In a few words, the crowd was awesome.

In lots more words, it started with an interesting venue. The San Francisco Concourse is definitely one of the more unique places one can see a musical act, because it apparently was designed for viewing modeling shows. You know, like, hot women walk up and down showing off designer clothes.

When I walked in, there was something about the energy that immediately grabbed me, and I knew it was going to be different than my last Chemical experience. Before the show, the air was expectant and anxious, and when the lights dimmed and No Path came on, it was amazing to realize that everyone was on this path.

As Galvanize dropped, everyone was in. It seemed like everyone around me, Bosco, Biff and my friends were all in it together, and we cheered as the set moved into Burst Generator. My favorite part was that people responded when you cheered for the show--when I clapped, others clapped, and when I cheered, it was met wholeheartedly by everyone else.

Generator was an early peak, and I couldn't believe how easily I slipped into it. The strobes and swirls bursting with the snares, taking off in flight as a plane soared with the music, created this immense moment where an invitation was sent to all in the audience to come on a journey, and everyone said yes.

What I noticed most was that the Brothers took their time and moved the audience, completely, with some amazing moments. Even though I've been listening to the set for months now, their performance took me by surprise--so many unexpected, drawn out moments created an amazing space for everyone listening to explore. Hey Boy Hey Girl, for instance, was extended, and I felt they were in awesome form as they worked the crowd into a frenzy with a huge moment near the end of the song where you might have expected it to stop, but instead just added to the intensity as it kept going with a focus on the amazing synth line in the song.

All Rights Reserved seemed to hit so many peaks, and as the segue to Out of Control/Don't Fight It Feel It came in, I finally got it. As I stood there watching strobes with the Brothers blaring synths combining in synch with the beats, cock roaches scrambling away furiously, all I could do was move my body and do my best to keep from leaving this plane of existence, even though the moment took me higher than I could have ever expected.

Other amazing moments during the set were Believe, and The Sunshine Underground, of course. Although, this doesn't mean that I wasn't completely enamored with the moments during Golden Path, and the carefully constructed build for We Are the Night was absolutely phenomenal. I couldn't believe how well it came together as the vocal sample was looped slowly in louder and louder as the synths came up like a slowly rising phoenix. And when that bird roared, it was beautiful.

But before that, Believe completely floored me. One of the reasons it was so moving was because I could feel the crowd... getting it... Saturate brought everyone together, it seemed, because everyone was clapping in unison as the song built at the beginning. The visuals during Saturate were awesome as always, and the crowd was noticeably impressed. So as the Brothers segued into Believe, it was immense. And when they pounded our heads with those most amazing synth bursts which lead so nicely into one of the more amazing builds a person could ever experience, it was completely obvious to everyone in the show that it was a massive night.

But The Sunshine Underground for me, tonight, was a completely spiritual experience. As the song peaked, I almost cried. If I had any energy left, actually, I probably would have. But as I stood there riding the energy that Tom and Ed created tonight, all I could do was devote the remainder of all that I had into dancing away the last moments of the set.

To say the least, I can't wait until tomorrow, because tonight clearly raised my expectations for what a Chemical Brothers show should be, and created an awesome space for my memory to hold this night close for the rest of my life.

::loveisall::

-andy

(P.S. - I've got a great pic of Tom, if anyone wants to tell me how to post images on this forum)

Great review, Pooter! Sounds like a killer show.

Pooter !! What a great review , great energy, great words!

I can feel it man! I can feel it and i recognize myself in your words when i was at the roundhouse ( best gig ive seen em do )

Hugs! (((((((((((((((Pooter)))))))))))))))

Stunning! :D

I wonder if they put Burst Generator in so early for all the people, like me, who like to drop exactly 45 minutes before the start of their set.

makeskidskill: I think that might be exactly it. ;-)

Best Review makeskidskill really.. you couldnt said better!!

Please can you halp me to know the name of the dj before the Ladytron and Chemical's performance?

Thank you

thanks for that review!

bootleg recording of the san francisco show on the mixing bowl!

'all I could do was move my body and do my best to keep from leaving this plane of existence, even though the moment took me higher than I could have ever expected.'

ahhhhhhhh.....quitesential!!!!! man that was awesome. great review!

w00t! @ the recording. FYI, since this hasn't been posted yet, it was the typical tracklisting + Das Spiegel in the encore.

The venue was cool, the crowd was mostly cool (I had a "misunderstanding" with one fellow who didn't seem to understand personal space, but the tall hippy dude and the guy with the plush bear put a smile back on my face), the volume was loud and the set was solid. The peak for me was the build into "We Are the Night" - that was chilling. I think my fiancee (who hadn't really listened to the Chems before I took her to see them in Oakland two years ago) enjoyed it more than I did.

Despite their best efforts, Ladytron bored me (what's with the pseudo-goth stoicism employed by a dance band?), but I enjoyed DJ Icon's sets (w00t! @ having her spin during the set change).

All in all, a fine time, and the first full, non-truncated Chems set I've seen since October '99 (both Coachella 2002 and Oakland 2005 were sans-encore :( ). And by now, I think I've come to realize that if a Chems concert isn't a religious experience on par with my Red Rocks '99 experience, it's not because of anything I did or anyone else did, and simply because I'm no longer 18, and therefore no longer have an under-developed pre-frontal cortex which allows silly things like rock concerts to trigger religious-level euphoria. Now I'm just a cold, stoic, grizzled man of 26 years who can appreciate a Chems concert for what it is - some loud, sweaty, psychedelic fun.

Cool stuff!! Thanks for the review!!

crotor, I'm glad you got a great show after the last time they played in oakland. the show then was a medium because of all the NO fans but glad to see tom and ed made it up to you (and to the rest of the SF crew)

Ah, Crotor, poor guy. Keep trying--it's all in your mind. My spirit reached great heights during the show on Friday. :)

that awesome. In my and my girlfreinds opinion the energy at Hamerstein was a little "weird". People werent ALL into it and it was crowded and there was no vibe of unity(see my chems were better 8 years ago post).

Also heard not that many were into brooklyn show. Glad vibe was good on west coast

Crotor, 26 is hardly an age to be grizzled!

Some concerts are simply better than others - that's all. And there always has to be the one concert that raises the bar. As MadPooter suggests, keep trying. :) There's bound to be a concert in your future that will trigger the kind of euphoria you felt at Red Rocks. If it can happen to me at 35, it can certainly happen to someone nearly a decade younger than I am. I'm holding out hope for your Crotor!!