The whole live performance of classic albums in their entirety has proved a winning combination for many bands in recent years and with the quality of material such as ‘dubnobasswithmyheadman’ it’s easy to see why. Over 20 years since it’s release, two sold out nights at Amsterdam’s Paradiso prove that there is still plenty of appetite for one of Britain’s most important dance acts.
With the ecstatic response to the opener ‘Dark and Long’ it was clear from the outset that the crowd here were in no way going to show any signs of mid-week lethargy. As Karl pointed out it was also over 20 years ago since Underworld had first played in the atmospheric surroundings of this converted church. Although the band and majority of the crowd have somewhat matured since then this wasn’t going to hamper proceedings.
Rick Smith and Karl Hyde were both appointed music directors for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and so know how to deliver a memorable show. The night’s production worked a treat with a spectacular lighting rig combing well with the great acoustics and a large screen of simple text spelling out track titles, lyrics and apparently random phrases.
The ferocious start continued with ‘Mmm… Skyscraper, I Love You’ and ‘Spoonman’ being particular well received and I did wonder if this level of intensity could last for much longer. The answer came with Karl picking up the Guitar and delivering the opening refrains of the comparatively subdued ‘Tongue‘. This led to a mass dash for refreshments which was more a reflection of the audience being gripped to the start of the night rather than a lack of appreciation for the musicianship on show.
It wasn’t long before the dry ice descended again, the tempo picked up and the crowd was back as one into the groove. With Karl Hyde’s distinctive vocals and his own brand of on stage gyrating providing an interesting focal point we were treated to perfected live versions of the remaining album tracks including the standout ‘Cowgirl’. It says much for the quality of ‘dubnobasswithmyheadman’ that crowd favourites ‘Rez’ and ‘Spikee’ never even made it onto the album and hearing these in a live setting will stick with me and my Dutch companion for a while.
After 2 hours that flew by I don’t think there was anyone in the crowd who didn’t know what was coming for the final encore. As the familiar sounds of ‘Born Slippy .NUXX’ filled our church for the evening a sea of raised arms showed their appreciation for a fitting finale of a special night.
Chris Ellard
