2017-03-17 Alexandra Palace

[Jram]

Fucking awesome - Kittens, Cups, Moaner, marvellous.
No announcement about it, but the gig was professionally filmed on multiple cameras - cross your fingers for a DVD. Well worth the round trip from Glasgow.

[crankphoto]

Great gig, more than I expected really,

Rick was amazing, starting off slow then building some fab tunes, we were about 10 feet from his console, looked like a duplicate of the stage console.

Setlist:
Mmm Skyscraper
Juanita
I Exhale
If Rah
Dark Train, with 6 dancers on stage and great lasers
Two Months Off
Scribble
Cups
Ring Road lyrics with a Minneapolis bed - think that confused some
King of Snake, with great green lasers, off beat syncopation at the end
Kittens with unusual 'halls' sounds and a stronger marching beat
Jumbo
Low Burn
Rez with a different middle breakdown
Cowgirl
Moaner
Born Slippy NUXX, straight in, no messing - long outro

A few mistakes and deffo a few minor sound changes and minor variations, the new songs were just standard, the older ones seemed to have more changes - nothing major.

Great crowd, no encore, it was asked for, house lights came up - think there is a curfew at Ally Pally

[Jram]

Originally Posted by crankphoto

Dark Train, with 6 dancers on stage and great lasers

6 dancers each side, and at least 10 each side during Born Slippy :-)

[amhilde]

Wow - that was a doozy of a show!

I was up on the rail just about in front of Karl and they seemed really up for it. Loved the setlist tweaks compared to last year - no sag in the middle but still played some good slow-ish songs in there. New lighting rig descending scared the living crap out of me at first but the lighting was really decent, much more so than last year.

I was chatting with some friends up front and folks around us and wasn't focusing too much on Rick's set, but Other Half got a good photo of him at the console. I thought the overall idea was really good, though some more dancy tunes would have been great, especially the closer they got to show time!

Someone near me was saying that the Utrecht shows were a warm up for this one, but that seems like a lot of effort for one gig. If thats true then it really paid off because it was pretty epic.

BTW - where was Pricey?

[Dirty Saint]

Kittens ...just wow

[Jram]

Originally Posted by amhilde

Someone near me was saying that the Utrecht shows were a warm up for this one, but that seems like a lot of effort for one gig. If thats true then it really paid off because it was pretty epic.

Warming up would make sense if this gig is to be released on DVD. Those dancers won't be cheap either - lots of effort for one gig, unless it's the one you plan for everybody to see...

[amhilde]

Originally Posted by Jram

Warming up would make sense if this gig is to be released on DVD. Those dancers won't be cheap either - lots of effort for one gig, unless it's the one you plan for everybody to see...

Was wondering about the cameras (they came by us multiple times) as some were the fancy ones that rotate on an axis to hold the shot stable (a steadycam then I guess) and there were more than the usual amount. And the dancers. And the expensive lighting/lasers. And the extra masses of equipment at the mixing desk.

I do hope that they put the Rick mix on there too because I would really liked to have sat down with that on some good headphones and blissed out rather than try to listen in the middle of a crowd.

All in all a really wonderful show and I am very happy that we went. There was a couple from Nova Scotia behind me and this was her first show, having been a fan for 20 some years. She burst into tears after the first song and I'm not sure she stopped, but I was very happy for her to have had that as her first UW experience. Definitely one of the better UW crowds Ive been in.

[Jram]

Originally Posted by amhilde

There was a couple from Nova Scotia behind me and this was her first show, having been a fan for 20 some years. She burst into tears after the first song and I'm not sure she stopped, but I was very happy for her to have had that as her first UW experience. Definitely one of the better UW crowds Ive been in.

When the lights went down did she scream "Oh my God, we're actually here!"? If so, I was right beside you. I was definitely next to darktrain.jp as I've since realised.

The number and type of cameras, and the shots they were taking, they got a lot of crowd cover as well as the band from all angles (each filming a bit of everything, standard in case one malfunctions). Filming Rick's empty desk before the start, filming along the front row, filming the crowd leaving at the end - my money is on a DVD.

I got one of the camera guys, at the very end, to film my UW-inspired half-sleeve tattoo. He confirmed, as I knew, that only he was broadcasting the live feed to the video screens - the other cameras were recording. He gave nothing away, and I didn't ask because he's a professional and I wouldn't expect him to.
He did, however, smile and deny nothing.

[TheBang]

Originally Posted by amhilde

BTW - where was Pricey?

Darren hasn't been on stage since the end of the US tour last year.