The ChemBase

Rescheduled date for this has been loaded up on Ticketmaster.

https://www.ticketmaster.ie/the-chemical-brothers-tramore-rd-cork-21-06-2023/event/1800576EBB166593

Was at this last night, will follow up with some videos. Quick recap, overall it was amazing. It started off a bit strange, intro was the usual Come With Us head and then into Go. Havent seen any recent videos of Go but it was like they were trying to do a dub version of it, quick snippets of the vocals which echo off, the idea was good but it was as if they were out of sync, and not in a good way. It just sounded kind of strange. Then for HBHG some weird vocal sample was played over some of the regular vocals, it genuinely sounded like one of the lads accidentally hit a wrong key or sample pad. The sound wasnt great, I was standing directly in front of the sound desk and some of the samples/sweeps/noises they drop in over the track were waaaay louder than the rest of the track, I know its what they do but this sounded too loud. Then for No Reason it was basically just the kick drum absolutely pounding through and the rest of the elements were far too low in the mix. But after that track it was as if the engineer got it right from there on it.
Rest of the show was incredible, played 2 tracks that I hadnt heard before, presumably from the new album, both vocal tracks, will have to hear them again to make a call on them but they sounded decent, nothing amazing. I got a  video of Warped Pop which was one of the highlights of the show for me. They left it very late before bringing out George & Mildred, I was worried they wouldnt appear but they played Chemical Beats second or third last track and there they were, it was majestic  :luv

Overall show was amazing, downsides were the sound for the first 25 mins or so and the fact that it was the longest day of the year, they came on stage at 9 and it was still really bright until around 10 so a lot of the lightshow was pretty much lost, even the lazers coming out of George & Mildreds eyes werent half as good as they would be later at night or in an indoor venue.
Upsides were Warped Pop, Chemical Beats (as always) and the new version of Wide Open, I really hope they release that at some point

Thank you for reporting back, @gavin35! Though it may have been a little rocky start it sounds like the show was well worth the wait! I know the lights part of the show had to contend with the longest day of the year, but it would be so magical to see the Chems on summer solstice ❤️ So glad they could reschedule for you all and from the videos I've seen on socials, glad to see the people having a fabulous time! Looking forward to any videos that can be shared here! 

OK so my phone has done a really annoying thing where if I start the video on portrait and move to landscape, the whole thing just stays in portrait. Have (briefly) tried to see if I can change it but not having much luck so apologies for the awful sideways videos

Warped Pop

Double post

Thanks for sharing video and recapping the show, @gavin35

Although we've previously seen videos of exposed daylight at shows before, I've been lucky to not have to deal with this at Chems shows I've attended. I'm pretty sure this would bug the shit out of me, it always seems to defocus the crowd.

Happy you ultimately had a good time and got to hear the new track!

I have to say this new set is the best I've seen in a long time! I thought the festival set from '22 felt a little bit rushed...they needed to fit new stuff in with old stuff but this iteration with the changes after coachella is far more cohesive. The 4 new tracks (2 added since coachella) fit perfectly. 

I thought the sound was spot on, no wind so there wasn't issues with it being washed out at all. The daylight was indeed a bummer (stupid solstice) but you can't beat Mother Nature, even with 1800w strobes and lasers! 

The crowd was really good, mixture of kids, teenagers enjoying other types of chemicals and us old ravers. The venue and staff were also great, really well laid out and more than enough bars etc...

Live Again is stuck in my head, can't get enough of it! I love the way it evolves and grows - dig how it's sweeping, melty, tweaked and warped. Damn! Thank you for the videos!!

Quote from: chemdup on Jun 23, 2023, 14:31

TWMA is probably my most anticipated track right now from the new album! I'm wish they would use like water or mist at the crowd just to make it more momentous 

3rd time's the charm, so glad that you could finally enjoy this show in Cork :music

And thanks a lot for the review and the videos!

I'm just hoping that the live version of Till We Meet Again is cut short (as they often do) and that the final track will (at least) be the 6ish minutes we've heard from the DJ set.

Till we meet again has to be an 8 minute album closer...it's just that epic! The visuals are amazing as well. 

Live again is such a banger...

Feels like I'm dreaming is too. 

I think this whole album will just be amazing...could it be their best? 

Thank you @gavin35 and @chemdup for letting us unlucky ones participate! So glad this finally came to pass after three years in the making!

Yeah, a daylight starting show isn't as exciting as a nighttime one. I attended one back in 2008 at the Spandau Citadel in Berlin. The venue was great but the first half an hour felt a bit odd compared to other shows I went to prior to that.

I guess those 4 new tracks made up for that eventually and you guys had a great time overall!

Quote from: chemdup on Jun 23, 2023, 13:47

The crowd was really good, mixture of kids, teenagers enjoying other types of chemicals and us old ravers. The venue and staff were also great, really well laid out and more than enough bars etc...

Happy to read that. It's always nice to know the Bros can still reach different kind of generations and the crow was attentive. Sometimes festival audiences seem to lack a bit energy and enthusiasm for the acts on stage.

Quote from: gavin35 on Jun 22, 2023, 12:29

It started off a bit strange, intro was the usual Come With Us head and then into Go. Havent seen any recent videos of Go but it was like they were trying to do a dub version of it, quick snippets of the vocals which echo off, the idea was good but it was as if they were out of sync, and not in a good way. It just sounded kind of strange. Then for HBHG some weird vocal sample was played over some of the regular vocals, it genuinely sounded like one of the lads accidentally hit a wrong key or sample pad. The sound wasnt great, I was standing directly in front of the sound desk and some of the samples/sweeps/noises they drop in over the track were waaaay louder than the rest of the track, I know its what they do but this sounded too loud. Then for No Reason it was basically just the kick drum absolutely pounding through and the rest of the elements were far too low in the mix. But after that track it was as if the engineer got it right from there on it.

This recent tour is full of changes and bold approaches that perhaps sometimes hiccups can occur every now and then. I know, that very early on, I felt the shows sounded a bit rough. In one video of one of the most recent gigs, was it Best Kept Secret?, I even felt Ed was pressing one particular effect a bit too often, thus making it sound a tad off/ out of tune with the rest. So yeah, stuff like that, even if pretty rare, can happen to the best of us, I guess. And we also know how much Tom loves noise and volume :D

Quote from: chemdup on Jun 23, 2023, 21:29

I think this whole album will just be amazing...could it be their best?

Better than Dig Your Own Hole or Come With Us or Further or Fourteenth Century Sky E.P. ?  :o

Quote from: ThePumisher on Jun 23, 2023, 22:58

Better than Dig Your Own Hole or Come With Us or Further or Fourteenth Century Sky E.P. ?  :o

I think it could be better than all of those...even dyoh...

A bold statement yes...but I'm willing to go out on a limb here 

Quote from: gavin35 on Jun 22, 2023, 12:29

Was at this last night, will follow up with some videos. Quick recap, overall it was amazing. It started off a bit strange, intro was the usual Come With Us head and then into Go. Havent seen any recent videos of Go but it was like they were trying to do a dub version of it, quick snippets of the vocals which echo off, the idea was good but it was as if they were out of sync, and not in a good way. It just sounded kind of strange. Then for HBHG some weird vocal sample was played over some of the regular vocals, it genuinely sounded like one of the lads accidentally hit a wrong key or sample pad. The sound wasnt great, I was standing directly in front of the sound desk and some of the samples/sweeps/noises they drop in over the track were waaaay louder than the rest of the track, I know its what they do but this sounded too loud. Then for No Reason it was basically just the kick drum absolutely pounding through and the rest of the elements were far too low in the mix. But after that track it was as if the engineer got it right from there on it.
Rest of the show was incredible, played 2 tracks that I hadnt heard before, presumably from the new album, both vocal tracks, will have to hear them again to make a call on them but they sounded decent, nothing amazing. I got a  video of Warped Pop which was one of the highlights of the show for me. They left it very late before bringing out George & Mildred, I was worried they wouldnt appear but they played Chemical Beats second or third last track and there they were, it was majestic  :luv
Overall show was amazing, downsides were the sound for the first 25 mins or so and the fact that it was the longest day of the year, they came on stage at 9 and it was still really bright until around 10 so a lot of the lightshow was pretty much lost, even the lazers coming out of George & Mildreds eyes werent half as good as they would be later at night or in an indoor venue.
Upsides were Warped Pop, Chemical Beats (as always) and the new version of Wide Open, I really hope they release that at some point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttmdat7ZZyY
sounds like those were the vocals from the end of get up on it like this!!

Quote from: chemdup on Jun 23, 2023, 23:11

I think it could be better than all of those...even dyoh...

A bold statement yes...but I'm willing to go out on a limb here

That *is* bold! ;D Aaah! Getting antsy for the new album, and so appreciate the new single on the way (and the live bits of course)!

Quote from: chemdup on Jun 23, 2023, 21:29

Till we meet again has to be an 8 minute album closer...it's just that epic! The visuals are amazing as well.

Live again is such a banger...

Feels like I'm dreaming is too.

I think this whole album will just be amazing...could it be their best?

8 minutes sounds like a reasonable length XD
Let's hope they won't give in to the spottifyication of mixing most of the tracks down to 3 minutes.

"Their best album" is a high bar to meet with Further and No Geography as a close second, but I'm all here for it. I pretty much love everything we've heard so far from this era.

Quote from: chemdup on Jun 23, 2023, 23:11

...even dyoh...

Quote from: ThePumisher on Jun 24, 2023, 07:31

(https://abload.de/img/bssssszqe34.gif)

Oh I agree nothing can top dyoh...first album I heard...first show I went to...

But if anything can beat it, I think it could be this new album...

Quote from: hstn on Jun 24, 2023, 00:32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttmdat7ZZyY
sounds like those were the vocals from the end of get up on it like this!!

Yeah you're right, just didnt sound good (IMO)

Also you can hear in your video how loud the kick was in No Reason, Im all for BASSSS but that was too much

I was there.  I wasn't even a big Chemical Brothers fan, knew about 7 or 8 of the bigger hits but that was about it.  Was really going to tick a box, had seen a lot of the big 90s/00s dance/electronic acts, 808 State, Orbital, Underworld, The Prodigy, Faithless etc. 

I thought it was amazing.  I'm almost finding it hard to move on from it!  Have spent the last few days listening through all the back catalogue, watching countless videos, going to see them again in Dublin in November.

Hi and welcome, @Conor74!

Such a joy to read you had a great time there experiencing their show for the first time which kindled your Chemical curiousness to boot. Hope you're enjoying your trip through their catalogue and discover the unique sound of theirs that has infected so many of us here over the years.

I guess we'd all be very interested in the view and perspective of a "fresh pair of ears" who's new to all of this.

Also, may I ask how you found this place?

Quote from: Csar on Jun 26, 2023, 18:58

I guess we'd all be very interested in the view and perspective of a "fresh pair of ears" who's new to all of this.

Also, may I ask how you found this place?

I'm coming up on 50.  My wife and I studied in Cork 30 years ago, we liked pubbing and clubbing in the 90s and into the 00s.  But life moves on, we live in the country, kids came along in the 10s, so our social life changed.  And like many my age, my ideas on music were "fixed".  I don't listen to much new music, I'm more likely to haul out the Orb or Underworld.  And always thought the Chemical Brothers just weren't my thing, probably because hits like Setting Sun, Block Rocking Beats etc. were not "dancey" enough on one hand, nor ambient on the other.

Even after buying the tickets, we thought about skipping it, Cork is 90 minutes away, had to get a babysitter etc.  But friends of ours were going so we said we'd make the effort.  We were such novices that on the drive up we were googling the setlist and hearing songs like Go and Got to Keep On for the first time...which probably sounds odd to fans here.  But we both agreed that it was beginning to sound like we had missed out on lots of really solid dance hits.  And obviously the concert itself was just amazing, I don't have to tell fans here what it's like. 

But the other thing that struck me was the crowd.  Looking around, lots of 40 somethings, some a little the worse for wear, some squeezed into gear that possibly fitted better 20 years ago.  Sure, we all had a few more wrinkles and grey hairs, but clearly everyone was there for fun.  If you caught someone's eye there was no "what you looking at" aggro, more likely a smile, a thumbs up, a camaraderie.  I had completely forgotten the whole 90s dance music vibe, it was really great to see it still lives on.

As for finding this place, after all the fun of Wednesday I figured...I need to find people who know all this, who have known it for years while I overlooked it.  Plus I hoped there would be videos of the Cork gig to help me relive the night!

The mix of ages there was AMAZING! 

There were the old ravers reliving the 90's (probably also reliving what they took in the 90's) the teenagers also enjoying chemicals and people with their kids, teenagers on their own. All having their faces melted by the pure euphoria of a Chems gig! 


Glad to hear you're coming to the Dublin show, it's gonna be a big one! 

Welcome, @Conor74 and thank you so much for coming here and sharing your experience! Loving everything you said! :music