OK, so I'm a die-hard UNKLE fan and will generally try to see them every time they play near London. I guess it comes from them being a studio project for so long before being a live band that there is still some sense of novelty seeing them live.
When they are on form, they are astonishingly good. They have always been a revolving line-up, from DJ Shadow to Rich File to Pablo Clements, with James Lavelle as "creative director" (he occasionally sings but mainly looks moody in a hat whilst fiddling about with a sampler). But what Lavelle does best is to get amazing collaborators involved, combining great music with cutting edge design (which has evolved over the years).
This occasionally all comes together at special gigs such as Union Chapel in 2008 with the Heritage Orchestra, where they reimagined their back catalogue as orchestral works with stunning lighting from Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
From the look of it, the upcoming Meltdown gig (June 2014) will be equally special, with collaborations from across the history of UNKLE (with the sad exceptions of Rich File and Pablo Clements - there's always some internal politics involved in UNKLE it seems). So, a live experience that is always at least interesting and enjoyable, and occasionally incredibly memorable.
Belle and Sebastian
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