This topic is lockedI'm still trying to wrap my head around yesterday's events, so bear with me.
The day started off like many other Saturdays - woke up, fixed my son some breakfast, got dressed. The usual. But it goes without saying that I was watching the minutes drip by on the clock, waiting for that moment when stash's mom would pick up our son so we could head up to Los Angeles.
We hung out at our hotel for a bit since Pooter, Biff and Bosco were still on their way. Once they got there, we met up in our room, got our drink on and mosied on up to the rooftop bar which was a magnet for LA's tragically hip. We were just hanging out, chit chatting and buzzing, killing time before we trekked on down to the Wonderland.
The gig was about 3 or 4 blocks away at the most, and all the pacifier sucking candy kids in their raver gear were walking the streets trying to find which line to get in. stash and I found our line and ended up waiting for a while to get our tickets. But I didn't mind, because I had a prime view of life's rich pageant parading by: fairy winged rave pixies, barely-there skirts leaving little to the imagination, skyscraper platforms in all the colors of the rainbow, boys with funky anime hair, and a few shirts emblazoned with P.L.U.R. thrown in for good measure. And then there were some normal looking folks, and amidst the new generation of ravers, there were a decent number of people my age too. All with one goal - to have fun, dance and take it all in. It was, for the most part, a rave up freakshow that took me back a few years, haha. If anything, seeing all these kids who've come out to play proves the dance and club culture is still vibrant and alive in Southern California.
Once we got our tickets, we then had to stand in another line. Organization and crowd control at this point did leave a lot to be desired. Once we walked past the throng of people waiting in will-call (which we unfortunately spent 10 minutes in accidentally), we were routed into a large parking structure. Security was a breeze. The girl in front of me went through everything short of a crevice check, and I only got my bag lightly searched and nothing more. So as much as I tend to put myself down and call myself "old" in here from time to time, having a few crows feet around the eyes has its perks in situations like security at raves. :P
The venue wasn't really a venue - it was a giant parking lot that was converted into a big top circus event complete with carnival rides, people walking on stilts and the smells of food wafting through the air. Smack dab in the middle was the main stage where the Chemical Brothers were going to play. Flanking the venue space and main stage were 2 large tents where other acts were playing. Directly in front of the venue was the towering LA skyline that created the urban backdrop of the event. The look and feel of everything reminded me so much of the first rave I went to which was in downtown Los Angeles, in 1994. Everywhere, there were masses of people milling about, hugging, jumping for joy, rolling and antsy waiting for their favorite artists to come on.
We met up with the rest of the gang and scoped out the vendors where we got our t-shirts. We went over to the inking station and the theme of the night was Got A Brain Like Bubble Gum Blowin' Up My Cranium. The people doing the inking were really nice and seemed to be enjoying themselves. And I couldn't help but think that little verse from Do It Again was a precursor to the head popping spectacle that was to be The Chemical Brothers later on.
Once we got back to the main stage area, we met up with Errol. I couldn't stop hugging the guy (and at that point I was sober, hehe). What a genuinely nice person, and he was so happy to greet and see us. What a lovely, lovely man he is - the Chems are lucky to have him in their crew, and it seems a pleasure for him to be a part of it all.
Carl Cox put on a pretty good set playing a lot of tunes that once again, reminded me of those rave days from yesteryear. I wasn't in the mix of people yet since the gang had wandered off, so I was off to the side waiting next to a spinning carnival ride which was unnervingly sqeaky sounding.
Carl's set ended, and the merry band of forum folk jutted through the side of the crowd. We snaked our way in deeper til we were as close to the middle as possible, and secured a spot about 30 feet from the stage. Only a few minutes left til show time!!
We were packed in like sardines, the tightest crowd I've been in for a long time. Biff and Bosco were behind me as was stash, and MadPooter and his friend were in front of me. The body heat, chitter chatter and anticipation rose up from the crowd. And then it began... with the refrain "there's no path to follow.... there's no path to follow... there's not path to follow..." The excitement swelled and when Tom and Ed took to the stage, all hell broke loose and the crowd went insane!
Galvanize came on, and we all had our arms raised with fists pumping the air screaming Push The Button!!! at the top of our lungs. The bass was astounding as it trembled through my shoes, up my legs, into my chest and into my rumbling head. Had the stage been an inch closer to the skyscrapers, the bass would have brought them down.
Burst Generator was up next, and so was I. This song is fantastic on the album, but when it's played out live it takes on a whole new form entirely as it catapaults you into a dizzying head spin. My arms were up in the air for the entirety of the song, and I was screaming. I mean, screaming hard for sweet mercy!
Do It Again!!! I was ready to do it, and I'd gladly do it again in a NY minute. This sounded so incredible and it was one of the highlights for me. The build up was insane and crafted so amazingly that when that vocal kicked in, I about lost it as the song's intensity nearly made my head explode. I looked back and saw Biff who had eyes like dinner plates, and Bosco had his fists pumping in the air as the song moved right along, edging its way into another mind blowing transition to another tune.
Next up was Get Yourself High. How the song streamlined from Do It Again into Get Yourself High is a perfect example of not only excellent live craftsmanship, but Tom and Ed's keen sense of knowing where the crowd is in a trip. Do It Again and Get Yourself High are made for each other, side by side, in the live scheme. The clowns were as utterly freakish and downright scarey when their eyes scanned the crowd. There were audible gasps and "oh man... that clown is freaking me ouuuuuut!!" coming from a gaggle of ravers to my left.
More and more people were trying to snake their way in through an impossible maze of cluttered and sweaty humans. But there was no where to go. It was becoming increasingly difficult to stand my ground, and being short certainly didn't help matters. It almost turned into a mosh pit out there, but thankfully the clowns had freaked a few people out enough so they left and freed up some space. One woman pushed her way past me loudly proclaiming to her boyfriend, "I can't take it, it's too much, oh my god I have to get out of heeeeerrrrre!" haha, gotta love those clowns! They are the ultimate in crowd control.
All Rights Reversed was simply incredible. The playing around they did with the vocals and that beat rocketed through me, daring to strike me off balance. Given the ever growing intensity of the crowd and the vibe of the song, things turned into a sort of a mosh pit. The only place to put my arms was up in the air as my fingers made an impossible grab at the clear sky overhead.
I'm pretty sure Don't Fight Control was up next, and hearing that Munich bootie a couple months ago and reading the buzz here on the board really gave my ears an appetite to hear this played out live! The whistles were like old skool rave, that vocal ringing out Gonna Get High Til The Day I Die... and suddenly I felt like I was transported back in time. Oh my god... hearing this live. Finally hearing it with my own ears and being able to dance to it. This was another true highlight for me!
Tom and Ed were most definitely on top of their game last night. They were in top form, much like they were at Coachella - all smiles, Tom screaming at his gear, and Ed walking up to the party goers and shaking hands with the people down front. The great motivators - as every move they made elicited a response from the crowd. Ed would walk up and Bosco and Biff started a chant "Ed!Ed!Ed!Ed!Ed!" and a whole bunch of people around us started screaming it out too, hoping to catch his ear or catch his eye as he scanned the raging sea of bouncing ravers.
Star Guitar. Oh the glorious and jubliant Star Guitar! You should have seen Bosco's face, haha! Last night was the most brilliant version I've ever heard of Star Guitar. I'm not sure what all they did to this song that made it vary from the other times I've heard it live, but it felt different, sounded deeper and richer which made the luxurious peak "you should feel what I feel... you should take what I take" seem all the more poignant and moving. And that vocal... if a ray of light shining out from the clouds had a sound, then it would be that vocal break. It's always heaven to hear this live, and last night I kept thinking of a way to describe how it made me feel but words kept escaping me. And when Star Guitar moves into Surface To Air - you know you have arrived to a place on earth that is greater than heaven. This was the point where I nearly had an emotional melt down. I grabbed my husband's hand, and grabbed the hand of a random stranger to my left and in the air they stayed. It was just... gorgeous. Words form in my head to describe this, but quickly slip away when I go to type.
Saturate - the placement of this song in the set couldn't be more perfect. By the time this song rolls around we're all saturated with sound, saturated with sweat and saturated with boundless joy as we're dancing in wild abandon! The visuals were absolutely delightful as the splatters of color burst on the screen behind. I heard some girls in front and to the right of me who started oo'ing and ah'ing and giggling with joy as their eyes were transfixed on the paintball moving across the screen. The energy of this song live far exceeds my expectations, and it too is a truly beautiful and lustrious thing to behold in a crowd that's dazzled by such an amazing spectacle.
Then there is the transition into Believe. Bootleg recordings do not do this transition justice at all because it is utterly mind blowing hearing it live. And that's an understatement. Believe, yet another highlight!! As if the concert and every song wasn't a highlight, Believe last night was out of the world, out of this galaxy, out of this universe! The structural blueprints of the cruciforms flashed on the screen behind the stage, causing strobe light effect that pulsed over the crowd. The breakdown and slow build up... you know that slow sexy build means the big hit is coming. It's the tease, growing bigger and bigger, revving the crowd. The energy was toxic, insane, infinate and it seemed to infiltrate every pore in my body. This is where I screamed my hardest. I kept screaming "Oh god... here it comes... it's coming... get ready!!!" I know I made other sounds that strikingly resembled orgasmic pleasure, but it doesn't matter because the swelling screams of every single person in earshot could have easily drowned out the largest explosion. Truly, the response to this song last night was one of the most amazing music:response scenarios I've ever witnessed at a live show. Ever.
Once the hullaballoo of Believe simmered down, we were treated with the gorgeously layered build that leads into We Are The Night. I must say this was one of the most impressive and beautifully crafted builds I've ever heard by the Brothers live. It's yet another... wait. If I say the word "highlight" again, I'm gonna have to hit myself. So I'll refrain from using that word from here on out and consult a thesaurus whenever the urge strikes me. But anyway. We Are The Night was like the heart of the show, for I feel it symbolized that moment when we all were the night, dancing under the dark open sky which has become a cathedral... The oceanic ooo'ing vocals swept their way through the air the same way the wind blows through the branches of the tallest trees. Words. Fail. Me. It was just so beautiful, and to be a part of such beauty - it's an honor. It really is.
And the beauty still shines brightly on The Golden Path. The visuals were stunning. It was like a wash of bright golden sunlight shining from the stage, bathing the crowd and freeing us of every worry and every malady we ever encountered in our lives. By the time the vocal came in saying "please forgive me", it was like we were redeemed, saved. If there is such a thing as a diety larger than ourselves, or if there's such a thing as a religious experience, hearing The Golden Path live is it. All hands were in the air like the tips of trees drinking in the light and sound. It's sublime...
Chemical Beats!! There's a fucking animal in eric's house - just kidding (but I do think I may be deaf for real after last night, haha.) I can't believe I finally, finally after long last, got to hear the full treatment live. I went completely nuts, everyone in our group went nuts, the whole thing was nuttier than a nutbag in a nuthouse! Again, hearing this and looking out in the crowd was like being transported back in time, back to how it was back in the day. I think Tom and Ed's decision to bring the full Chemical Beats back into their set was a wise one and proves their earliest material is relevant to their modern gigs at hand. It all makes perfect sense.
There was a little break right near the end of the show where you can hear the soft wave of synths flowing throughout, and you wonder what trick is up Tom and Ed's sleeve. Bosco and MadPooter nearly hedged a bet on whether the next song was going to be A Modern Midnight Conversation or Das Spiegal. But soon after, we heard the chiming, swirling twinkles signalling the beginning of The Sunshine Underground. There was another superb drawn out build, that slow trek to the peak of the song as it journies to the end of the set. And when the song reaches that peak and the bass plummets like it's penetrating the earth's core... The song takes you with it. I have to mention MadPooter here, because if there was anyone who has ever felt music soak into their souls, it would have to be him when he was hearing this last night. As for me, I cannot even begin to start describing the emotion and love that was coursing through my body, not without sounding more like a rabid fangirl than I already am. ;) But last night's Sunshine Underground was nothing short of spectacular and embodies everything blissful and amazing at a Chemical Brothers show.
At the very very end, we were treated to Tom's playful yet intense shenanigans on the octave cat. We were slaves to the twists of the knobs, the high pitched squeals and the stuttering thuds bringing us up and pulling us back down again. Once it was over, everyone was still screaming as if in disbelief the set had ended. Tom and Ed walked around to the front of their gear and grabbed each other's hands, communicated with the crowd and thanked them. There was something special about this show and I hope the response was everything they had hoped for. I would like to think, from the smiles on their faces, it was.
And now I'm really tired, my fingers hurt, there's more I want to say but it's late and I'm definitely out of words!!
Thank you everyone - Tom and Ed, Errol, Pooter, Bosco and Biff - you all made last night one of the best nights of my life.
Love you all...
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