Unknown Mortal Orchestra Tickets

Unknown Mortal Orchestra Tickets

The psychedelic indie rock trio Unknown Mortal Orchestra have only taken 3 years to go from mysterious outsiders to a genuinely big deal. Unknown Mortal Orchestra tickets sell out quickly; their records enter the upper reaches of the charts upon release and fans snap up merchandise in droves. The band may have initially been popular amongst their native New Zealanders and hip bloggers but, after two sell-out world tours, they can now truly be called a global concern.

Schedule

The release of third full-length album Multi-Love saw Unknown Mortal Orchestra capitalise on the rave reviews the album received by booking gigs on the major festival circuit, including Latitude in the UK, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Oslo Fjord Fest in Norway. The band are also due to play 23 dates in North America, travelling coast to coast in the US and Canada. After that, UMO are planning their second major tour of Europe, where they should play venues at Helsinki, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin and Utrecht. The band should then head to the UK, playing dates at Concorde 2 in Brighton, London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, Library at the Institute in Birmingham, Manchester's The Ritz, Dublin's Whelan's, Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, Brudenell in Leeds and Glasgow's Queen Margaret Union. UMO finish their tour at the famous Austin City Limits in Austin, Texas.

Trivia

Unknown Mortal Orchestra have not only gained many plaudits and fans throughout their career - they have won many prestigious awards, too. Though they failed to win the Best Album prize at the 47th New Zealand Music Awards in 2012, singer Ruban Nielson won Best Male Artist. They also won the Taite Music Prize that year for their eponymous debut album. They have also won Best Alternative Album at the NZMA for their second album and were named as one of Fuse TV's 30 Must-See Artists at South by Southwest in 2013. The band haven't lost their sense of humour amongst the silverware: the video for single Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark) gained attention for the use of naked marionettes.

Band

Unknown Mortal Orchestra were formed in New Zealand by former Mint Chicks guitarist Ruban Nielson, who sings, plays guitar and acts as songwriter and band leader for UMO. The line-up is completed by Jake Portrait on bass and Riley Geare on drums.

Breakthrough

Unknown Mortal Orchestra were a success before anybody even knew who they were. Nielson had released the track "Ffunny Ffrends" through his Bandcamp account in 2010, with no information relating to the band behind it. Influential music bloggers loved the track and began to promote it while instigating a high-profile search for the artists responsible for it. Nielson eventually came clean and attributed the track to Unknown Mortal Orchestra, by which time the major music press had begun to pay attention. Suddenly, the band had to match the hype with a proper release.

Hit Albums

Unknown Mortal Orchestra dropped their eponymous debut album in 2012 to widespread acclaim and quickly followed it a year later with II, which proved to be even more popular and spawned the hit single, "So Good At Being In Trouble". The band released their third album, Multi Love in 2015.

Show Experience

The Unknown Mortal Orchestra's live performances are markedly different from the band on record. Whereas the studio albums have tended to lean towards pinky indie pop with a hint of psychedelia, the band become looser on stage. Amongst multi-coloured light displays and glowing funnels, the songs become psychedelic jams with Nielson's voice becoming smooth and soulful, more R&B than rock. While Nielson prefers to let the music speak for itself than banter with the audience, there is a friendly, party atmosphere at UMO gigs, with the crowd more than happy to eager along to the groove.