessional, is difficult to navigate, is home to no useful information beyond the dubious shop and barebones tour dates -- no bio, no gallery, and no free music beyond what's available in that weird pop-up media player despite releasing so god damn much of it over the years.

But it looks like they're turning it around this time with Barking. DJs are actually able to get their hands on the material, for one thing. "Scribble" is making the rounds in the rave scene here in the States, from what I've been hearing. Thankfully the Twitter and Facebook integration has become more useful as well with relevant information and some coherent fan interaction.

I get so frustrated about all this stuff because I think Underworld are the best band in the world. Barking seems poised to be a Beaucoup-level success, so hopefully Underworld will finally emerge from the underground.

[lectoid]

^ What he said.

One thing I can't stand is the work I have to put in to get different versions of songs. It it wasn't for RTSR, I'd probably just have the albums and what their website has to offer.

I had to torrent the Tokyo CD (let me buy it and I will, otherwise I'm not sorry) just to hear stuff I've never heard (You Do Scribble).

[negative1]

Originally Posted by khouri

A crucial component of touring is awareness. If Underworld aren't filling venues, it's because people don't know they're still putting new music out, assuming they've even heard of Underworld in the first place. I can tell you that hardly anybody I spoke to at the aborted Hardfest gig last year had any idea who Underworld were.

i think this has pretty much been true ever since they've toured
the US ... they've had a smaller indie following for most of their
history bar the 'trainspotting'/'born slippy' single...

The solutions to that problem are -- and here I go again -- Internet presence and content distribution. All the major electronic acts that have remained or become relevant in the last ten years, from oldies like Daft Punk to the new lot like Fischerspooner or Justice, have done so in part by making their music wildly available and heavily promoted. Underworld willingly opted out of that industry system -- in my opinion, to their peril. With the exception of A Hundred Days Off, Underworld have spent most of the last decade making it nearly impossible for the casual listener to discover and obtain their music:

actually, their music has ALWAYS been hard to find even when they started..
how many copies of m.e/the hump are there? their early 12" singles on JBO,
the skyscraper single, etc. etc... i would say the opposite, its a LOT EASIER
NOW to find their music online / amazon / ebay, etc... you can find all the
main albums, and some selected singles...and of course all the recent stuff
online..

i can't speak for the other bands you mentioned, but relevancy is
mostly subjective i would think... if a band is more productive or has
a bigger media presence, good for them and their fans... we have this
board, and other ways of getting the information..

The early albums' availability is spotty at best; their greatest hits package is, I believe, out-of-print; their RiverRun series of EPs and singles were released in the most bullsh*t fashion imaginable; the 3-disc Live in Tokyo record, arguably the best Underworld release of all time, was practically impossible to obtain; the Sunshine soundtrack was hopelessly delayed;

as i mentioned, its not that hard to find all of their albums.. yeah, sure
the riverrun EP was not a fullblown release for the masses (and wasn't
meant to be), and how much interest in the film soundtrack for a non-hit
movie is there? so how much did that really impact them?

Oblivion With Bells was a proper album with proper avenues of distribution, but the promotion was dreadful: homemade music videos, bizarre single choices in the form of Holding the Moth and Ring Road, assuming you could buy them in the first place (I don't have a record player, so no Ring Road for me). Of course, some of this stuff is available digitally, but what if nobody knows it exists at all?

how many of their singles have been 'obvious'? how many of the mixes
actually sounded like the original back when they started? only 'club
friendly' mixes seem to be more predominant compared to their
experimental ones... if people are fans of the group, they'll find out
how to get the singles, which sites have them, and of course
torrent/download them .... as they do for a lot of other groups..

Finally, the Underworld website is demonstrably lacking, to put it mildly. True, the shop is now equipped with a good chunk of the back catalogue, assuming there are no longer problems buying any of it, but the site itself looks really unprofessional, is difficult to navigate, is home to no useful information beyond the dubious shop and barebones tour dates -- no bio, no gallery, and no free music beyond what's available in that weird pop-up media player despite releasing so god damn much of it over the years.

yeah, well it's always been a work in progress, and who goes to
just one site anyways? there's always been some good fansites
and other places to look up more detailed information ... just because
it's not centrally located really shouldn't deter someone if they
really wanted more indepth information..

I get so frustrated about all this stuff because I think Underworld are the best band in the world. Barking seems poised to be a Beaucoup-level success, so hopefully Underworld will finally emerge from the underground.

hmm..did you really consider 'beaucoup fish' that succesfull?

although i agree with what you said at times,
(and yes, even being booked on a late night
talk show miight point to a different agenda.)
but ask yourself, do they really need or even
want to 'emerge'?

later
-1