i just saw the chemical brothers live and feel worthless

popslut · Post by **popslut** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:27 pm

mosca wrote:
I saw them at Glastonbury a few years back and was a bit underwhelmed to be honest.

It was just a jumbly mess with no dynamics, although to be fair I couldn't really get close enough to the stage to be enveloped by it and it was a bit quiet.
assuming we were at the same Glasto - i concur with your roundup.

saw then during the first album tour and thought they were ok mind you.

i think we saw them on an off night.

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:31 pm

I think I posted somewhere once they were the best electronic act EVER!

not because most of their albums plain out ROCK but because their live show is second to none

Daft Punk is cool but THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS LIVE is something else

I know what you're saying SJ

saw them here in Seattle and they just totally blew the FUCK UP

what I like about the chemical brothers is they have so many B-Sides (electronic battle weapons) that they play live

not just the hits

yes, + 49 thousand!

Mesmer · Post by **Mesmer** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:41 pm

Hey,
didn't they used to be in a band called... Prodigy, or something like that?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:38 pm

seen them a few times, f-ing amazing show.

the crowd is chill then the Chems up the tempo a bit, the front row starts to jump, then the people behind them start jumping and so until until that wave hits the back of the place then BAM! they hit the 'oh shit!' knob, the place freaks out, they chill the people down and start all over again.

saw them in a HUGE barn like place (Cow Palace for you locals) they were bouncing sound off the ceiling with the fader, quick on-off, the sound would go up, hit the ceiling, come down, they were doing it in time with the size of the room, literally playing the room.

then I've heard anecdotes from friends who got behind the console and they swear it was all pre-recorded.

wicked fun shows, seeing them with Underworld like a decade ago was heaven.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:04 pm

Mesmer wrote:Hey,
didn't they used to be in a band called... Prodigy, or something like that?

IMO Prodigy kicks butt on a Chem Bros show (at least in the past) if for no other reasons than that they have a couple guys running around the stage hyping people up, the use of real musicians, and the sound is on par with Chem Bros.

popslut · Post by **popslut** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:06 pm

Tone Deft wrote:
then I've heard anecdotes from friends who got behind the console and they swear it was all pre-recorded.

It all depends on your definition of pre-recorded but I'd say your friends are correct.

They're certainly not playing it all live.*

[*Before any of you jump on me for dissing your favourite band, please make sure you fully understand what I just wrote.]

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:10 pm

I've given up on what a live performance is anymore. that's a good point though, they can track out an entire show with midi and audio but still do effects tweaking, change the bpm and whatnot. the lines have blurred since we were kids that's for sure.

/flips dentures in mouth

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:12 pm

On the subject of "how live?" I heard stories of the early days of Depeche Mode where their shows were so prerecorded and tied into whatever else was going on in the show that if they had a glitch or a crash they would literally have to start the show over from the beginning. But that might have been a big bonus if you were really into Depeche Mode.

popslut · Post by **popslut** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:23 pm

Depeche Mode used to use two Fostex B-16 1/2" 16-track machines with their tracks pre-recorded on them. Various synths were played live over the top, and the vocals sung, obviously.

Can't see how else they would have done it.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:40 pm

popslut wrote:Depeche Mode used to use two Fostex B-16 1/2" 16-track machines with their tracks pre-recorded on them. Various synths were played live over the top, and the vocals sung, obviously.

Can't see how else they would have done it.

as with a lot of the synth bands of that era - the tape machine normally got a good spot on the stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcaUmz43luc << D Mode

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o6QLi2agHKU << Humming Leg

Perhaps the Chem's ought to put their USB external drives in the spotlight

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:58 pm

Angstrom wrote:
popslut wrote:Depeche Mode used to use two Fostex B-16 1/2" 16-track machines with their tracks pre-recorded on them. Various synths were played live over the top, and the vocals sung, obviously.

Can't see how else they would have done it.
as with a lot of the synth bands of that era - the tape machine normally got a good spot on the stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcaUmz43luc << D Mode

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o6QLi2agHKU << Humming Leg

Perhaps the Chem's ought to put their USB external drives in the spotlight

I'm not saying it wasn't the best option at the time but just sorta laughing to myself at how we are all preocupied about how much is being done live or how much they can stray away from the original and make something cool. Back then nobody was concerned about....well, nobody that was into that kind of music.

Anybody remember Solid Gold on Saturday nights? (God I'm old). Ever notice nobody's instrument was ever plugged in and the performance sounded just like the recording? I think the same could have been said for American Bandstand.

Kodama · Post by **Kodama** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:02 pm

The difference between them and us is $$$.

Huge LCDs Lasers, bullshit stage gear, production studios with 20 ppl contributing professionally to an album, years of free time, etc...

The actual performance tends to be no more exciting than a laptopper...

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:11 pm

Kodama wrote:The difference between them and us is $$$.

make a bet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJcKPwupRBY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSCR6r83GUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC1KIiLO3X4

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:16 pm

Kodama wrote:The difference between them and us is $$$.

...and talent

Olga · Post by **Olga** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:42 pm

peeddrroo wrote:how does it compare to that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOapJnyn ... re=related

Well thank god someone finally told them that their funk faking was so obviously painful that they are at least pretending to do something live now. Like fine tuning eq's and meters on a mixing desk lol. The last 2 times I've seen them its always sounded great but the two of them were total fools. First time I saw them they had a real movie projector which was cool but it was sitting right next to a DAT player obviously playing everything. Saw them a few years later and it was just more of the same. All the music going full force with them screwing around on stage not even on the keyboards whatsoever just jumping on each others shoulders like fools and walking off stage in the middle of the show while all the music was still playing full on with no one behind the instruments coming back on stage 5 min later. Music playing perfectly the whole time they were gone though. Totally ridiculous, faking it at its worst.