2014-10-11 Royal Festival Hall

[dss]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, formerly of this parish back in the brown era. I've seen UW in several formats over the years - there's the big festival UW, the smaller university tour UW, the academy tour level UW and the Karl Hyde mini UW - all of which have been different experiences. Saturday's gig was one of the most fun and enjoyable gigs I've seen them do. Watching Karl sitting at the side of the stage cheering Rick on during Surfboy and Rez is another example of why this band has always been about more than just the sublime music - there's love there. From the beautifully stark typography to the minimalist lightshow (I loved the rising sun during Bigmouth) and the chance to hear tracks we'd all never expected to hear live (especially after the run of disappointing setlists in the past couple of years), the whole show was staged perfectly, which quickly dispelled any fears of it being a boring, seated run through.

I'm still slightly suspicious of a laptop based set up that, to my mind, removes the opportunities for spontaneity that used to be so key to UW live, but that's a tiny gripe in an album run through format. Being up on the balcony meant we had a great view of what Rick was doing throughout and it's clearly a step forward from what was a fairly embarrassing set of KCRW videos, but it would be nice to see some more synths come back in to play. I really hope revisiting dubnobass... and who they were when they made it has an influence on the live direction they take in future. It's not necessarily about having Karl hoon it up and down the stage as he used to 15 / 20 years ago, but feeling part of a unique, live event has always been the appeal and that, to me, has been lost in the last 5 years or so.

But anyway, an awesome gig in a surprisingly appropriate venue. Roll on March!

[Ninja Power]

Hey dss,

I think you pretty much nailed my exact feeling on the live setup over the last few years - they have changed from the early days no doubt, every tour brings its own unique "feel", venue, crowd, etc all play into it.

The Festival Hall gig was amazing, up there with Somerset House & Vienna (for me) , great sound, great crowd, stripped down visuals, cool security staff letting people do their thing (dance). I got a massive kick out of just seeing the varying age groups in the room - everyone got into the spirit and danced their socks off

Great to see Rick & Karl back in action after their Olympic hiatus - hopefully this will energise them further for more dates and future material. It's been an absolute honour to see these guys live and have their music as the soundtrack over the past 20 years. Thanks guys, you never fail to deliver the goods. Was lucky enough to bump into Rick before and after the gig, what a humble guy, had a nice chat, got an autograph for the kids (6 & 3) already fans - photo with Rick, the missus and myself. We couldn't have asked for more - the perfect night out.

regards
Will.

[rioja_rioja]

Another long time lurker and first time poster - thought you might like to see an awesome 20 seconds from the front

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chalet...t/15518824905/

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by thee carp dreamer

Pretentious patronising nonsense. It was a far more enjoyable atmosphere and therefore gig than if the room had been full of seated chin strokers musing about the nuances of the wind sounds in Skyscraper.

Oh, did I say something that hit you? English is not my native language so maybe that is why I'm so clumsy. Wasn't my meaning, sorry.

Originally Posted by Dirty Saint

My video from the final 5 mins of the concert. Can you spot yourself?

Lovely! Closest video so far, thank you!
I love him you know

[jetpig]

Originally Posted by dss

... it's clearly a step forward from what was a fairly embarrassing set of KCRW videos...

I really liked those videos...

I agree mostly about the barking tours as a whole but the KCRW video was a joy. It showed the chemistry of the two of them and I really liked watching karl come from being groggy and sick to ecstatic by the end. And that rendition of bird1... oh man.

[potatobroth]

Originally Posted by jetpig

but the KCRW video was a joy. It showed the chemistry of the two of them and I really liked watching karl come from being groggy and sick to ecstatic by the end. And that rendition of bird1... oh man.

which KCRW vids?

Edit: found it!

[crankphoto]

I too got a set list from the mixing desk, we were the first into the auditorium from the left and the guy in the red tee said I could have one at the end. 3rd set list from an uw gig.

Sonically, the event was great, though certainly more heavy on the bass and dance vibes than the album. Reminded of the tramway recording. It was euphoric, fast and slow and very rich in texture. The projection just added to the tomato vibe, simple, though I don't know if many of you needed a reminder of the track.

Never thought I'd see Minneapolis or Bigmouth live, both amazing, and the amount of tracks played that had no vocals from Karl was a surprise, great Harmonica from Karl

I thought the crowd were great, seemed like they knew the tracks - not just lucky with tickets or RFH pre - pre sales. "Christ on Crutches" was the loudest crowd response by far.

Amazing gig and experience in a tiny venue, we made a proper weekend of it, class hotel and swanky meal on the Sunday.

Picked up a Rez disc, a t-shirt and gig poster - they gave a freebie red bag too. We acquired a RFH event insert, the ones at the door to the venue. Very accommodating staff.

Thanks guys, see you in March at Manchester, think this is smaller capacity than 2.5 k

[DaddyAdv]

Originally Posted by crankphoto

I "Christ on Crutches" was the loudest crowd response by far.

see here :


And some pre-NUXX comedy:

[markreed]

Yes, Darren was largely doing the between song stuff, so removing the paper synth lists and making sure all the kit had booted up correctly and the patches etc were loaded. He was probably on stage for a minute per song.

(Talking of which there is a fascinating shot around 41 minutes into the KCRW video where you can see the sample discs Rick uses for his sounds)

[qirex]

anyone have pics of the merch?