Pioneering digital duo The Chemical Brothers introduced the final word rave to London’s O2 Enviornment on Saturday night.
Performing within the capital as a part of their UK tour, the venue was nicely and actually packed by the point Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands took to the large stage at 9pm.
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Sizzling on the heels of a DJ set from MusicTech producer of the yr award winner TSHA, who warmed the room up with an hour of home and tech groovers, the Manchester pair wasted no time in reworking the huge house right into a hedonistic membership.
Kickstarting their career-spanning two-hour present, the one-two of Go/Do It Once more had the mixed-age crowd singing alongside whereas throwing their greatest shapes.
This was a theme that ran all through the 23-song setlist, as newer tracks from latest album For That Lovely Feeling (a lot of which exploded to life) had been seamlessly paired with older favourites. This construction served to showcase the interconnectedness of the Chems’ sonic universe and its many components.
No Motive, which was accompanied by a military of neon drumming dancers, blended completely into 1999 traditional Hey Boy Hey Woman – regardless of the two-decade-plus separation between each tracks, they labored surprisingly nicely back-to-back. Equally, the ominous Eve Of Destruction weaved effortlessly into the psychedelic rabbit gap of Really feel Like I Am Dreaming.
Whereas the stage arrange itself was truly fairly easy (other than a second midway the place the duo regarded out on the massive crowd and took within the second, the duo loomed over their technical tools), it was the beaming mild present and trippy, sci-fi-leaning visuals that actually took the expertise to a different dimension.
Throughout the euphoric Dwell Once more, pink strobes scanned the gang whereas tunnelling on-screen soundwaves mirrored a post-lockdown rewiring of the mind. Quickly after, the hypnotic Extensive Open erupted with 1000’s of tiny birds breaking free. Later, the troupe of animated breakdancing acrobats regarded so 3D and lifelike it was as in the event that they had been about to somersault over the gang. And that’s earlier than mentioning the now-iconic big strolling robots who descended throughout 1995 acid exercise Three Little Birdies Down Beats.
From begin to end, this was a spectacular assault on all of the senses (significantly the piercing lasers of MAH) and proof of The Chemical Brothers’ place atop the digital throne. Greater than that, it was an exhilarating embodiment of simply how transcendent dance music will be when the best individuals are in management.
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