May 14, 1997
The Chemical Brothers have worked it out
The Chemical Brothers celebrated their much anticipated entrance into the North American music scene Monday night with a sell out gig at Toronto's Warehouse. From the word go, it was a non-stop sonic assault as Tom and Ed Chemical proved why they are being heralded as the forerunners of the new rave of music (aka Electronica). Opening with Leave Home - the first single from 1995's Exit Planet Dust - the manic momentum was set and didn't stop for over an hour. With the ebullient cry of "Brothers gonna work it out", it seems obvious that the Brothers have worked out how to entertain and fully entrance an audience. The stage setup was rather sparse save for a king's ransom in keyboard and assorted vari-light rigs. It was complemented by a huge video screen that pulsed with assorted - and seemingly random - psychedelic imagery - revolving blotted blues and pinks, a scary reinterpretation of the Setting Sun cover and even scientific looking charts and graph. All the major hits and fan faves were played, save for Life is Sweet, which admittedly would have suffered without Tim Burgess' vocal. The live version of Setting Sun was the focal point of the night around which the whole feel of the show seemed to revolve. Words cannot put justice to the "pull out all the stops" mixing jobs the Chems did to this UK number one hit. Of course, sadly missing was vocalist Noel Gallagher. As the inclusion of the instrumental version of the Saint soundtrack proves, however, the vocals are mere icing to an already finely crafted pop tune. The show was a fine marriage of hard core techno, rock'n'roll (thanks to the squelchy guitar samples) and mass appeal pop. If the Chemicals continue to impress audiences with their live shows as much as they are with their albums, they will be around for a long time to come.