Live Review :: Unknown Mortal Orchestra :: Islington Assembly Hall, London - May 21 2015

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Islington Assembly Hall, London

May 21 2015

Words: Ed Francis

Whilst every international tour a band embarks upon over its lifespan can usually be considered in some way or other a milestone, the jaunt around Europe that Portland-based psych-funk outfit Unknown Mortal Orchestra are currently in the midst of is arguably the most significant period in their five-year history, representing the first time they’ve performed live as a four-piece after the addition of permanent keyboardist Quincy McCrary.

While the introduction of layers of synth, piano and electronic clavicord has seemingly only led to subtle developments of UMO’s sound on new album 'Multi-Love', on the evidence of this show it has evolved them into a brighter, more buoyant beast on a live stage - electrifying the highlights of their back catalogue and bolstering frontman Ruban Nielson’s more out-there improvisational moments.

I arrive at the venue just in time to catch the start of the set of second support act Silicon. This futuristic-disco project is the brainchild of Nielson’s younger brother Kody, who spends the whole of his allotted half hour wandering through the befuddled and delighted audience throwing shapes, precariously tiptoeing along the edge of the top tier balcony and trying to remove the trousers of one particularly non-compliant punter, whilst on stage in his place a figure with a giant robot head on stares out at the crowd motionlessly. The bewildering archness of it all reaches fever pitch in the closing minutes when Kody performs a cover of the new UMO single ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’ as Ruban watches on in the crowd. As a huge fan of the Mint Chicks, a band which both of the Nielson brothers created and played in together, watching that group’s former frontman perform a song by the new band of that group’s former guitarist right to the latter’s face only a few feet away from me is a little too much to handle, and I can confess to almost being forced to slip out for a moment’s fresh air before I get too giddy.

With the packed house at Islington Assembly Hall now warmed up nicely, UMO take to the stage to ply their new wares on a rapturous crowd. I was privileged enough to catch the group previously at the Electric Ballroom in 2013 at the tail-end of their tour in support of second album 'II', which Nielson described on the night as being their biggest show to date (possibly just patter, but it certainly seemed plausible at the time). While I savored every second of that show along with everyone around me, it was difficult not to be concerned that Nielson wasn’t having quite as much of good of a time. 'II' is, for the most part, a gorgeously heartbroken study of isolation, heartbreak, loneliness, and various broader existential crises, and this was somewhat reflected in the band’s live style at the time, which saw Nielson retreating into his own headspace for large portions of the show as he wrung long, soulful solos from his Fender Jagstang.

For the first minute of the set opener, you can immediately tell that in terms of performance mentality everything has changed for Nielson, drummer Riley Geare and bassist Jake Portrait over the course of the past year. The band now sound jubilant and extroverted where they once hewed towards mysterious and vulnerable, with the keys provided by McCrary giving the rhythm section a huge lift that underpins Nielson’s guitar play and turns instrumental passages that would once have felt opaque into dancey workouts. Older tracks such as ‘Thought Ballune’, ‘Ffunny Ffrends’ and ‘From The Sun’ benefit enormously from the extra texturing McCrary provides as well as the tightness of the band as a whole, with the funky potential buried inside all of them being drawn out maximized to the fullest.

The band’s live offering has become so infectiously kinetic that even ‘So Good at Being in Trouble’, the lead single off of 'II' that would have previously been an encore and the indisputable nailed-on highlight of the evening, now simply passes by as yet another aspect of a set that is unimpeachably strong from start to finish. Nielson for his part blazes through the set with a huge smile on his face, and at one point even ditches his guitar entirely to hop up onto a speaker and reach out to interact with his audience during ‘Stage or Screen’- a touching interlude that would have been impossible to imagine occurring a year or so ago.

The smattering of new tracks from 'Multi-Love' seem to have been tailor-made for this format, and not a single person around me is able to keep their feet still as the titular single and the aforementioned ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’ explode out of the monitors to close out the evening. It’s only a shame that the group’s commitments to a further, smaller set in Dalston on the night prevent them from managing a second encore at the Assembly Hall, as the calls for more continue to ring out long after they leave the stage.

Perhaps it was just a particularly receptive crowd on the night- but I’m left with the impression that the connection that UMO now share with their audience, the engagement and shared energy has been hugely invigorated in the wake of their latest instrumental rejig. For me, it was the defining aspect of their performance on the night, one which will again stand to prove that this tour is surely the most important for this group to date.