Howard Castle June 26th

[shakermaker]

Castle York set times:
DJ James Holroyd 19:00 - 21:10
TCB 21:10 - 22:45
Bars will remain open after the show.

[Bosco]

It's ON!!

it's so on!!

Congrats guys. I can't imagine the stress everyone has been going through since the scare on Wednesday.

[Stefan]

I'm so happy for everybody that the show can happen!
Enjoy the hell out of it and please share with us some reports of that special Chemical Glint!

[inchemwetrust]

Have fun Shaker and Pooter!
It's the big day! Have an awesome night at howard castle greyskull!

[Wolkenkrabber]

Watching Bicep on Glastonbury coverage this evening, I was reminded how tightly packed the crowd was when I saw them last month in London's Brockwell Park, and how exhausted I was from people's elbows/arses/bodyweight whacking into me throughout Bicep's set.

But watching insta clips of tonight's Chems gig, it looks really spaced out. As though there was lots of room to move and dance. It looks kinda chilled and...easy.
Thoughts from anyone who was there?

[inchemwetrust]

Yep!

I saw earlier pics on social and it definitely shows a lot of space and room to dance.

I prefer this type of crowd! Feels more homey and welcoming.

I miss these 'time of my life' moments!

[creterpiss]

Yes there was lots of space, still plenty people there but there was no ques for the bar or toilets all night, ideal really. Brill show, just not loud enough in my opinion.
Also the sound cut out completely at one point and they had to restart

[Explud]

Spoiler

There's still a mystery, what's going on after Star Guitar:

Who's singing Swoon?

View this post on Instagram

[ThePumisher]

Spoiler

Who's singing Swoon?

Maybe Stephanie Dosen once again worked them. That would be lovely imo

We need a tracklist. Or a full 4k recording with optimal video and sound.

[Csar]

There's still a mystery, what's going on after Star Guitar:
Who's singing Swoon?

Interesting! That does indeed sound like live singing. Hmm, Keen ears, Explud!


Also;

Can't really say that I like the new intro to Wide Open.... But nice use of Wonders of the Deep vocoder voice sample.

Also also: it's always a bit weird to see them perform before dusk. I remember seeing them at the Citadel in Berlin Spandau and it never really got dark during the show.

[MadPooter]

[shakermaker]

ok show the show was a blast, despite the sound cutting out in the middle of escape velocity. the venue was such a cool setting. it was at what seemed like less than half capacity but they gave it 100%.

the new set is good, I'd say probably not quite as good as the no geography tour, but no complaints. a little surprised there isn't more Dig Your Own Hole covered - no Private Psychedelic Reel :-( - but on the other hand the new material is a treat. I love the Setting Sun interlude (though I still long for a more complete performance).

I actually found the sound cutting out fascinating because they had to ad hoc their response. it seemed like it took Tom and Ed a while to learn about it, bur once they did they took the sound down to a basic loop and headed off stage until the sound issue was fixed. they then built it up again piece by piece. what I found interesting about that was that it wasn't rehearsed, so it gave a better sense for what they are actually in control of up there, and also the way they managed to recover without the music stopping entirely and without starting the song over was pretty impressive.

the event seemed fairly well run overall. I was slightly bummed at the limited merch, and nothing show specific, but I guess risk of cancelation is so high in times of covid that it's not practical to make show merch at this point.

[Csar]

That sounds very interesting, Shakermaker, what you said about their ability to spontaneously react in their live performances.

Here's a video that briefly captured the moment at 3:44, abtly right when the beat was about to drop. Beatus interruptus.

Something similar happend during their Ippodromo show in 2018. Due to heavy rain, they had to stop at the beginning of Star Guitar and start over after roughly 3 minutes. They ingeniously looped Bernard's filtered Temptation voice.

[Stefan]

There was also a festival in (I think) France in 2015 where there was a power outtage during the show.
When it was restarted they improvised a unique intro for DIA, instead of the seque from the previous song. Back then I've seen a video on Facebook, unfortunately I don't find it anymore

[shakermaker]

oh lord the balloons, I forgot about those. they were so useless, they got blown right away from us.

gonna try and share some photos.









this next one really shows how empty it was:

[ThePumisher]

Something similar happend during their Ippodromo show in 2018.

There was also a festival in (I think) France in 2015 where there was a power outtage during the show.

Don't forget the Keith-situation

[Bosco]

Sorry to hear about the technical difficulties on Escape Velocity and it probably would have annoyed me about about a start at dusk, but you can't beat that once in a lifetime location. I absolutely love how the castle looms in the background! Which by the way, did anyone have the opportunity to visit the castle and or were they doing tours?

Happy the weather held up. Judging by the clothing, it looks like there was a chill in the air which is optimal for a field of dancing fools, that is unless you enjoy the smell of funk...

Bummer they didn't squeeze an encore for a special event like this. These outdoor shows can be hit and miss with noise curfew ordinances. I'm really hoping that Denver delivers TPPR later this year. Its indoor and stand alone potential is a huge reason for me choosing it over Portola.

Thanks for sharing guys/gals!

[UltimatePelmeni]

That's so funny how Tom & Ed refused to shake their hands at the end of the gig.

[Explud]

Spoiler

I guess it's Aurora singing

View this post on Instagram

Need more footages with Swoon!

[shakermaker]

it looks like there was a chill in the air which is optimal for a field of dancing fools

it looks like there was a chill in the air which is optimal for selling out the hoodies at the merch booth

fixed.