I did not know what to expect with British trip-hop group UNKLE when it came to live shows. My experience with the band involved the still impressive 1998 album, Psyence Fiction and 2003′s slightly catchy Never Never Land. After that I ignored War Stories (2007) and even their most recent album, Where Did the Night Fall (2010). So I was curious to see if the group could capture the darkness and immensity of their sound in a live setting and still hold my attention.

Opening was our own psychedelic desert-rock group, Sleepy Sun. Sans the always amazing Rachel Fannan (who left the band very recently) Sleepy Sun still brought their heavily epic ring, beloved deep rock touchstones, and genuine folk fragility to the Regency and a attentive crowd. Playing mostly of off their recently released Fever, Sleepy Sun did not shy away from playing a few from 2008′s Embrace, most notably the sprawling and hypnotic 9-min long White Dove.

It was interesting to see the band perform without Rachel, mainly because she represents a fragility and balance to Sleepy Sun’s performances. Without that, Sleepy Sun almost seemed like a normal retro-rock act who worship Deep Purple and Mountain. As an avid listener of their last two albums, I was still impressed with their musicianship and commanding attitude on stage. I can’t speak for the audience, who were quiet and attentive but didn’t show a significant reaction to their set. Whatever the state Sleepy Sun may be in right now, there’s no question the band is still a force in the stoner/headphone rock genre. No wonder UNKLE had them guest on the new album.

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[mp3] Sleepy Sun – Open Eyes from Fever (2010)

I can’t even tell you what they opened with to be honest. In my opinion, a lot of UNKLE’s new tunes sound very similar to the next, leaving me a little bored and impatient for some older material. It didn’t help that the Regency’s set up made their music sound muffled and neglected. Even when older tracks like Eye for an Eye were played, I was somewhat concerned about UNKLE’s ability to translate their sound live.

Hiding behind blinding lights and heavy fog, the band swapped mysterious singers with UNKLE mastermind James Lavelle grabbing the mic every once in while. James would awkwardly try to get the crowd to clap at times which just ended up turning into off-beat clap-fests, causing me to question whether or not the audience had any rhythm at all. It wasn’t until the last quarter of the show where it started to pick up a bit. Songs like Invasion and Lonely Soul (minus Richard Ashcroft and with James on vocals) hit hard with a noticeable increase in overall band energy and charisma. I can’t say I was surprised with UNKLE’s performance; the group is known for their many guest vocalists (one of which was there already and they didn’t even use him) and their dark and danceable style. Both did not translate well, but that doesn’t mean they were horrible. UNKLE was at the very least, entertaining; even for someone looking for something a bit more than that.

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[mp3] UNKLE – Natural Selection (featuring The Black Angels) from Where Did the Night Fall (2010)

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[mp3] UNKLE – Follow Me Down (featuring Sleepy Sun) (The Golden Filter Remix) from Where Did the Night Fall (2010)

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