we've all seen their past tours, Live 05, We Are The Night tour, Don't Think, 2002 tour, so what would you want for their next tour?

visuals, tracklist, setup?

for the tracklist, here's how mine would go,

Tomorrow Never Knows(Don't Think visuals)

Come With Us(same visuals)

Do It Again/Get Yourself High (2007 mixed version)

Horse Power/Chemical Beats(Don't Think visuals)

Swoon/Temptation/Star Guitar(same visuals)

Three Little Birdies Down Beats(Full Mix)/Hey Boy Hey Girl(same for 3LBDB, but 2007+2011 visuals for HBHG)

Don't Think/Cherub Clown Harmonies/Acid Children(Same for Don't Think, same for Acid Children in 2005 and CCH)

Out Of Control(Don't Think visuals)

Snow/Surface to Air(2011 visuals)

Escape Velocity/Superflash(Don't Think visuals)

Dissolve/Private Psychedelic Reel (old+new visuals)

their setup would have the desk from the 2002 show with the same cylinder, but with more lights.

First off, I know that were getting new visuals. It was mentioned earlier this year. If you remember the Velodrome video, then that's what I would expect in the new vizs! An addition, crystal CG (http://crystalcg.co.uk/ ) who made that spectacular video, were also in charge of the lighting and LED fixtures of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London olympics, so there's a connection there and maybe we might see the bros and crystal cv collaborate on the next tour.

As for the setlist, there's gonna be some trimming here and there, and its because of the fact that when the new album drops, I would say that 3 or 4 new tracks from that album will be played for the 2013-2014 tour, and the rest will switched around of some sorts. BUT I do hope they keep the swoon/sg, and the hp/cb because as I have mentioned in my last show review, the transitions were much more better and I think that's would stood out for me. I also would like to see AW kept in the setlist.

Other than that, I always expect big and better things from these guys IMO. I wonder about that 360 screen idea that sneak's mentioned. That video got me saying to myself 'what if?'

Ed said in a Don't Think interview about the future that they might try something radically different from their live shows of the past, after putting Don't Think out there and playing such a massive tour with such a distinct setlist.

My speculation is that they might break from the traditional fixed setlist format and just go full on Underworld, improvizing their way through the setlist and performing tracks differently from show to show. Of course their live shows aren't fixed, they've often deviated from the typical setlists of each year. But in the last two years their setlists have been fairly static (the Further Showcase setlist, general 2010 setlist, original 2011 setlist w/ Galvanize opener and the "Don't Think" setlist), progressing through those four without throwing any one-off surprise deviations into the shows.

So, if they decide to go a different route... based on the nature of the most recent tours, I think they'll abandon some of the structure of their previous tours, strip it down to the essentials, and basically just make it more loosey-goosey.

If that's true, then setlists go out the window, which would be seriously cool. I'd love to see that.

- edit -

Here's some bits of proof that they might be headed in that direction:

Tom said:

This sort of mirrors the attidutes of Underworld towards their own live shows, from this interview in 1998:


(starts at 4:59 but watch the whole thing cause it's awesome)

And (found it!), here's that direct quote from Ed on the subject:

Ed said:

He's not saying anything definite (not like we could expect anything like that!) but he is essentially saying we have two roads to go down now - either top ourselves again (and I have full confidence that, they being The Chemical Brothers, they can totally pull that off) or maybe try something new and see how it goes.

Which one are they likely to pick? They have a history of doing the new rather than trying to top the old. We might be in for something new...

Mr. Hoosteen, on 11 October 2012 - 11:04 PM, said:

#1: http://forum.thechem...hers-live-show/
#2: http://forum.thechem...-chems-setlist/
#3: http://forum.thechem...t-of-ur-dreams/
#4: http://forum.thechem...thers-set-list/
#5: http://forum.thechem...ite-live-track/

Quote

inchemwetrust, on 11 October 2012 - 5:44 PM, said:

i just hope they keep Do It Again/Get Yourself High, with redone versions of the original visuals, the dancers and clown are my favorite part of their shows

Ah, the good ol tried and true between-tour topics that deserve some discussion in the slower months.

I try not to think too hard about what I want from a new tour, especially if the album to support it hasn't come out yet. So when I see topics like this and thoughtful responses chiming in, it gets me thinking and wondering what the future holds.

As far as set lists, I may be in the minority but personally I find the idea of rattling off what songs I want is boring. Boring for me to type out and boring for everyone else to read. Not to mention, not very constructive. That doesn't mean I don't have my favorites or a wish list of songs and special mash ups I'd like to hear or revisit. But their shows sort of transcend set lists and there's a bigger picture to be experienced.

I quite like WhiteNoises's suggestion of a looser more on-the-fly approach to live music making. Not sure what the restrictions would be or how open to improvisation the big picture would allow, though. There is a mechanical symbiosis of visuals and music, and a nerve center that ensures everything is in its place at just the right time. Not to bring up a sore subject but their last show at Coachella is a good example of just how crucial it is to have all components of their show working in time and on time. So while the idea of more live improvisation would be exciting and fresh, how doable is it? Would it mean Tom, Ed and crew have to step away and dream up an entirely new approach?

Anyway, visually speaking, it has been awesome to see this aspect of their show evolve to what it is now. This is the area I think, where the sky is the limit. The music is there, it's huge and immersive. The visuals are outstanding, and are huge works of art themselves. So the obstacle would be, how can the presentation be bigger, brighter, more immersive, more spectacular? There were some exciting concept videos for the further tour visuals that were posted a while back (can't find them right now) that would be mind blowing if they could be executed. Yeah, their stage for the Come With Us tour was all kinds of awesome, it was a great idea but it has been done before, done exceptionally well, and done a decade ago. What are some new concepts and new ideas that can be brought to the table that are fresh and innovative and will make people go "holy shit WOW!! this is next level shit right here!!!" I mean really, I don't know - I guess I haven't had enough time to think about what I'd like to see. There's cool ideas out there (Amon Tobin's tour comes to mind). Going 3D and heavy on a light show with 360 visuals would be pretty amazing, but a tall order especially given the limitation of an outdoors festival set.

So... It seems in my wishy-washy response I have presented more questions than answers. Oops.

There are so many tracks I love that I haven't heard live, I could list a bunch of them, and then there's the moments I have heard live that I would love repeated, like Believe and Snow/Surface To Air, but every show I have seen has blown me away a million times more than I expected. So I just want them to keep doing what they have been. Bring us some new and some old and keep changing it up. I don't want them to reduce the visual stuff though, give me more lights and stuff any day.

WhiteNoise, on 12 October 2012 - 1:31 AM, said:

Yeah that would be awesome. And the ability to buy a cd recorded of the gig you've just seen. I can see myself travelling around Europe for that.

An EXTENDED version of Escape Velocity. 12 minutes is far too short for this amount of epicness. The world needs a 20 minute version.

^ hahaha, reminds me of this thread:

http://forum.thechem...-farewell-tour/

Eis-T, on 17 October 2012 - 6:33 AM, said:

WhiteNoise, on 17 October 2012 - 7:11 PM, said:

Reading this again, an urge arises inside me to take part in a chemical festival, a three day Chemical Woodstock.

Day 1: Regular insanity performance with synchronized visuals
Day 2: Immersive experience with live vocals and shake-hands with Tom 'n Ed
Day 3: The full on improvisation we-driving-you-crazy-and-crashin'-our-synths madness performance

Recorded on DVD and all new mediums as evidence of the best electronic act there is.

Mr. Hoosteen, on 11 October 2012 - 11:04 PM, said:

Boobs

The bloke off the internet, on 20 October 2012 - 8:12 PM, said:

this.