UNDERWORLD

The freshly appointed duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith (sans DJ Darren Emerson) brought their live act across the pond for five precious dates here in the States and Canada last month. Those who were lucky enough to catch their show in Pontiac, Michigan seemed somewhat surprised to hear such favorites such as “Cowgirl”, “Dark Train”, and ”Born Slippy” so early on in the show. Would the duo have the bips and bleeps for what it takes to survive a line-up shake-up? Well, after a few songs, ol’ Spalding here says, “Hell yes!” I wasn’t surprised at all about how good the older tunes held up. For me, the nicer surprise of the evening was how well the new, Darren-less tunes went off. "2 Months Off" and "Twist" triumphed above any of the old favorites. The infectious keyboard of "2 Months Off" seemed to raise the show’s bar as easily as it raised the temperature inside the converted church. Under a funneled green laser light and clouds of smoke that swirled as if they were going down a drain, "Twist" engaged the crowd in a way visually that none of Underworld’s previous film projections ever could. Lights bounced off the cathedral ceiling in non-stop fashion as the show grew in stature with each tune they played. The packed house really fed off the never-ending pogo energy of frontman Hyde, and one could easily loose ten pounds by the closing thump of "Moaner". When it was all over, we exited the church that is Clutch Cargo’s venue, and prayed for a quick return.