GIG REVIEW: Unkle
- Posted on March 2, 2008 2:36 PM
- 0 comments
UNKLE
Brixton Academy
1st March 2008
Review by Bryce Lowry - Welcome Stranger
Grinding together industrial electro grit and desert rock, in War Stories the collaborative project UNKLE produced one of the most compelling and addictive albums of 2007. It’s like burning through a condemned chemical refinery on a road-trip detour, flogging a Mustang convertible while tripping on peyote.
Whereas the previous two albums were largely electronic, the expansive new sound of the third album demands a full band to be realized live. This rock diversion apparently proved a shift too far Richard File, half of the core UNKLE duo. His departure from the project a few months ago so far hasn’t stopped (now former) partner James Lavelle from pressing on. For this gig we were promised the company of a few other UNKLE collaborators representing all three albums. We got something special.
As with War Stories the set opened with the trepid jolts of ‘Chemistry’ relenting to the killer groove of ‘Hold My Hand’ (already in my all time favorite track pantheon). Well and truly primed, the crowd ascended to frenzy with the next tune ‘Reign’ heralding the appearance of Ian Brown. The former Stone Roses singer engulfed the stage with his trademark swagger, goading the crowd as they hailed the king monkey. Slung over the microphone stand even his jacket earned its own spotlight.
You can’t have them all and an A-list cast on record inevitably means we have to make do with the sampled voices of QOTSA’s Josh Homme for ‘Restless’ and The Cult’s Ian Astbury on ‘Burn My Shadow’. But then we are treated to Gavin Clark for ‘Lonely Soul’ and ‘Keys to the Kingdom’. It’s on the wistful ‘Broken’ that the breezy vulnerability of his voice is laid perfectly bare though. The Duke Spirit’s Leila Moss reprises her vocal for a charged performance of ‘Mayday’ and Badly Drawn Boy loafs by for ‘Nursery Rhyme’. With enough visual dazzlement to make a Chemical Brother’s eyes water being played out on three massive screens behind the band, when there is no singer your gaze is easily diverted from the space where they should be.
For the encore Brown receives his by now euphoric subjects once more for favorite ‘Be There’ before the concert closes with ‘Eye For An Eye’. When, as the band take their bows, Lavelle offers a heartfelt thanks to Brown, declaring “We’d never have done it without you.” you sense that this is more than just the end of the gig. The end to this phase of UNKLE perhaps? Maybe we were even more fortunate to see this epic show than we realised.
Related links:
UNJKE concert tickets and listings.
UNKLE official site.
UNKLE MySpace.
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