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Post by awaketheunkind on Feb 23, 2019 17:34:43 GMT
Bought a ticket for this show today.
Will UNKLE play the tracks live as a band or will James just do his DJ set?
My impression when buying the ticket was def the former but you never quite know with UNKLE.
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Post by awaketheunkind on Feb 23, 2019 17:41:03 GMT
Info on the show: "Be among the first to hear new material from trip-hop pioneer James Lavelle’s musical outfit live at a sensational show *featuring special guests*. With a career spanning over a quarter of a century, UNKLE have worked with some of the most important recording artists in the world, including Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, Massive Attack and Queens of the Stone Age. Their fifth album, The Road: Part I was released last year to critical and commercial acclaim. Having wowed fans across the world with breathtaking live performances, *the band have completely reconfigured with a show that receives its world premiere at Southbank Centre*, where Lavelle curated the 2014 edition of Meltdown festival. Alongside fresh tracks, the show features classics from the outfit’s back catalogue and *specially created reworks*." www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/132061-unkle-2019?utm_source=Facebook+event&utm_medium=UNKLE&utm_campaign=Gigs+2018Formulations like "UNKLE" (instead of James Lavelle), "they", "James Lavelle's musical outfit live", "featuring special guests", "the band" etc surely points to some sort of band performance?
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Post by ciaran77 on Apr 17, 2019 16:25:26 GMT
whose else is going? I'm on my own now as the missus doesn't like the new LPs and still hasn't got over the loudness of the powerhouse gig a few years ago.
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Post by Toptoga on Apr 19, 2019 22:03:26 GMT
Well that was a bit weird. So many empty seats after the first half which was basically unklesounds live playing a rehash of the most recent mixes. If only JL's social media person had bothered to say there would be a second half with actual singers then maybe they would have stayed.
6/10 overall for me.
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Post by dirtchamber on Apr 20, 2019 0:16:33 GMT
yeah a bit shit. Picked up when Restless played. Can’t really think of a highlight other than that. Leila Moss doing More With Less. Pretty dire. It’s always gigs when i invite friends he fucks up. Knew it was a mistake returning to Southbank trying to recapture past victories but had faith in him. This mash-up bollocks needs to stop. ON MY KNEES
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Post by awaketheunkind on Apr 20, 2019 1:05:12 GMT
I found the show pretty good, although a bit messy at times. Some parts (Chemistry, Caged Bird, Twilight) fell flat, not so sure about the whole UNKLESounds and mashup thing, and Days And Nights didn’t work out too well.
Highlights: The Road (absolutely amazing IMO), Feel More / With Less, Reign. The Other Side and Restless also delivered.
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Post by jimmyjrg on Apr 20, 2019 1:23:34 GMT
Here's a video someone chucked on YouTube:
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Post by Mo'Matt on Apr 20, 2019 3:32:42 GMT
If only JL's social media person had bothered to say there would be a second half with actual singers then maybe they would have stayed. Or even easier, JL should have said that in person when he was on stage. Second half was loads better than the first. But they should have said there'd be two halves. I don't mind the mash-ups. But they should make them in tune in future. It's not hard. This is why I've not bothered seeing them live in a few years. I won't rush to do it again. The light show was pretty dope though.
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Post by tee on Apr 20, 2019 11:14:08 GMT
Relieved I gave this a miss, it’s been years since I’ve seen them live but the last couple of shows were shockers (as was the live cd). Islington Academy, Union Chapel, Bexhill, Brixton & even Koko were all epic. Weirdly it all seems to have gone backwards since then, karaoke vocals, clearly never enough rehearsals and as mentioned a strange new habit of playing things off key? Bizarre 😕
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Post by Timo Fett on Apr 20, 2019 19:46:42 GMT
Here's a video someone chucked on YouTube: Thanks for that, that was the bit I really wanted to see. Relieved I gave this a miss, it’s been years since I’ve seen them live but the last couple of shows were shockers (as was the live cd). Islington Academy, Union Chapel, Bexhill, Brixton & even Koko were all epic. Weirdly it all seems to have gone backwards since then, karaoke vocals, clearly never enough rehearsals and as mentioned a strange new habit of playing things off key? Bizarre 😕 This. I went to the first few gigs, but for me, Unkle have always been a 'record' band, as opposed to a live one. The recorded vocals and recreations of songs I loved on the albums just never seemed to live up to expectations. "Karaoke" was the word that came to mind for me too. I read an old article recently about the technical side of recording NNL, and Lavelle says they deliberately tried to get away from a 'live' sound to the songs, and that pretty much sums up why I prefer them on record: "Because we didn't want that live sound," protests Lavelle. "We're not players in the traditional sense, we're not a band in the traditional sense. We got the structure of the song during that original take, but then we edited and chopped things. The unique sound from the sample culture is very difficult to replicate playing live. The way the beats are chopped and the music is edited is very inherent in the sample aesthetic. We wanted to retain that. That's where we're coming from. To us it was very interesting to fuse the live and technological approaches to making records."But, it does look like JL is aware of this, to an extent, and is constantly looking for new ways to perform the music. Some work, some don't. The classical reconstructions worked really well, and the UnkleSounds-style gig they did at Selfridges a couple of years ago was superb. Decent re-edits/mixes and great visuals. From the sound of things, it's basically what made up the first half of this gig.
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Post by maintheme on Apr 21, 2019 8:33:47 GMT
If only JL's social media person had bothered to say there would be a second half with actual singers then maybe they would have stayed. The screens in the foyer said it was going to be a show in two halves, and before they went on stage it said 'ACT I' in massive letters... Plus, the posters named all of the singers that were going to perform, none of whom appeared in the first half. http://instagr.am/p/Bwcvua7AzVW
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Post by dirtchamber on Apr 25, 2019 17:11:42 GMT
in James defence there is a beautiful unpredictability to an Unkle gig you don’t get elsewhere. Most other acts you can pretty much guesss what you’re going to get. Not so with Lavelle. Pressing play on a CD in a light up box in the basement of Selfridges and adding a couple of samples over the top. Orchestras, special guests. You never know. This was quite an ambitious gig but for me it felt flat. I don’t know why. Sound levels were poor in places (couldn’t hear Tom Smith’s vocals for first 60 seconds, only heard Phillips strings once). Restless was electric and Josh wasn’t there. Leila doing More With Less was stunning. Also why no Elliott? Coulda helped a little. I’ve been lucky enough to witness incredible other worldly Unkle gigs (Brixton with Ian + BDB, Meltdown, Somerset House) but unfortunately this wasn’t one o f them. Shame but hey at least with the whole 2 acts thing he tried something a little new. Surely no one expected that. My non big fan friends were confused why there were so many covers. I can honestly say i enjoyed his DJ set @ Banquet more than this. Weird.
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Post by stringthing75 on Apr 25, 2019 17:21:10 GMT
in James defence there is a beautiful unpredictability to an Unkle gig you don’t get elsewhere. Most other acts you can pretty much guesss what you’re going to get. Not so with Lavelle. Pressing play on a CD in a light up box in the basement of Selfridges and adding a couple of samples over the top. Orchestras, special guests. You never know. This was quite an ambitious gig but for me it felt flat. I don’t know why. Sound levels were poor in places (couldn’t hear Tom Smith’s vocals for first 60 seconds, only heard Phillips strings once). Restless was electric and Josh wasn’t there. Leila doing More With Less was stunning. Also why no Elliott? Coulda helped a little. I’ve been lucky enough to witness incredible other worldly Unkle gigs (Brixton with Ian + BDB, Meltdown, Somerset House) but unfortunately this wasn’t one o f them. Shame but hey at least with the whole 2 acts thing he tried something a little new. Surely no one expected that. My non big fan friends were confused why there were so many covers. I can honestly say i enjoyed his DJ set @ Banquet more than this. Weird. What was the actual set list. Are we saying in Act 1 he just DJ’d and played other folks stuff?
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Post by dirtchamber on Apr 30, 2019 1:53:01 GMT
Donna Summer - I Feel Love 💜
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Post by Mo'Matt on Apr 30, 2019 20:03:36 GMT
Donna Summer - I Feel Love 💜 I think it's hilarious that everyone thought this was the best bit.
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