Benjani, on 24 May 2010 - 03:55 AM, said:

i was not at the show but i see what you mean about it being to loud. also the chemical brothers have made so many songs, they should really play more of a variety of their songs, they always play saturate, believe, out of control, and those kind of songs, dont get me wrong those are good songs but they should just try to play others more often like they should bring back some stuff from dig your own hole or just different songs to make there concerts more interesting. but the new songs are just mind blowing!

I can understand the critiques, and not everyone is going to be 100% pleased all the time with the set lists.

But if anyone hasn't visited the Live Secret Technology thread, it might offer some insight on what all goes into every Chemical Brothers show even though that is just a glimpse, the tip of the iceberg. Tom and Ed spent a considerable amount of time planning their live show, and they also spend a lot of time rehearsing, making sure everything is just so. It's not like they can just switch up their set lists at the drop of a hat and pull out their greatest hits or whatever, and have it all magically sync up to the intricate network of visuals, lights, lasers and everything else that goes into one of their gigs. I think given the format of the Roundhouse shows, the 2nd half will allow them some wiggle room to mix things up and play around with their back catalog. But it's still early days and their show is going to evolve like it always has as shown in previous tours. They are only 4 shows into this tour, not everyone has seen the Chems a million times in 2007, so maybe allow a little leeway and time for the show to evolve...?

Anyway, like I said, I understand the critiques but... it's sad to read when people are disappointed.

^ditto. They put on an amazing show and there is no way they will make everyone happy with the set, there will always be some chump yelling "Play the Salmon Dance"

I think it speaks very highly of the chems that there's always someone upset with a missing song, it just points out that they have so many amazing songs and we each hold a unique group closer than others, you know the "special" ones. Look at that poll, the fact that all those songs people wanted live. But that's why I myself collect the live shows, you can listen to burst generator or life is sweet remix till you heart is content, but go to the new shows liberated from expectations and an open mind and you'll probably enjoy youself.

I didn't know a drink had hit the sound desk!! That will certainly cause a few problems! Surprised it even survived!

Glad you enjoyed the show on Sunday ben_j. It's a pity it was shorter but tom did say the curfew would be slightly earlier on Sunday, and they are pretty strict in London with live curfews.

To the people saying the sets were rubbish, these shows were always billed as the first place to hear further played in full with the visuals,putting that set together alone was a lot of work,to then ask for a full live set is a lot to ask for,but that's just what we got! It was like a full 2 hour set condensed into 45 mins. Which isn't easy. There were songs there that hadn't been played live in that form before,setting sun being one of them,and it was amazing!

I can understand where people are coming from,the casual chems fans might not be happy,they want to hear they songs they know,but this was a showcase of further,first and foremost. The second set was the icing on the cake,a thanks from the chems for listening to the new stuff.

As for changing the sets up every night,like whirly said,take a look at the live secret tech post, the work and effort that goes into a live show is beyond comprehension! To be able to sync the visuals perfectly to each tune takes weeks of pre production to link up audio triggers for the visuals,they don't just decide what tunes to play on the way from the dressing room,this is why the shows are so good,it's a complete audio visual feat!

I have no doubt the tour later this year will be an amazing mix of further songs and regular favorites.

Until then the wait for further is killing me!!

I would have happily gone home after hearing further,that's how good it is!

eddychemical, on 24 May 2010 - 04:28 AM, said:

spilled coffee all over the place... need to change

Gig last night was brilliant.

Further was excellent, really look forward to hearing ti on record now, so i can obsess over it properly.

Dissolve was wicked, and Wonders of the Deep was immense.

and the encore was just great fun, nice to hear a bit of setting sun, and saturate>beleive was stunning as usual.

The "bug of the fear" http://www.youtube.c...h?v=vTtRoGhjirU

Benjani, on 24 May 2010 - 03:55 AM, said:

Wear earplugs? Makes all the difference...

think benjani's critic is not about the variation of the tracks on each show it's all about the equality between WATN 07 - 08 tour and the encore on further. i think it's clear the chems can not improvise like a dj during his set. i can understand the critics from the view of a hard chems fan who wants some new old songs in the encore after the years. i can totally understand this. after the premier of further (which everbody loves right now), the bros have nothing to loose when they kick out HBHG for example and do a modern midnight conversation (or >insert any other banger of their back catalogue<).

my 2 cents

Ok !
I'm now home, clean of any alcohol, not absolutely awake, but I'll do a bigger review.

First, before the show I met McMarsh, Ben (surface_to_air on the forum) and Antoine (Bouh), it was really nice to see all of them ! We went to the first rows.
The intro began ant the excitement was growing. Although, we barely could hear the sound, so we went back a bit until the sound was clearer (but still not perfect).
Snow : They only played a few minutes of it. They started a bit late, and had to finish early, I think that's why they shortened it. But from what I heard, it sounded great, perfect to open the album.

Escape Velocity : That one was rocking ! good response from the crowd. I'm not a big fan of the visuals that came with it though. And at that point I was a bit disapointed by the screen and the visuals. But I'll get back to that later.

Another World : Unlike most people here, this one didn't catch my attention more than the rest of the album. It was great, but not as much as what I expected.

Dissolve : I loved that one ! Really loved. It's got an awesome retro psychedelic feel. At that point, I turned to my friend to tell him that the screen looked much bigger from the front rows, and now it just looked like a regular screen. 10 seconds later, Dissolve exploded and they turned on the rest of the screen (the two bits on the sides). Now it looked impressive !

Horse Power : That's the kind of track that only the brothers can do. Like a huge slap in the face, and the visuals were really awesome

Swoon : sneaker was right, Swoon is amazing on the live !

K+D+B : just like Dissolve, I loved it, same kind of track, same feeling. I can't wait to hear it on the album. Didn't really get the visuals though. They were just birds.

Wonders of the Deep : that track is as perfect for a closing track as Snow is perfect for openning. The visuals are perfect, completely match, the music is brilliant.

Then they went off stage, leaving us alone with the MS-10 and They came back for the oldies part :
Hey Boy Hey Girl : it's always a pleasure to hear that one on a big soundsystem. Big reaction of the crowd, naturally. It sounded better than on the videos I saw

Under The Influence/It Doesnt Matter : way too short ! 2 - 3mn maximum And I didn't hear the Future Retro 777 riff they used on the last tour.

Out of Control : Good as usual, but I think I heard it too much

Setting Sun : then again, they only played it for 2mn max. It was mixed with Out of Control and the way they did it was perfect. Still disapointed it was not longer

Saturate : The transition was a bit odd, but Saturate eventualy came in. Oh the joy to see those visuals on a gigantic screen like this ! The crowd really went off !

Believe : The energy of the live version is still here

Elektrobank Outro + Acid Children vocal : then again, odd brutal transition from Believe to Elektrobank. Just the intro leading to Chemical Beats

Chemical Beats : Blasting ! But the smoke machines were not cool. One time was ok, but every 30s or so, we took 8 smoke jets in a row, at the moment when the explosion was on screen (you know, when there's the loud kick), it had two effects :
- it covered the music
- it covered the screen
Not cool. But it was good anyway !

And then it was over. A good part of the crowd stayed for an encore, and we shouted, clapped our hands and begged for more than 10 minutes. But nothing. Stupid curfew...

All in all, one of the best gigs of my life. Further is going to be a great album, but I hope the next gigs will have Further tracks mixed with older tracks (and why not, with different tracks than the previous tours). The wait till October is gonna be long.

I did not go to the show so I can't say many things but I don't like the way they did it : first Further, and then older stuff. I mean they should have made a total new show with Further tracks played along their old stuff. The second part isn't anything new cause there is no surprise (except maybe the Setting Sun vocals). Btw, I wouldn't be disapponted if they stopped playing Out Of Control. Not that I don't like this track, but they've been using the same live version of it for over 10 years so i think they should remove it. I know that preparing the show takes a long time but to be honest, there isn't anything new in the second part. Even the visuals are simlar to the WATN tour ones.
Maybe working on Further visuals was so long that they did not have enough time to rework the older stuff ?

I did not go to the show so I can't say many things but I don't like the way they did it

how long was the set ben_j?

1hr30 approximately. It sarted around 9:10 and ended around 10:50

Since Ed seems to be lurking right now : I liked your moves Ed

same as the other nights.

eddychemical, on 24 May 2010 - 05:07 PM, said:

Sorry Ed, I just read the reviews But I'll try to see you on this tour (probably Paris in october) and I wouldn't like the new tracks to be separated from the old ones. You know what I mean ?
I just hope the whole tour won't be like that (first Further and then old stuff).

Btw, here is a video of Dissolve :
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ZHzU6LPzHtk

NO VIDEO OF K + D + B YET !

sneaker:beater, on 24 May 2010 - 05:18 PM, said:

Hm... Looking at videos from the other nights, they didn't shorten any tracks. It was the normal lenght. But I still think Setting Sun and Under the Influence deserve more time

yer the further section was lasted 53 mins, the second half of the set didn't last much more than 30 mins

i would personally love to see this format, the new album (which sounds like the best sonic brilliance in a million years) played back to back, and then the old madness as bonus - sounds really yum!
i haven't seen the chems live yet even though i'm a stark raving psycho stalker geek fan for 12 years now, so i really can't understand some people complaining with no real reasoning to back it. either u love the chemical brothers insanely and are dying to see them live every time that season comes, or u don't matter anyway.

can someone link me with another world on youtube? haven't heard it yet.

edit: found. thx inchemswetrust!
i think another world's my fav tune till now! what a lush epic tune. is that tom singing?