The Chemical Brothers, Art vsScience @ Sydney EntertainmentCentre (10/3/2011)

Mon 14th Mar, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The Chemical Brothers have a penchant for producing electronic melodies that draw influence from a staggering spread of musical genres. In the live arena, the duo ( Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons) are renowned for mashing-up and remodeling material from their commercial releases with spectacular accompanying visuals. So it was really no surprise to find the Sydney Entertainment Centre packed with loyal fans when the pair took some time out from their Future Music Festival exploits to play a two hour headline sideshow supported by Art vs Science last Thursday.

On the back of their recently released and long awaited debut LP The Experiment, Art vs Science took to the stage rather early (7.15pm). While they are an ubiquitous feature of the Australian music festival circuit, I was keen to see how the group handled performing in this very different setting. The result was impressive. Despite playing to a relatively small crowd, Art vs Science smashed out all their trademark hits including Flippers, Parlez Vous Francais and the polarising Magic Fountain with gusto. As is often the case with their festival performances, the set was brimming with energy and certainly got the masses moving. Their new material is solid and sounds much superior live compared to the mastered commercial tracks. Overall, however, their tunes still do often rub off as a little one-dimensional. Having said that, not one of the jumping, frenzied punters was complaining and further experience will no doubt help the band develop their sound further.

Up next, Zane Lowe took to the decks and pumped out a strong, but somewhat formulaic set built on well-established dance-favourites. Think The Prodigy, House of Pain and Busta Rhymes and you get the idea. James Holroyd was next up and proceeded to lay down a more alternative, darker set of electronica as techies swarmed the stage and began rolling out gear for the headliners.

Then, at 9.10 exactly, a hush fell over the crowd and the lights were extinguished. As the floor swelled and heaved with anticipation a harsh coutuntdown pierced the air and a glimmer of light began circling high above the stage. The light became brighter and slowly spiraled down towards the masses of punters the opening chords of Galvanise swept over the crowd as the stage exploded with light and the superstar DJs took their positions behind what looked like a space-station of assembled synths and mixers.

What followed was an extraordinary audio-visual feast as The Chemical Brothers took the audience in the palm of their hand and thrust them into their glowing, sparkling psychedelic world. Having been slightly disappointed with the lower-key set the duo performed at Future Music Festival in 2008, I was absolutely blown away by this performance. It traversed all the classic crowd favourites including Hey Boy, Hey Girl, Out of Control and Block Rockin’ Beats while also including material from more recent releases including Do It Again, Swoon, Saturate and Escape Velocity.

The production of this set was nothing short of incredible. The Chemical Brothers have clearly taken a leaf out of Daft Punk’s book in creating a live show. Their “decks” were covered with dozens of strobes and backed by a mammoth-sized screen that blazed with perfectly synchronized imagery (including the infamously tormenting “acid-clown”) to accompany. The tracks themselves were all reworked, mashed and torn apart – another technique that worked brilliantly to showcase their creativity and flair in the live setting. Before long, the pair exited the stage, before returning for an encore that was much more subdued compared to the main set, but nonetheless ended on a high note with cult-classic The Private Psychadelic Reel.

The only criticism that I could make of this gig was that every element of the show was so synchronised and watertight that one can’t help but question exactly how much is pre-recorded and how much “live stuff” the pair actually get up to on-stage. Are they simply hiding behind those masses of equipment, screens and strobes? One would hope not.

In any case, after two hours of chemical beats, the pair relinquished their hold on the gathered, sweaty masses and sauntered off stage. As reality descended once again three words flashed continuously across the screen above the stage. Maybe it was all the booze, sizzling brains and lights that made the message seem so profound. Or maybe it was the news that seems to grow daily of horrific uprisings in the Middle East, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis. Whatever the case, The Chemical Brothers left a potent and evocative message seared in the minds of the gathered – Love is all.