I always find it a little bit odd going to see a band for the first time when I’ve been listening to them for years. The trick is of course to see more bands sooner, but there’s only so many days in the year, so Unknown Mortal Orchestra are one of those that have up to now slipped the net. Purveyors of sublime psychedelic rock with a finger firmly on the blissed out side of the scale, I’m expecting to float to the rafters of Albert Halls very high ceiling. Either that or melt into the floor. It’s a warm day in Manchester and the heat in here is energy sapping. I’d usually be down the front, but not tonight. I’ll watch this one from the back of the room with a sliver of fresh air from the doors and the industrial fans taking the edge off. The illuminated UMO lights at the back of the stage look very cool, with the central part of the M lit alone to announce the latest album. Which is where we start with ‘The Garden’. The music matches the temperature, it’s not exclusively so but this music works well when the sun’s shining… even if we’re indoors. There’s a lilt and bounce to their sound, especially on songs like ‘From The Sun’ which lulls the collective masses in the room delightfully and creates a real collective atmosphere. Ruben can sometimes come over a bit spiky, well on Twitter anyway but that’s Twitter for you and he’s usually right anyway. He seems much more chilled on stage. Thanking us for coming and deploying that gorgeous voice on ‘Weekend Run’ which really is beautiful. It’s a loose sound with retro guitars, thick fuzzy bass (delivered by Jacob whose birthday it is), reassuringly warm keyboards and tight drums that all gel together. On record they sound great, but live it’s perfect. You feel like you might’ve stumbled into a private rehearsal, until the crowd raw at the end of each song. ‘Necessary Evil’ epitomises that 70s sound and gets the heads bobbing and singing, even if some are clearly struggling with the heat. Everything is being used as fans from flyers, crushed paper cups to, well, fans! Fun fact, the people stood at the back to the left of the room are much less chatty and more interested in the music, than the annoying arseholes on the right. Well apart from the lovely gentleman right at the back near the fan who’s smiling away and living his best life. I get it, UMO can fit the effortless background vibe very well, but listen a bit closer and you’ll be rewarded. ‘So Good at Being in Trouble’ puts pay to all that thought. This is the one that all the room knows it seems. It’s not a conventional hit and it’s quite a moment to hear it connect with so many. There’s a lot of bands around sharing a sound, riding a scene. UMO have never really fitted in that sense and as such are free to do their own thing. That’s the sense you get watching them, total freedom to split in any direction they want without ever losing sight of what makes them them. ‘Multi-Love’ brings all the phones out as the lights turn red like burning coals through the smoke and after an hour we get the break for the encore. I usually hate this ridiculous tradition, but tonight fair enough, they probably need a breather, I certainly could. Despite not being in the throng it’s still cooking at the back and it’s notable that very few are stood upstairs, it must be hotter than hell up there. There’s not a duff song all set and I could happily listen to them play for hours and hours. Songs like ‘That Life’ are always going to land harder though, which again is impressive for such a blissed out tune. Arms are up, voices are full and a the lighting guy has found the switch for the mirrorball. As we get into ‘Hunnybee’ I bump into our window cleaner, who no word of a lie is the smiliest man I know. Not surprising then that he’s a UMO fan. Now I know what he’s listening to up the ladder. They close with the oddly dirty disco banger ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’. It both stands out and blends perfectly, such is the clever complexity of this band and one again the room is united. I’ll admit coming in I was a bit unsure if this would work for me live. Sometimes bands like this work better on record, but not UMO, they’re magnificent and if John the window cleaner is into them, that’s all the endorsement you need.
