The Chemical Brothers @ Vodafone Arena, Melbourne (05/03/08)
The cowboy hats and western shirts heading towards Rod Laver Arena could not be further from the denim raver flairs and reflective stripes that were entering Vodafone Arena on Wednesday night. American country duo Brooks & Dunn are incompatible neighbours for The Chemical Brothers but tonight they perform in adjacent stadiums.
There are probably less than hundred people flexing their physiques to Muscles when he hits the stage. An assault of tracks from his debut album Guns Babes and Lemonade fills the space, but it appears the crowd prefer to mill about outside drinking rather than lend their support to this one-man band. Icecream is the closest we get to a reaction, and it’s impossible to distinguish between the speaking and singing voices of Muscles. Some of the words he chants are quaint, “I wish that I could keep you in my pocket, so I could play with you all the time” on Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon & Lime. Muscles soldiers on behind his keyboard, even closing the set with, “thankyou for being an awesome crowd” – it’s hard to tell if there’s any use of irony here.
The punters barely drizzle in to hear James Holroyd’s (AKA Boggy) warmup DJ set. The Back to Basics resident DJ cranks out tunes worthy of a 3am slot, and it’s too much too soon. The intensity arc peaks too early: it should climb organically up to the pinnacle of Chemical Brothers, not supersede it. As assorted people enter the stadium, they bust into a quick shuffle in acknowledgement of the tunes then return to walking pace until they find their seats/space on the floor. Holroyd is a long-time touring buddy of Chemical Brothers, but this isn’t enough to pull tonight’s crowd inside.
Penetrating screams punctuate the darkness as the lights dim and we prepare for the onslaught of Chemical Brothers. There are pants aplenty limbering up for the Melbourne shuffle, and Galvanize rips us apart at the seams. The song’s title is reinforced as the masses stir as if awakened by an electric shock. Suddenly the venue is heaving. “Don’t hold back!” is a subliminal command to make us start largin’ it. The strings in this track tear right through you in this setting, and it’s a shame to see the stands largely empty for this dynamic duo though every inch of floor space is utilised.
One of the few acts to successfully achieve commercial success without compromising quality or becoming samey, Chemical Brothers accompanies their relentless, chugging, melodic sounds with crystalline visuals designed by Flatnosegeorge. Two figures that look like computer generated images to measure human motion, one red and one blue, flash up on either side of the ginormous screen to have a dance-off and egg us on.
Anyone with a phobia of clowns will have nightmares for an eternity after the menacing circus figure takes over the screen. Visuals become sinister to the extreme as what seems to be a floating clown face lip-synchs along to Just Get Yourself High. Shudders all round. We are held captive as hit after hit reminds us why Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have succeeded for so long as a force to be reckoned with in the global dance community: Hey Boy Hey Girl, Out Of Control and Block Rockin’ Beats – there’s always a melody to cling to.
The synchronised mastery of images flooding the screen would make backing dancers redundant: a flying flock of ears morphs into a flock of hands – mesmerising. Visuals akin to ‘The Blair Witch Project’ rush us through dense shrubbery and the effect is unsettling in contrast to the lush, expansive tunes. Believe accompanies an onscreen galaxy explosion that reflects our overall mood. More of an experience than a show, Chemical Brothers show no mercy. We’re on our feet from go to ‘Woh!’ gyrating to the sounds, bewitched by the visuals.
mrmansly says...
Was it just me or was anyone a bit disappointed with the music mixing into each other on the night? I mean all the songs themselves were true Chems which was great, the video and lighting effects were amazing, but the mixing of one song into the next was a bit disappointing. I always enjoy hearing how musicians will mix one song into the next, but on the night the mixing to me just wasn't what I expected of the Chems standards. Anyone else out there agree?
king-oompaloompa says...
yeah mate... was super hyped for this gig only to be let down a little. imagery and setlist was great, although hey boy hey girl was a little shortlived. i thought they did little themselves to get into it, maybe i was expecting too much. a couple of times, like mrmansly said, some of the songs didn't mesh right and people were left dancing way out of beat. watch out for those clowns and the butterflies!