LA Weekly

Well said Jonah. It was a fantastic night. Underworld brought in a more holistic aesthetic than the recent Daft Punk show, with wily and wise music. I couldn't help wonder that with 9/11 slowly fading in time that people are ready now for a more thoughtful but equally life-affirming dance experience. I think Underworld represents that.

I was also amazed by how they manipulated our sense of time. About half an hour into the show they played an epic ambient breakbeat track. Gorgeous, mountain-top synths carved the air every now and then as it paced through. It was peaceful, calm, meditative music, pulling us in with quick percussive rhythms underneath, anchoring us as we all reflected.

As for Oakenfold, I'm no fan. But I suppose it was a good move to schedule them together to pull in the maximum crowd, mixing in the smart, older crowd with the new school.

You got that so right! I sat out that untalented hack and his putrid trance (and the Asian Hotties in Bikinis I heard he paraded across his screen) but Karl Hyde was a wonder in his glittery silver shirt, and there was so much beauty and joy in Underworld's show we were all jumping up and down by the end. I love his laugh, too. Thanks for the post.

My biggest surprise from last night's show was what was blatantly missing: their "hit" song "Underneath the Radar." Any explanation or thoughts as to why they didn't play arguably their most popular song from back in the day? I know they are moving away from the guitar-heavy songs from their nacent days, but that song is what put the on the mapin the irst place. Don't forget your roots! Great show regardless, but would have still been nice to hear "Radar" as well.

Thanks for the comments. I totally forgot to mention the glitter jacket! A highlight of the show, indeed. I think they did play a number of hits ("Born Slippy", for instance, one of their biggest), but seems like maybe they were focusing on newer material? Also, Hyde's guitar playing seemed nominal at best - I could barely hear it... not that it mattered, of course, as the sound and atmosphere they created were pretty wonderful.

I was also shocked by how lackluster Oakey's set was... and how the crowd seemed utterly uninterested. Oakey is fully capable of rocking the house when he's on point... but he seemed to be phoning it in, much like Britney last nite at the VMA's. And to close the set with his ultra-overplayed version of "adagio for strings" was a major cop-out. dude's been spinning that shit for about 10 years now, it seems.

Underworld, as expected, was on fire. My only complaint: I realize it's cool to showcase new material, but to play a FULL HOUR non-stop of unrecognizable tunes, in front of such a huge, clearly rabid crowd of long-time fans? Seemed a bit self-indulgent.

I saw their last tour, in support of their new album at the time "100 days off" and while they played a good amount of new tracks during that tour, they always mixed in hit tracks and anthems.

I think it tested the audience's collective patience, with a full hour of new tunes. Not that they weren't good tunes-- they were, for sure, it's just that an audience NEEDS at least some familiarity to really get their blood flowing.

With that said, once the boys kicked into such classic ass-kickers as "Cowgirl" and "Rez" and "Born Slippy" and "King of Snake", the whole place was going bonkers like I've never seen at the bowl. Truly gorgeous, bombastic, spine-tingling sonic assaults that absolutely delivered the goods.

Those unforgettable synth chords in "Born Slippy" are easily the most iconic sounds in the history of electronica, and when it kicked in, it's like everyone was at church, worshipping the power of the genre.

Hopefully they'll return in a more intimate surrounding... seeing them a few years ago at the Wiltern was mind-blowing, to say the least.

Jonah:

Beautifully written review, however I disagree with your disdain for Oakenfeld. True, his experiment with Carmen Rizzo was a drastic failure of cacophonic proportions, but I thought his grooves where academically authentic and beautifully executed. Great dance music.

I'm not sure what he's doing, but he's the best there is at it. You can check my far less articulate and amatuer review at the LAbuzzBLOG.

I couldn't agree more, with the slight caveat that the special guests with Oakey (Carmen Rizzo) would have ben infinitely more entertaining had they been given the stage alone, rather than try and bolster the tired tired tired TIRED, and unimaginative Paul Oakenfold. The only thing good about that 8 year old set (I'm quite sure he was playing from an old set) is that I don't have to feel bad about continuing to roast him and those who still like him. As the biggest DJ in the world and a major taste maker, he owes it to himself, his fans, and electronic music in general to evolve. He has enough money and fame to be able to risk alienating those with weak constituions.

have been a huge underworld fans for years and was looking forward to this show for quite a while. oakenfold was predictably disappointing -- he rarely disappoints when it comes to disappointing. but i expected a lot more from underworld. karl hyde was great and full of the energy we'd expect, smith and price did their thing and enjoyed themselves but the set lacked underworld bang. my friends and i seriously thought that the hollywood sound ordinance laws may have curtailed the flurry of beats we anticipated -- who knows? but rez sounded like a wet bag of beats -- even cowgirl did not have the requisite umph. may have been the bowl, may have been the laws, may have been the set design --- but it just wasn't the underworld that i saw 10 years ago.

in disagreement with an earlier comment, i really think that daft punk's set has set the bar too high. the underworld set did not have the same sensory overload and invoke awe in the same way that DP did. i was scurrying to youtube to relive the show afterwards -- we barely even talked about the underworld show while daft punk is like the insane one-night-stand we love to recall every few weeks.

bring on justice before they burn out trying to cross over from distortion to funk.

J-Flo, saw your post as someone sent me a review of the show. But, I usually do not read an author's name. So, I laughed as I realized "Hey, I know that guy!" Wish I knew you were there, we need start again comparing our music show appointment books.