Wirly:



Bang on the money re: the come with us tour.



easy example: on the singles DVD, (hoops/setting sun) towards the end, they drop the break from electrobank, and obviously slow the tempo, but the noises over the top are ridiculous, and as you say you hear noises (i think its a whistle and the crash and some queer stab noise) from Denmark. first time i saw this on the DVD i was like:



"woah man, fuck it this is about to end and im gonna miss Denmark" but nup, they fucked that idea off and brought in HGHB.





that said, how awesome would denmark be?

Alchemist Escribi�:

I have to agree that the new live tour needs to be refreshed both visually and offcourse with the structure of the tracks.

I terms of visual presentation, i was always a fan of the 'Come With Us' stage look with the images projected on the 'booth' below their equipment as well as the screen behind and above them.

I think the Chems and Vegetable Vision have their work cut out for them. There was criticism here when Daft Punk did their tour earlier this year that the Chems' stage formula had grown a bit tired. Which is fair enough I suppose - 2 guys, gear, screens and visuals = Chems gigs past to present. But if you break it down, things have changed in terms of design. There was the charming appeal of the old set - 2 ordinary bokes peeking their heads out from behind this mass of raw gear-clutter/wire spaghetti with a large screen looming from behind. Then the Come With Us tour brought us a fresher, cleaner stage approach. I remember reading an article with Tom and Ed and they were chatting about the new look and feel of Come With Us and they said they told their stage manager (or designer?) that they wanted more space on stage. The result was very slick indeed, very epic and open in design and the screen booth was a nice touch albeit somewhat concealing - perhaps to push the attention off Tom and Ed and the gear so as to focus on the visual aspects of the show. Push The Button saw a more stripped down approach which in my opinion provided more intimacy - you could see the boys and their gear, but at the same time the set design/gear placement etc captured that feeling of space adopted for Come With Us.



That said, I don't know what I want or expect in terms of stage design. I feel the music really carries itself, but at the same time when we go to a concert of this calibre, we've come to see a show! A show of lights and visuals working to capture the essence of the music and help enhance the atmosphere without overpowering the reason we came to the show in the first place. Things could do with a bit of freshening up as what's been pointed out in this thread - some of the visuals are older and tried and true as they are, perhaps rather than ditch them (we have to remember the Vegetable Visionaries have their signatures too) maybe freshen things up on the presentation front. More screens, different advantageous placement of screens to showcase the visuals?? Who knows what we'll get - but I can't wait!! If the Chems are planning a major overhaul in terms of stage design and overall visual presentation, I am sure we will enjoy what they bring to the table.

Alchemist Escribi�:

It is more than likely that, with the new tour being in the support of the new album, there will be more older tracks 'cut off' in order to make place for the new ones. So the idea of bringing more of the older 'Come with us' tracks is highly unlikley.

Agreed. Onward future Chems!!

Foxboy Escribi�:

Consumer Escribi�:

I ask please for the inclusion of tracks 4, 8 and 11 from Chemical 6.

Any particular reason? X-D

X-D Just trying to see into the future. When I listen to the CD and think back to this thread, i'll see how far from the mark I am.

Consumer Escribi�:

Foxboy Escribi�:

Consumer Escribi�:

I ask please for the inclusion of tracks 4, 8 and 11 from Chemical 6.

Any particular reason? X-D

X-D Just trying to see into the future. When I listen to the CD and think back to this thread, i'll see how far from the mark I am.

*insert geek emoticon.

:P

Alchemist Escribi�:

-Galvanize (a part from a cool intro, i still feel like this song just doesn't 'fit' in the flow of the entire set)

-It doesn't matter/Under the influence; ok i know that a lot of people will disagree with me on this one, but i always felt that this was a sort of 'filler' for the middle of the set that chems have been using almost unchanged since 1999. It woul probably be much better to replace this with the full 'elektrobank' track.

I hope not in both these cases. In the case of Galvanize, it was because of the immense crowd response. While I enjoyed the track live, the crowd response was just huge and made it a hundred times more massive.



And IDM/UTI shakes me to my core. That bass drop on such an impressive sound system! My god! And the robots! Don't get rid of the robots.

ok heres my tutppence worth - its gonne be controversial im sure ;)



DROP:



block rockin beats - heard it far tooo many times

TPPR - i know its the classic set closer, but, theres others as well

star guitar/temptation - ok, i always thought this song was pretty cool, but i never thought it was totally amazing. live it think its much better than on disc, but im bored of it now! :P

surface 2 air - yeh its ok. not one of their finest monets in my personal opinion (waits for hate PM's and letter bombs ;))



KEEP:



galvanize - love the slow downy bit and fist pumping groove - when those strings kick in and the crowd goes off, its fuckin awesome - such an anthem 8)

UTI/IDM - NEVER EVER DROP THIS - EVER!!! :D in fact, if u can do it so u kick fully into the bassline of IDM again i would be truly gratefull :D



BRING BACK



the test - please! :)

sunshine underground - wicked mid set tackle



NEW STUFF



lots of it please - EBW8 is da bomb woot! :D



anyway im sure theres others but whatever tom n ed decide to do, i will be very happy :)

mippio wash your mouth out with soap and water, drop tppr tut tut tut. unless they have a new rival drity gritty epic end tune then they should never drop it. it the chems finest momnet! in the main i agree with your other points, surface to air needs replacing with the sunshine underground for sure.



as for the visual presentation. i always thought the 2005 tours never lived up to the impact of the previous tours. but after coming of the back of the come with us tour where the visual presentation was draw dropping it was gonna be hard. i always loved the fact that the first 30 minute of the show was always in black and white and then in when it doesn't matter kicked in everything kicked into gloriouse technicolour with the march of the blue and red robots, magic!!



as for dropping vegetable vision, that is just silly talk. that aint ever gonna happen, you aint gonna drop your mates. and quite frankily i could not imagine another team coming in to do it, it wouldn't be cricket. but i do think some visual could be created to replace the older stuff. having said that i could not suggest a single thing of the top of my head.

Consumer Escribi�:

Foxboy Escribi�:

Consumer Escribi�:

I ask please for the inclusion of tracks 4, 8 and 11 from Chemical 6.

Any particular reason? X-D

X-D Just trying to see into the future. When I listen to the CD and think back to this thread, i'll see how far from the mark I am.

Thought that, I like your thinking :)

In that cause, 2 7 and 8 8)

And what if the CD contains 4 tracks only?

The Reel is glorious, the pinnacle of musical genius and greatness. Having not heard it the first 2 times I saw them live, I was hoping and praying they'd play it the 3rd time and when they did - it was the most emotionally moved I'd ever been at a concert. Ever. It is a fantastic farewell to the crowd, the show goes out with a bang! When you hear the beginning of the song you know the end is near, and there's a feeling of melancholy but it give you that last chance to go completely nuts and give it your all. Being the last song, it's the one that gets stuck in your head while you're getting your bearings amongst the post gig chatter as you make your way out of the venue. It's a nice thing to be left with...



What I like about having that song at the end is that it has become tradition and while I fully support the Chems moving forward and all of that - there is a lot that can be said about concert traditions especially since the Chems have quite an illustrious career. And the visuals, the stain glass visuals go along perfectly with the (if you're me and you're a dork) religious experience you are having. And Love Is All being the last thing you see on the screens pretty much sums up the feeling.



That said, I wonder if Tom and Ed are sick to death of playing it every single freakin' night??!! X-D

sneakerbeater Escribi�:

as for dropping vegetable vision, that is just silly talk. that aint ever gonna happen, you aint gonna drop your mates. and quite frankily i could not imagine another team coming in to do it, it wouldn't be cricket. but i do think some visual could be created to replace the older stuff. having said that i could not suggest a single thing of the top of my head.

I agree!!! Vegetable Vision are here to stay! They are the Chemical Tour Team!



I think there are some visuals that would be good to keep (the stain glass ones from The Reel for instance and Love Is All and the visuals from Star Guitar I am quite partial to - if they keep Star Guitar in the set list). Just as the Chems have their songs they play, the Visionaries have their marks too. Some visuals may be old but at the same time they've become synonymous with the songs.



We could argue over what songs we want to keep/drop til the cows come home and we can argue about the visuals - but I think jazzing up and reformatting the stage design to spruce up the presentation would make all the difference in the world. You know, it's like if you have an old painting that's in an old frame - put the painting in a new frame and it makes a huge difference. It would make the visuals feel more fresh and provide a fresh backdrop for the songs. I don't know if they employ the same person/team to design their stage each tour... anyone know? But overall presentation could really make things exciting for the old timer crowd as well as the new comers.



I'm totally talking out my butt now thanks to nearly an entire pot of coffee I just drank. X-D But I thought of something. It would be wicked if there were layers of screens. There's layers in the music, why not multiple layers in the visual presentation. Large projection screens in the back and lighter mesh screens layered on top. The rear screens can be used to hold large somewhat stationary chunks of visuals (or even solid colors) projected from behind, and the lighter mesh screens can be used to hold accompanying visuals projected from the front. This would make for a really dynamic set up that provides the kind of movement and layering that's in the music. Now add lights and lazers (mmmmm... lazers!!) and you got yourselves a Chemical spectacle. And this could be done without overpowering the music. Yeah, talking out my butt. This stuff costs money! I wish I'd gone into set design and stage production!

Damnit..

I wanted to post something nice a big...

but whirly and everybody basically, well, said everything.

I agree about the stage design, though I think it isn't tired. It's great

but doing something REALLY innovative would be fantastic -- put them in the spotlight in the arts media too !



Um yes. Don't drop under the influence , because if you're not dancing to that you're dancing to NOTHING. it's gotta be one of those tracks you never forget?

I'd like a part with Morning Lemon, These beats are made fore breakin, hot acid rythm 1, things like that you know !

There is a part with Morning Lemon; there were I believe parts with 'These Beats...'; and there never have been Hot Acid Rhythm 1 bits.

actually though HAR1 would likely fit quite snugly into their current set..

I know, but it would be great to have 5 minuts with a mash up of beats like that

Fuck everybody already posted so much that their nothing left for me to say X-D Whirly i just LOVE the way you descrive feelings , songs , sounds and visouals. It's beautifull , the words you use. You have a way with words !!



Anyway - i think it's wicked we are discussing all this , but in the end , we are so gonna dig whatever they will give us ! Offcourse it's an exciting thing to see what they will come up with next - and it's a cool thing to give youre opinion about TPPR and Star Guitar and what not , but , u ALL know boys and girls , that the chems are [Csar Mode] The Lords Of Electronic Music [/Csar Mode] And they can't fuck up! At least not for me. SO far i loved everything they have ever done ( I've only seen the PTB tour , but from what i've seen on DVD's and stuff ) so i'm confident i will love the Chemical 6 tour.



However - i would still like to give my thoughts on things.



Block Rocking Beats - I think this tune still gets one of the biggest respones from the audience - because everybody knows it even if you're not that into the Chems as we are. But for me - maybe ive listened to it too many times , maybe ive overplayed it - but for me its not the most exciting moment in their set. However - those MASSIVE beats they did the last times i saw them AFTER Block Rocking Beats , the ones that u also hear the siren in it and sometimes the "ROCK THE HOUSE IN" sample , fuck me , that beat is so amazing.



Galvanize - I love how the audience sings along with "My finger is on the button " , such a wicked feeling that sing that out load with all those other people who are going as ape as you are! It's a nice bit of fresh air in the set. However - i think for the new tour they should drop this and replace it with either a brand new track OR a reaaaal oldie - Exit Planet Dust style.



TPPR - Well , Whilry made a good point. I also support the Chems in whatever they do. But the Reel , the Reel is traddition. Its exactly like WHirly discribed ; you know it's gonna be the last song , and you get a bit emo ( Well i do because i have big emotions ) because u know it's gonna be over , and you give youre whole body , youre mind and everything you have to this song. This song is a bonding thing too - because EVERYBODY loves it and all the people who saw then before have probably heard it live before - and all the people go ape togheter , that last song , you pull the last energy out of youre toes and you go APE before it's all over! KEEP IT REEL! 8)



For the rest , well , there is one thing that SHOULD and never WILL change. And that is the love at CHems gigs. Blame it on half of the audience , if not more , being drugged up , but ieve never felt so much love as during those Chems gigs in London. Strangers hugging me , the whole front row standing hand in hand with people youve never met before , people creaming at you that ' THIS IS MY CHURCH! AND THEIR GOD!' It's such a beautifull things. Its a reminder that there is so much love left in the world and that feeling lasts so long - the Chemical Afterglow.



Love is All and always will be people !!



* Emotional * :'(

Was a nice read jeanie!



I think, they should keep the new BRB versions coz it's just rocking! Bbbbb breakdown bbbb breakdown and then this fuckin' great beat followed by the song itself with its simple but perfect bass. These beats and sounds which come afterwards are so awesome!!! (You should have seen me the first time i was listening to the London 2005 set!!!) I wished they'd have played it like this when i was Berlin.



And by the way, the don't play TPPR in all their gigs. I've joined 2 shows in 2005. They sadly didn't throw it in on the 2nd gig.

Drop:

-Setting Sun; not a massive fan of this track.

-Galvanize; dont really like this tune live, doesnt seem to have a great chemical impact compared to the album.

-Hold Tight London; either play it as it is on the album or dont play it, really didnt like the live version.

-Hey Boy Hey Girl; drop it as the opening track, its so much better in the middle when your all pumped up and have been raveing.



Bring Back

-Come With Us; the best opening track ever, and one of the best ever chems tracks.

-The Test; his voice calling was a top moment on that tour.



Keep the veggies, they rock and bring back the disk that they had on the CWU tour.

I'd like to hear SPRING on tour, which is on the boxer ep.



The sweet melodies, shining lights, smiling faces....



That's gonna be stunning.

Tracks that should NEVER be dropped:



Temptation & Star Guitar



Electronic Battle Weapon 6



The Golden Path



The Private Psychedelic Reel