2022/09/25 - Live at Portola Festival San Francisco

[actionjackson780]

For the moment, I'll just leave this here (it was posted in the Forum Facebook group:)

If anyone happens to rip the audio before this is taken down, I'll gladly take a DM!

[Csar]

If anyone happens to rip the audio before this is taken down, I'll gladly take a DM!

PM incoming shortly.

[Stefan]

Ha, I'm also recording it currently but I guess Csar will be faster 

[Csar]

That's because VLC player let's me download it, so I don't need to record.

[Stefan]

Ok nice, I didn't know about that option.

Might have to redo it anyay, because my laptop was not plugged in and I might have the battery alarm somewhere during the recording *facepalm

[Csar]

ActionJackson, that was a good call! Just in the nick of time I was able get ahold of it, cos they took it down a couple of minutes ago.

[cowboy]

ActionJackson, that was a good call! Just in the nick of time I was able get ahold of it, cos they took it down a couple of minutes ago.

I liked it to go back to it later, no! What was it?

[mesamm99]

I have an audio only version as well. The bass takes over several of the songs, but good to have regardless. Don't know how to fix that or if it's just what it is.

[Csar]

I liked it to go back to it later, no! What was it?

It was the entire Portola gig.

[Bosco]

I'm also buzzing off of hearing other people comment on how amazing their set was. it was very well received.

Just wandering over to Portolla reddit catching up on peoples reactions. It is tremendously positive.

It really has that feeling that Coachella 2023 is locked down already.

[crosscrops]

Really enjoyed the new show! The new songs and visuals were amazing! It was also one of the best crowds I've been in to see them.

One thing that was very noticeable while walking out of the festival, everyone was absolutely awestruck from their set. We went to the after party nearby and everyone wanted to talk about how incredible they were. Even at the airport someone saw our wristbands for Portola and asked if we watched them.

Reddit is raving about them too. I think they made a lot of new fans at that show.

Here's hoping Coachella has them locked in.

[inchemwetrust]

It really has that feeling that Coachella 2023 is locked down already.

If Paul doesn't book them for Coachella after this recent spectacle, he's an idiot!

[inchemwetrust]

Really enjoyed the new show! The new songs and visuals were amazing! It was also one of the best crowds I've been in to see them.

One thing that was very noticeable while walking out of the festival, everyone was absolutely awestruck from their set. We went to the after party nearby and everyone wanted to talk about how incredible they were. Even at the airport someone saw our wristbands for Portola and asked if we watched them.

Reddit is raving about them too. I think they made a lot of new fans at that show.

Here's hoping Coachella has them locked in.

I noticed the usual hugging and cheering after the show. Reddit approves of it, but I love feeding off the energy from the reviews of other people's encounters with this show, especially those seeing the Bros for the first time.

Now you got new fans googling their name, discography, followed by sales hopefully.

The circle of life!

[Csar]

https://twitter.com/ChemBros/status/1574859700839059456
https://twitter.com/creepykrysten/status/1574418127059681282
https://twitter.com/LoganG970/status/1574503973926494208
https://twitter.com/emskizz/status/1574297315258822656
https://twitter.com/ahhh___riiick/status/1574288263153475586
https://twitter.com/PKremete/status/1574275427962523648
https://twitter.com/JustJoya/status/1574283603999019010
https://twitter.com/lareinamalvada/status/1574254135691485184
https://twitter.com/mattegbert/status/1574563186430255105

I hope Tom and Ed know what to do now..

[;]

Absolutely incredible. Really really hope this prompts the chems to do another U.S. tour!! Maybe I could even catch more than one show if I really wanted to...

And as much as I want our "little" fandom to stay little and tight knit, the Chems really are just too good to keep to ourselves. Everyone must know!

[whirlygirl]

Incoming!!

Here goes. I post now otherwise I'm never going to finish!! A disclaimer - writing reviews on mobile when you have clumsy clubbed thumbs like I do is a freaking challenge.  ;-) But I've been taking it easy, taking the memory in, and basking in this afterglow for a while. Best weekend I've had in quite literally years. And years. So here's some notes, and apologies in advance for the personal meandering. Tried to keep it brief(er), but well, you know. Haha.

The buildup to the weekend was slow and surreal. It was time to venture out and be part of the living again. To feel good and indulge my senses again on a grand scale. So the opportunity to see Tom and Ed... headlining a brand spankin' new festival... under the sky... in our most favorite US city... where we know our friends will be... It felt good to have this to look forward to.

On the Saturday, we took our time exploring and revisiting the city a bit. Every now and again I'd spot someone in a Chemical Brothers shirt hurrying past the corner of my eye before being swallowed up by the city - like little reminders that showtime was upon us. A lunch date with Pooter and Fern, fresh in from Denver with a moment to give before they headed back to the airport to collect Rynostar.

We arrived to the venue later that day to check things out and see what's what, and get a grip on how to navigate the big night.  What an interesting place! There were colossal loading cranes around the perimeter of the venue.  Off to one side was an anchored naval ship equally impressive in its size as the giant cranes. Under ours and everyone's feet was an enormous concrete pier, with large areas covered in massive sheets of astroturf. Facing stage front and to the righ was the glorious San Francisco skyline glittering in the coppery golden-hour light. To the other side looking inland billowing blankets of fog crept over the hillside. We hung for a good while breathing in. Hearing snippets of conversation. Checking out the tents (and avoiding the massively packed warehouse at all cost) and eventually made our exit before the crowds did.

Sunday morning I was jolted awake at 7am by a serious case of glint. I think it was 7am. Maybe. I don't know. The city was barely rising and everyone else in the room was asleep. I drifted back to dreamland. I got a much needed few more winks before getting on with the day later that morning.

We took a Lyft to the venue in the late afternoon. It was cooler that day so I was grateful for the extra layers and that the Sunday crowd appeared to take advantage of sweatshirts being sold at the merchandise booths! We picked up a tie dye Chems shirt (nice nod to the 60's San Francisco throwback vibe of peace & love) and a black and white Elektrobank shirt which complements my old one :-) I really dug the Eve of Destruction/Golden Gate bridge poster, which would have made an incredible souvenir from the night, but I passed as I could not bear the disappointment had it gotten damaged.

Tick tock it was nearing showtime!! After Blessed Madonna, we reunited with Pooter and Fern, Rynostar, and inchemwetrust. Where to go? The excitement levels were so high they caused twinges of anxiety. So many questions about safety and if there'd be room enough to dance and where do we meet if we get selected and and and. So little time to contemplate. Breathe in. As we closed in the crowd seemed so... not aggressive at all! Genuinely and truly up for it. Even as Pooter led us deeper into the crowd nearer the stage. Not crammed in, but close. But not so close you couldn't move and dance. I turned to stash. There was no turning back now. He said he was good. Connor was good. The crew to my left, they were good. Dancing dude with the sway and shades in front of me looked good to go. The people all around as it started to pack in. They were good. We were all good.

The terrain on this show felt different. It felt like it flowed different. Yes, there are the familiar peaks and valleys that I love with their shows. But this hit my headspace different. It was blissfully communal and familiar, yet hit a bit harder, a bit darker, a bit more wild. Deeper. Trippier. The brilliant, larger than life visuals paired with dizzying soundscapes carried by thundering beats and soul dropping bass - I cannot stop smiling thinking about it all. There were some musical switchbacks to their song intros... is that a bit from Swoon? Wait, maybe? Is that.. wait what? Then the song reveals itself as though it is being born in the echoes of the Chemical Brothers' body of work. Sigh.

No need for fog machines. That came naturally with the thick bay fog steadily rolling in. Instead of dancing under the stars, we were dancing in the clouds. Lasers and flashing lights bounced off the mist like lightning flickering in a thunderhead. Those gargantuan loading cranes looming on the perimeter in the fog took on a freaky, almost lifelike quality.

Now some of my highlights, babble and observations from my beautiful evening courtesy of The Chemical Brothers. Of which there are a few:

'Come With Us' the voice commands through the fog. The loop goes faster faster faster and faster. The bass lays down like Thor's hammer, rippling a current beneath my feet. Block Rockin Beats. I lose my shit. The bass is relentless. It's like bombs are going off beneath my boots. Or like a gurgling kraken is rising from the bay. Sirens scream through the air. The joy. The joy of being in that crowd. I grab onto my husband's hand for dear life. Yes, I'm being overly dramatic. No, I don't care!

Mad As Hell. Such a crowd pleaser in all aspects. This was everything I never knew I needed at that specific moment in time. The laughing coupled with the visuals emerging in and out of fog was downright creepy! I found myself laughing as well. Just like those creepy faces staring at me through the fog were laughing. And the way the beat pulled me out from my headspace as the laughter fell away. It's a spectacle. Bombs are going off, and whirs of sound climax and fade out. 

Oh! The new songs! New songs are ALWAYS a treat. The first new song (accompanied by vivid, eye searing marching drummer visuals) has this glorious, oceanic build. Then it... drops you off a funky ass ledge. I really don't know how else to describe it. But I found myself... laughing again. I hear there's no reason to live. But there is absolutely reason to live. If anything for the squelchy bass. I'm here for it. I was there for it. We were all there for it.

Star Guitar, with that gorgeousness intertwined with New Order. My son's got blue eyes... I look to him. I wonder if this song subconsciously has something to do with his love and appreciation for Joy Division and New Order. He's not a dancer like his old mom. At least not that he's allowed me to see. But he's moving here. I search Connor's face and I quickly see the response I needed to see. Eyes wide, smiles under his mask. My heart melts. For a second I was transported to 2002, when I was new at the mom thing and Connor was a little kid. I know it reads like Velveeta here, and I'm sorry for being cheesy but let me have this moment!

The religious experience of Escape Velocity. Thank you thank you thank you thank you Tom and Ed and my crew and everyone in the vicinity for this incredibly wild, ecstatic, jubilant full body moment!! The twisted warped treatment on the vocal was mad. Mad! The bass felt like it was pulled from where the hellfire burns the hottest. All were present in this wild sonic baptism. Freak flags held high. I have not danced that hard in years! This was the makeup moment from the last time I saw them. It was a god moment.

At one point there were some shoulder riders ( a girl and a guy) directly to the left of me. The girl - a cute, petite, Herculean strength bearing gal - had this guy on her shoulders like a fuckin boss. There was some wobbling.  I put my arm up as did others to steady the guy. The girl and I lock eyes. She winks and flexes her bicep. I laugh, and revelry commences. Eventually the wobble got to be too much, and the guy started to tumble pulling both of them backward to the ground. "Are you OK?" I ask. Hercules girl gives me a thumbs up but the guy's legs were still pretzeled around her shoulders on the ground. I try to pull her up and others join in. Without missing a beat, the dude with the sunglasses in front of me turned around, stretched out his arm, and pulled Hercules girl up in one swoop. Then in a moment, they were engulfed somewhere further out into the crowdsea.

The beginning part of Hey Boy Hey Girl that leads to a sonic freefall, when the crowd loses its shit. If you know, you know.

The very noticeable moments when I fell in and out of a "that girl from the Acid Test video" headspace. In my own head with all the sensory overload around me. Always finding my way back by a bomb bass jolting my core, or a nudge from a friend. Or my husband giving me a squeeze to make sure I didn't drift into space. Or you know, when you realize oh shit, that's Eve of Destruction! When did that happen?

The second new Dreaming song. It's a stomper. Boots to the ground, thundering trippy stomper. A stomper that drills into your head. It's so clean in its tripped out stomping fuzzy synth glory. GOODNESS! What a track! I need that in my life.

Then there was the gratefulness I felt during the womb like Wide Open. Looking behind me to see the crew's arms held high, fingers branched like leaves flittering in the wind. The voice from No Geography outstretching it's  hand, pulling me out of my head again. The voice said I'll take you along with me. So I did.

Oh my god, what have I done? All I wanted was a little fun. "DUDE," I hear stash say,  "It's fuckin rad to hear this!" We'd been saying it to each other all week. How are they in our heads?

Then there was the final trip inside my mind where everything was lovey dovey. There's nothing else. Just being present in that space (wherever it may be) and being pulled back into reality with some final commands. Galvanize. Don't hold back. More bombs were dropping beneath my feet. I've read reports of noise complaints from folks across the bay. I can see why. I hope they're still not mad about it. Oh yes, where am I? Yes. The beautifully berzerk octave scribbles from Tom indicate the spaceship was leaving the port. Thank you thank you thank you!! The chattering crowd dissolves into the fog. The cool air breeze from off the bay tickles my sweaty hairline. I stretch and feel the sweat cooling on my skin. Breathe. Then take a last look around as we were sent out into the night.

Our weary bones with our still spry son keep an eye on his old mom and dad as we quickly navigate our way toward where we came in. It's a blur. The detour and moments afterward, so happily exhausted and gob smacked, the Lyft back to the hotel, going further from the pier back into the heart of the city. Then finally collapsing my tired body into bed and into dreamland.

I can't even.

Then a hard reset back to reality. Sort of. I had the next couple days off work so the transition would be manageable. We grabbed a Lyft to the BART station, and the weekday city was vibrant and harried and alive. It felt normal. And I felt more awake than I had any right to. We arrived to the airport and the line thru TSA was an utter shit show, stopping the rock so much so, we missed our flight back home. Seething. Breathing. There's jackshit we could do except wait for the later flight. Then there came lemonade out of lemons. Had we not missed the flight, a young man wouldn't have approached us as we caught his eye. He noticed we were wearing our Chems shirts. "Hey, you guys were there, right? Oh my god!  They were the best act all weekend! I'll never not see them! Ever!" He first heard about them when he saw Hanna. A while later, an easygoing looking bearded dude with a friendly smile approached. He too noticed our shirts. He was wearing a baseball cap embroidered with Coachella across the front. Cool! Another festival goer!  "What did you think of the show?" he asked.

"It was amazing and it was all the things! We were there to see the Chemical Brothers!"

"Oh yeah, they are always amazing!"
We briefly chit chatted a bit more. He was headed home after what was a monster past few days. It turned out he worked for Goldenvoice, and he was killing time before his flight going around asking folks about the event and was curious about feedback.

So thankful for everything and everyone! I felt like I was dreaming being there with my family, my extended family Pooter (you are always there for us) and Fern and Ryno and inchemwetrust (we had such a good post show chat, real talk catch up on life). The looks of wonder and joy on their faces during the show is something I will not soon forget. Tom, Ed, and Errol. I can't stop smiling.

I'm feeling ready. Love you all.

[whirlygirl]

Really enjoyed the new show! The new songs and visuals were amazing! It was also one of the best crowds I've been in to see them.

One thing that was very noticeable while walking out of the festival, everyone was absolutely awestruck from their set. We went to the after party nearby and everyone wanted to talk about how incredible they were. Even at the airport someone saw our wristbands for Portola and asked if we watched them.

Yes yes x 1000!

[Bosco]

If Paul doesn't book them for Coachella after this recent spectacle, he's an idiot!

Takes two to tango. Tom and Ed have got to want to do it. I'm pretty sure Paul Tollett and Goldenvoice is more than willing to make this work. Plus, I've basically convinced myself this was always part of the bigger picture when they signed on for Portola.

Might be speculating too hard, but a springtime XDUST12 release would fit perfectly with a Coachella appearance in 2023.

Gonna have to start saving. I have unfinished business since 2011.

[Wolkenkrabber]

I don't know about you but... I'm finding it increasingly difficult to maintain my excitement.

Whirly I think you meant contain rather than maintain. Just a hunch.

[rynostar]

Here goes. I post now otherwise I'm never going to finish!!

I got to that point and realized I needed a good cup of coffee when reading the rest of this review. Neither disappointed.

I am so go glad that I looked in yours and stash's direction for EV.