The Chemical Brothers’ 2011 headline Australian tour was big news when first announced in July last year. After all, Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands had just released their seventh album Further and the chance to see their electrifying new live show in a setting other than a festival was a mouth-watering prospect.

The unsurprising announcement that followed two weeks after the announcement of their tour – that the duo would also headline the Future Music Festival the day after their set at the Riverstage – immediately raised questions as to just how much pulling power the Chems’ stand-alone show would retain given a similarly-sized set (only 20 minutes shorter) was on offer the following day, along with sets from dozens of other acts like Sven Vath, Mark Ronson and even Leftfield.

But after seeing the crowd of thousands marching into the Riverstage on Friday night, it was clear that Brisbane – too often the embarrassing weak link in national tours taking in the main three capital cities – would provide a worthy beginning to the Chems’ 2011 tour. With Simons and Rowlands themselves taking to Facebook after the night to label the Brisbane show as one of their top ten ever, it’s safe to say the night was a blinding success.

The continuing wet weather and heavy rain over the previous few days had made the Riverstage soggy under foot, but the welcome result was the noted absence of swarms of shirtless, gurning morons and scantily-clad bunnies, who were no doubt saving themselves for an all-out assault on Doomben Racecourse the next day for Future Music Festival.

It was instead ponchos, imaginative headwear and sensible footwear that, ahem, rained supreme on Friday night. Early sets from long-time Chemical Brothers warm up DJ James Holroyd, Art vs Science and BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe set the mood, with tracks from Major Lazer and Duck Sauce speaking the perfect language to the Friday night crowd.

Shortly after 8pm, Rowlands and Simons took the stage to the opening beats of Galvinise and what followed was a energetic 80 minutes of classic and new Chemical Brothers music, complimented by a brand new and utterly stunning visual and lighting show which, when matched with impressive sound and deep, thumping bass, created an altogether special atmosphere and a show worthy of the preceding hype.

The big tunes were all there and demonstrated in spectacular fashion the depth and variety of Simons and Rowlands’ discography, something sometimes forgotten by newer fans. Chemical Beats from the duo’s 1995 debut Exit Planet Dust, the classic Block Rockin’ Beats from their sophomore LP Dig Your Own Hole (which sounds as fresh today as it did upon its release in 1997), Hey Boy Hey Girl from 1999’s Surrender, Star Guitar from 2001’s Come With Us, Believe from 2004’s Push The Button and Do It Again from 2007’s We Are The Night all dropped, and all impressed. Last year’s single Swoon, meanwhile, sent the crowd absolutely crazy when its bassline dropped.

The show was building and building until, at the 80 minute mark, something strange happened. With about a half hour to go, the duo left the stage for some sort of interlude/cigarette break/toilet stop. When they returned five minutes later, the energy they had so expertly built from the opening bars of Galvinise had been lost and I thought they struggled to recreate it for the last half hour or so, which was a shame.

Not that the closing half hour was bad at all; it just lacked the crazy atmosphere the first 80 minutes had so expertly created, but I’m sure this had something to do with the noted absence of bigger, more well-known tunes played during this time.

Regardless, the new show is right up there with the recent works of Daft Punk and Massive Attack. Those who saw them last time they were out – in 2008 as Future Music Festival headliners – will be either happy or a tad creeped-out (I’m in the latter group) to learn Simons and Rowlands have retained small parts of that visual show, including that creepy clown with his decaying teeth.

What was particularly good to see was the number of older Chemical Brothers fans – the ones who no doubt prefer Song To The Siren to The Salmon Dance (the absence of which from the Chems’ set sent my Johnny-come-lately friend-fan into a mild rage) who had left the kids at home and turned out in their droves.

After more than 20 years on the scene, Rowlands and Simons retain an impressive ability to walk that razor-thin line between being a forward-facing, genre-defining electronic act and one that still appeals to the older, slightly nostalgic tea-sipping clubbers of yesteryear.

When we’ll see them again is anyone’s guess, but they’ve still got it – in droves – and Friday night was an overwhelming bright spark on an otherwise damp, gloomy evening. A good crowd, drink lines that looked worse than they were and – for once at the Riverstage – sound levels deserving of the performers made this a night to remember. Sydney and Melbourne: you’ve been warned.