the We Love Underworld thread

[Csar]

Thankfully, I have a sister who's very familiar with the particular airline that I flew, so I exited the restaurant and gave her a call and she thankfully got me rescheduled on an earlier flight on the same day.

Extra gravy for ya sis next Thursday!

Nothing like a little panic before [name your event].

Oh yeah, how I can relate to that Especially when all odds then seem to be against you as well on top of it, like the non-working app and stuff that actually should be of help in such a situation etc.
The relieve that sets in when you get to sort it out eventually must feel like having run a marathon and crossing the finish line.

[Bosco]

Some overworld before Underworld

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[shakermaker]

soooo... sounds like the show was as expected, then?

[Bosco]

I very much don't want to be the ONE to recap/review the show, but I'll answer some questions that I think y'all want to be answered...

• Yes, there was a meetup.
• Yes, Whitenoise was there in the flesh.
• Yes, some of us cuddled in bed...

Denver is a lovely city. It's got its quirks and sometimes very obvious blemishes, but the people we interacted along the way with were great. They truly are proud of their city, and I'm very thankful for such a comfortable weekend. I very much hope to return soon.

Fillmore Auditorium (Denver) was better than I had expected. It's clean, good flow, good acoustics, and quality choice for a mid-sized venue. The Chemical Brothers current show would not work here, though they have played here in the past!

Underworld is just as great as they were in Chicago. If you want my more in-depth feelings about the set, please go back a page or two for my review. I don't recall any changes in the setlist from earlier this year. After experiencing this show twice, I think I like the first set better.

The crowd. Just a beautiful mix of out-of-towners coming to rejoice at what potentially could be one of their final solo shows in North America. There was a few guys that were behind us at the show proudly expressing that "they were there!" for the legendary 'Organic Festival' in 1996 (Coachella before it was COACHELLA). 

It was great to see @Enjoyed @androidgeoff and the late surprise of @WhiteNoise! Thanks for making this adventure extra special.

[Enjoyed]

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[rynostar]

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Stop it! You're all too adorable!

[Csar]

Some overworld before Underworld

What a nice photo, @Bosco! Where did you take it from?

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The Denver Blue Men Group of the Underworld

[WhiteNoise]

Decent night out.

The set felt perfected by 35 years experience of moving crowds and crafting sounds. "As one born out of due time" I never had the chance to hear them perform a classic improvized set, but seeing them perform this gauntlet, I almost got the sense those old sets were the exception; the band's equivalent of figuring themselves out in their youth versus coming into themselves with age. It's as though they've been building toward putting together something like this their whole career.

Set 1 is patient and intense. Gene Pool washes and swells, gently sweeping you into the waters. It and the first three songs, all deep cuts, have a great effect of engaging you and bringing the energy up, without wasting any big hits too early. Dirty Epic, the biggest of deep cuts, is what really kicks things off - mental, and danced, no exaggeration - and the completely unexpected segue into Techno Shinkansen is a delight. It doesn't let up. Push Upstairs is in its element over a big soundsystem. Kittens should never leave the setlist. Juanita was a delight to the kid who listened to Everything Everything and wondered what it was like out in that crowd. And Tin There. Oh man, Tin There. I may as well have been a ball of pure energy. First Underworld song I'd ever heard. In utter disbelief it took them three decades to start playing this one out regularly. The intensity is absurd. Not sure a single person in that crowd was aware of where they were during the runtime. With that capping off Set 1, it's worth the price of admission. A lean, mean hour of some of the band's favorite tracks to play out live, paced and timed perfectly, performed with joy. Minimalism, rhythm, color, absurdity, Underworld.

Set 2 is more loose and filled with the bands biggest hits, with unexpected pockets of joy in between. I'm glad to have finally heard Jumbo, even though it went as fast as it came, and didn't have any of the little alternate touches some better live arrangements have featured. It's a good way to return to the night. S.T.A.R. is a beast, Dark Train was giant (especially with the new chorus), Two Months Off felt like I was floating in a sea of people, and Border Country sneaks up on you across its runtime until you're devoured by it. The new little Arpeggio12 bit into Moaner was the true climax. The crowd was incredible throughout - young and old heads all letting go - but we all really let go for Moaner with a decent moshpit forming in front of us. Ended up a great primer for Nuxx, which no one in the crowd seemed too cool or too old for. Lots of moments singing the lyrics in the audience. You almost want one more - you almost wish Rez could make an appearance, or you try to think of anything else that could have fit - but after Nuxx, after all those tremendous songs, after two and a half hours, what's left to do? Cuddle Bunny vs Celtic Villages? Doot Doot?

The lifts, nips, and tucks to the classics all pay off in person. Not one change feels unearned or as though they're trying too hard. Edits like Juanita 2022 especially, which felt like a bit of a gratuitous reinterpretation when it first came out, or the new growly and dubsteppy Push Upstairs, are really contextualized within the pacing of a set like this. Cowgirl is so upgraded you hardly notice it (and the entire set) is missing its usual dance partner Rez. Even Pearls Girl and Dark Train has a bit of a new vitality to it. Enough so both the fans and Karl and Hyde, who all know these songs like the back of their hands, stay locked in. Some of the songs could have stuck around a little while longer too (thinking of you, the second half of Pearl's Girl) but the pacing of the show is so dialed in that any addition or subtraction would throw off the balance.

It was also the most visually coordinated I've seen an Underworld set be. We're out of the chaotic Tomato days of the 90s, out of the experimental inflatable setups of the 2000s, out of the weirdly minimal typographic displays of the Barbara and Dubno anniversary eras of touring. Karl doesn't leave the cockpit for the first set and lets the screen behind him do the performing for him, with fluid and crisp visuals complimenting most songs, all culminating in a particularly powerful moment during Tin There - the stage is flooded with fog, entirely invisible, and there's nothing but the sound around you. For the second set, Karl's out on stage, Salmon Dancing his way into our hearts, riding on the bigger presence of the second set. An LED net partners with the screen, pixels exploding out to and fro. Like the music, it's minimal and procedural, but never so much that it bores you.

I'm reminded considerably of Underworld's Barking tours of 2010 and 2011, which was the first time they stuck with a static setlist, predictable arrangements, and engineered a more synchronized visual production  - far more like a Chems set. And it didn't really feel like them at the time. They were performing songs finished by other producers, aiming for a repeatable polished performance, not engaging in any of the surprises or twists they were famous for. Wearing other people's clothes, so to speak - maybe in a bid for relevance, maybe trying to shake up a band stuck in a rut and in danger of breaking up.

This set felt like them, entirely. Like a band that knows itself and wants to sound like itself in the best way possible. Deliver everything they're good at, deep cuts and big anthems in one sweep of the night. A celebration. I'll genuinely take it over any set (except maybe Mayan Theater 1998).

As for those I saw the show with? Well, this ended up being far more important than the show, and as a result, I have a much harder time writing about it. I nearly did not reach out, but am glad I did. Rob, Peter, Geoff, I'm incredibly glad it was you three there, and incredibly glad to reconnect. You were a very warm homecoming. Picking up conversation with you guys again like virtually no time had passed was a delight.

Been on a journey. If you know, you know. It's been rough and very good. Simply, it's hard to grow and mature when you're in all the same spaces. Often, you are who you're surrounded by, and for a good long while, I simply needed to be around no one who knew me. In other words, just had to leave home for a bit.

I'll be a little less of a stranger. 

[Bosco]

What a nice photo, @Bosco! Where did you take it from?

It's the observation deck at the Denver Colorado State Capitol. In which I must add, we had unbelievable awesome weather for our stay.

Somewhere out in the foothills (beyond the buildings) where I have highlighted in red, is Red Rocks Amphitheater (aka, the next grand meetup).Please log in to view this attachment.

[shakermaker]

aka, the next grand meetup

cheeky.

[Bosco]

cheeky.

Willing it into existence day-by-day.

[urbanhack]

What an amazing show. Flew in from Portland after seeing them earlier in the year.

Portland was a great show, this was so much better. Still buzzing and glowing...

Had my chems "dig your own hole" t-shirt and probably got 5 or 6 comments!

[Csar]

It's the observation deck at the Denver Colorado State Capitol. In which I must add, we had unbelievable awesome weather for our stay. Somewhere out in the foothills (beyond the buildings) where I have highlighted in red, is Red Rocks Amphitheater (aka, the next grand meetup)

cheeky.

Willing it into existence day-by-day.

This set felt like them, entirely. Like a band that knows itself and wants to sound like itself in the best way possible. Deliver everything they're good at, deep cuts and big anthems in one sweep of the night. A celebration

Thanks, @WhiteNoise, for stopping by and sharing your (Underworld) review & experience! Happy to know you guys had a fantastic time together.

Rob, Peter, Geoff, I'm incredibly glad it was you three there, and incredibly glad to reconnect. You were a very warm homecoming. Picking up conversation with you guys again like virtually no time had passed was a delight.

For me. this has always been one of the truest signs of friendship - to feel like you've never really parted ways, still being on the same wave length and having things to talk about. Out of recent personal experience, I can so relate to that..

I'll be a little less of a stranger

[Bosco]

Just taking in the reddit comments there seems to be some continued talk about a future Live film. The same was being rumored back in May. Upon exiting the Fillmore show we did see a camera setup in the FOH but it looked kinda small for what I would consider a pro-graded camera.