Disappointments about 2019 live sets

Let's start..

Spoiler

1. Go is still as an opener.
2. Star Guitar still doesn't have apropriate visuals.
3. FUCKING GREEN HBHG VISUALS! I HATE THIS, IT'S DUMPED AND IT'S STUPID AND IT'S OUT OF SYNC OF THE TRACK! ARRRRGGGHHH!!! FUUUUUCK!! Worst of the Adam and Marcus have done for Chems live show. Sorry me.

[close]

Spoiler

No Geography deserved better, at least include the classic Fireworks visuals or maybe TSU's visuals (the current face visuals are extremely similar), or at least some colorful lights! (remove the slow beats at the intro as well!)

Also couldn't they have used Bango during the Elektrobank segue? It'd make for a great mashup really, and they can easily drop Gravity Drops if they don't wanna use too much of the album anyway

Still excited for the NYC show, the amendments should be made most likely after today's show

[close]

1) Was to be expected. It may not have been an instant chart hit like they had in the 90s, but undoubtedly it's their best known track from the past few years, even if car commercials and TV sports programmes are partly responsible.

2&3) Not a surprise either, but yes, agreed.

Go as an opener is such a bland opener. I find it odd they use the C.H.E.M.I.C.A.L. vocal at the end of their set. That vocal would make a lot more sense during the opening. Hell, kick off the show with Leave Home/C.H.E.M.I.C.A.L. vocal. It would make sense and it would be a hell of a lot better than Go. Go just feels weak to start the show. Go builds up nicely, but falls flat when it finally kicks in.

The C, the H, the E, the M, the I, the C, the A, the L
The brothers
The brothers gonna work it out-out-out-out
The brothers

Spoiler

I don't know how I feel about the subtraction of Out of Control, Setting Sun and It Doesn't Matter. All of them were due for a break, but they, and their various iterations, are easily the most impressive, versatile, and exciting moment of their set (IMO). It's like losing the essence of what makes the live show fucking awesome.

That being said, the clip of Dig Your Own Hole and Get Up On It Like This (vocal) is frickin' sweet. And I hate to say it, but that, of all songs... sounds better than all the tracks being played from the new album...

Also, a lot of unnecessary vocal overlays (which has already been mentioned in here). It's sounding way too gimmicky and forced...

[close]

Spoiler

The transition between HBHB -> EoD doesn't flow well at all

[close]

Spoiler

wide open just doesn’t fit! I heard the transition and it’s way out of place, they should just reintroduce Surface to Air but leading into Escape Velocity then have UTI go into Galvanize

[close]

Spoiler

Y'all are so quick to hate on this set. Go was a little disappointing to see kick things off, but it makes sense. I mean it literally calls for the crowd to "GO!". And, it kind of luls you into a false sense of security before the set changes up completely. The whole thing flowed so well and the surprises didn't stop throughout.
I obviously wasn't expecting not to enjoy myself but this completely blew my expectations out of the water.

Freakin'. Hoops.

[close]

^ What he said! Spot on mini review!

And if for some reason I lurked into these posts prior to the shows, I probably wouldn't budge or take it into consideration. Your expectations (whether positive or negative) before the show are nothing compared to what you feel after the show is over.

Example..

Random forum member before show: "I hope they play this,this, and this, and not play this one or this one. I don't want this track or that song should be brought back."

Random forum member after the show: "OMG! WHAT A SHOW! Now what was I talking about earlier?"

You wanna know my biggest disappointment for the live sets 2019? You wanna know? I tell you what my biggest disappointment is: I AM FUCKING NOT THERE!

Thank you, that's what I just needed (reading all the posts of joy and watching the audio visual 'splosions on YT).

This

You wanna know my biggest disappointment for the live sets 2019? You wanna know? I tell you what my biggest disappointment is: I AM FUCKING NOT THERE!

Although there's still a good chance that I'll buy a ticket for the Birmingham Show.

You wanna know my biggest disappointment for the live sets 2019? You wanna know? I tell you what my biggest disappointment is: I AM FUCKING NOT THERE!

I have decided that you now must automatically use this as your signature till your next show.

No complaints here, and no transitions felt out of whack. I made the mistake of criticizing a transition (during Believe, if I recall correctly) a bunch of years back and had to back pedal any misgivings I had once I heard it live for myself.

About the visuals - if I may counter some of the criticism. The light and visuals are very much a part of the package deal with the Chems. We know this. 😊 The Chems pull out some of the classics we’ve heard countless times and change things up in their sets with transitions/segues/on the fly mixing. What we hear is familiar, so I think it makes sense to tap into that familiarity through vision as well.

Very much enjoyed the Shrine show but I still had a few nitpicky criticisms:

Spoiler

1) No Believe or Out of Control/Setting Sun was a bummer. I get wanting to keep things fresh, but those are just such big parts of the show (especially the Believe crescendo). HBHG and Saturate felt like the ones to take out.
2) Don't get me wrong, I was dancing the whole time, but some deviation from the constant pre-No Geography segment house workout might have offered "room to breathe". E.g. something off the beaten path like I'll See You There (which I do get leaving out, as it was very much emblematic of the Born in the Echoes Album Tour Experience), or some more playful stretches of "riffing" a la the second half of Eve and the DYOH/Under the Influence medley. I admit that a big part of this comes from my personal dislike of Free Yourself and M.A.H., which really dominated the tone early on (though to their credit, they were huge crowdpleasers). Also, again, HBHG might have been a culprit here - the timing of that track seemed wrong, felt like overkill.
3) I had some mixed feelings about the Go visuals. They worked well as an opener, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rollerblader visuals from the last tour. Pity they couldn't work those in somewhere.
4) I wish they had played a longer version of Escape Velocity. It's such a powerful track that deserves a longer setup, rather than just launching into the main drop right off the bat.

[close]

I have no critiques.

I have been in awe at the last two shows.

Spoiler

1) No Believe or Out of Control/Setting Sun was a bummer. I get wanting to keep things fresh, but those are just such big parts of the show (especially the Believe crescendo). HBHG and Saturate felt like the ones to take out.
2) Don't get me wrong, I was dancing the whole time, but some deviation from the constant pre-No Geography segment house workout might have offered "room to breathe". E.g. something off the beaten path like I'll See You There (which I do get leaving out, as it was very much emblematic of the Born in the Echoes Album Tour Experience), or some more playful stretches of "riffing" a la the second half of Eve and the DYOH/Under the Influence medley. I admit that a big part of this comes from my personal dislike of Free Yourself and M.A.H., which really dominated the tone early on (though to their credit, they were huge crowdpleasers). Also, again, HBHG might have been a culprit here - the timing of that track seemed wrong, felt like overkill.
3) I had some mixed feelings about the Go visuals. They worked well as an opener, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rollerblader visuals from the last tour. Pity they couldn't work those in somewhere.
4) I wish they had played a longer version of Escape Velocity. It's such a powerful track that deserves a longer setup, rather than just launching into the main drop right off the bat.

[close]

I think you bring up a lot of great points. And I'm definitely with you on #1.

Regarding Saturate, this is the only crowd interactive part of the show. It will be difficult to replace based on that fact. In the Zane Lowe interview on Apple Beats 1 radio, Ed seems ready to move on from this track too. Maybe next tour.

About #4...

I agree Escape Velocity could be longer, but probablly not in the same way as maybe you're thinking.  I personally think it would better framed as a new encore finale song. That's not to say TPPR should be retired, I just think they should maybe have an encore variance from show to show (even put Sunshine Underground in this list).  That way you could make space for another new song (à la The Universe Sent Me or We Got to Try) to the main set list.

Always been a fan of “Saturate”, and as someone who kinda expected it to get the axe for this tour “Do It Again” being the WATN track to go felt like a pretty positive outcome. If we lose “Saturate” as well, what becomes of the album whose tour birthed their entire current live-show format?

Also so much of this show has to be planned ahead of time - and so much work has to go into making what’s there live-show-ready, both musically and visually - that I can’t really expect the Chems to switch it up night-by-night; the most we can realistically hope for is that they add and switch out stuff as they go along, bits at a time or to a more significant extent when there’s a long break which they’re still committed to get back onto the road after.
(Speaking of which: that rumored Surrender reissue might provide the exact Brotherhood-type excuse for this to happen. Here’s hoping, in this hypothetical scenario, they consider adding “The Universe Sent Me” to the setlist while they’re waffling on whether to work in “The Diamond Sky” or something? The lack of “Universe” is my one real, strong grievance with the current set.
Well, that and the lack of that freaky live version of “Let Forever Be” they did exactly once in 2018, which this reissue might also put back on the table.)

I see what you mean by easing tracks in, but I'd be ok with them not revisiting Let Forever Be. I appreciate the try (it's one of my favorite tracks) buy yeah, the track doesn't have live legs (IMO).

Regarding the lack of a WATN track if Saturate were to be taken over by another (). I could see them finally testing the waters (ha!) on Salmon Dance and insert a bit of cheeky moment into the set. Or maybe, Do It Again (!!!, unintenional puns coming out the ass!) after a short hiatus.

Ok I'll stop, I started drinking early today.