I went to see The Chemical Brothers in Birmingham & was totally mesmerised

If you’ve never been to a Chemical Brothers concert, and are planning to see their latest tour prepare to be amazed. Because it’s unlikely that you could ever imagine a two-hour long feast of audio-visual stimulation featuring props including oversized primary coloured balloons, lasers, confetti and giant articulated robots.

The Chemical Brothers have been around since 1989, famously formed in Manchester by Ed Simons and Tom Rowland. In their three-decade long career, they have released ten studio albums, including ‘For That Beautiful Feeling’ which was released earlier this year, won six Grammy awards, had six UK number one albums and 13 top 20 UK singles.

On a chilly Friday night, the 15,800 capacity Utilita Arena Birmingham resembled a rave. Revellers of all ages took to the dancefloor ready to spend the night with the godfathers of electronic music.

Kicking off the show with the appropriately named 2015 single ‘Go’, the 23 metre wide LED screen lit up, ready to delight and dazzle the audience.

Next, ‘Do It Again’ got the crowd moving, accompanied by giant faces on the screen behind, before ‘Get Yourself High’ and ‘Mad As Hell’ which was accompanied by visuals of monsters scarier than many Halloween movie villains.

Onto chirpier ‘No Reason’, featuring the neon marching band from the music video in the background, it wasn’t long before 1999 hit ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ came on with bendy figures wrapped in lights swaying in the wind appearing on the stage behind the duo.

One hour into the set, they finally took a moment to breathe and take in the applause, before diving into the next hour which swooped, dipped and dived effortlessly through thirty years worth of music. Every single track felt as modern and relevant as the last, proving that their music is as contemporary today as it was back in 1995 when they released their very first album ‘Exit Planet Dust’.

Predictably, best known tracks such as ‘Galvanize’, ‘Block Rockin Beats’ and ‘Star Guitar’ created the most madness in the audience, but newer tracks such as ‘Wide Open’ from 2015 were also frenzied in their reception.

Described as a ‘mind bending show’, the PR got it right. The visuals are a mesmerizing display that is just as stimulating and engaging as the music. If you don’t know about long time Chemical Brothers collaborators Marcus Lyall and Adam Smith, then get to know the pair behind the visual performance piece element of the show.

Returning to the stage for a three-track encore of ‘No Geography’, ‘Darkness That You Feel’ and ‘The Private Psychedelic Reel’, the final scenes of rapidly flashing stained glass windows gave a reverend feel to the experience.

One thing to say about the Chemical Brothers audience is that age is no barrier to their music. This was a party that crossed generational boundaries, with people of all ages showing the same level of appreciation whether they grew up with their music or had recently discovered them; long may the Chemical Brothers continue.