Special and Rare gigs throughout the years. AND suggestions for the future!

[Bosco]

First off, every Chemical Brother concert is a special event; even more so now, because how infrequent they've become. But over the course of nearly 30+ years of gigging, what are ones that might have been a little more special/rare?

Examples that I consider special/rare:

• 2016 (LIVE) and 2018 (DJ) Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates; as part of the F1 race celebrations.
• 2012 (DJ) Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia; Future Music Festival. Is this the first South Pacific date that wasn't Australia or New Zealand? I'm not totally sure. Nonetheless, RARE.
• 1997 (LIVE) Honolulu [HI] - USA; Seemingly a warmup show before their appearance at KROQ Weenie Roast. Gig in Paradise? Yes please!
• 1997 (LIVE) Chicago [IL] - USA ; As part of the MGD (Miller Genuine Draft) Blind Date Concert series, they opened for David Bowie!
• 2018 (LIVE) Reykjavik - Iceland CANCELED; It's assumed it was canceled due to ticket sales. I mean it's ICELAND!

Alright, let's have them. I know UK has a bunch of them and some of y'all have attended them. Let me hear what you guys got.

And if you have an awesome location for the future, let's hear some of your suggestions!

[hstn]

Would Red Rocks count? The film shot there seemed magical, almost like a ritual, even if it was the standard show of the time the location and vibes were quite special, no clue if they ever returned

[Bosco]

Yes, of course Red Rocks counts. See my pathetic plea for them to return, here. So no, they haven't returned... yet. 

[Fine Time]

The Chems gig at the Royal Albert Hall , London , UK , last year was a special venue , myself , Stefan and Rynostar attended. It's like an old Shakespearean theatre with tiered balconies and domed ceiling and it had a relatively small capacity for a Chems gig , the sound in there was incredible. I'm keen to go there again as it's a fantastic venue for live music. The Teenage Cancer Trust's 'wildcard ' for this years run of shows at the Royal Albert Hall is The Sex Pistols , i was tempted , but i'll wait for a band like Muse , or Kings of Leon , to appear there , then i'll definiately be one of thousands trying to snag a ticket.

Another unique venue in the UK for bands to perform at is the Eden Project , botanical gardens , in Cornwall , (southern England , near the coast ) , The Chems played there in 2019. Behind the stage are the huge bio-dome spheres ( they look quite sci-fi ) that contain collections of thousands of plant species from around the world.

[Stefan]

Yes, definitely, the gig at the Royal Albert Hall was special The venue, and meeting all of you there! I can't believe it's already nearly a year ago, I wish we could do this at least once a year!

Some other gigs that come to mind:

*) Roundhouse Gigs: a really iconic location, they've played several gigs there. Noteworthy are the Apple Music Festival in 2015 (iirc it was admission free and was broadcasted live, and of course somebody recorded it) and the show where Further was played in full (they did this at several shows, and I think it's worth mentioning here because they haven't done that for any other album, playing it live track-by-track)

*) Trafalgar Square 2007: an open air gig right at the heart of London, also I remember reading somewhere that this was admission free? And we got that beautiful performance of HTL from that

*) maybe a bit of a personal bias: Gelsenkirchen 2016. Another really unique location, and also it was the first forum meetup I attended

[shakermaker]

Haven't there been a couple of shows where they had the guest vocalists appear and sing live? Those seem to qualify as special.

[Bosco]

Would like to have an excuse to go back to wine country in California. Curious if a destination gig would ever be possible in Santa Rosa/Napa areas. Does anybody think they can graduate from San Francisco, or forever bonded towards that?

[shakermaker]

Curious if a destination gig would ever be possible in Santa Rosa/Napa areas.

Definitely possible. There's a growing scene of live music in these areas.

Napa has had bottle rock festival going every May for a while now, booking pretty middle-of-the-road commercial-radio-friendly lineups. Blue Note Jazz Festival happened a couple years in a row in July, then last year it became 'Black Radio Experience', with dope lineups each time. The Chems would likely not be a good fit for either festival's demographic. But the Midway, a nightclub in SF, recently launched 'the Midway Getaway' hosting events at a private estate in Napa - read more here - bringing electronic music to the area.

Meanwhile, there is a Mill Valley music festival that now happens regularly in Marin, not quite Santa Rosa but it is creeping north. In Sonoma, Gundlach Bundschu Winery hosts a few concerts throughout the year. I've wanted to catch one for a while but yet to make it up there. Both unlikely to book an electronic act, but help demonstrate a thirst for live music events, if they continue to be successful we may see more over time.

Of course this all depends on the economy holding up... several music festivals failed last year, and this could discourage new events... so who knows. 

[Bosco]

Interesting.


I was thinking about the other "destination" type gigs they've done in the past couple of years in other countries, and was wondering to myself what areas could be a North American equivalent if they did one. The obvious one, which we have already discussed, is a return to Red Rocks. I think wine country could be another, based on its vicinity to multiple major urban areas and overall appeal to the age (40+) dominant demographic. But like you alluded to, probably not a proper venue/festival to host them.

As an outsider looking in, if they're going to continue to be hyper-exclusive to LA, San Francisco, and New York when it comes to North America, it would be nice to have an incentive larger than flying into "big expensive city" and seeing a show. Something different would be appreciated.

...or, they can just come to Chicago, and I can finally stop obsessing over this

[shakermaker]

I'm all in for more interesting destinations. 

Your post of course makes me think of Organic 96. Is a similar kind of event out of the question 30 years later? For a long time my response to that would have been a certain 'no'. But, as alluded to in another thread, there's a renewed interest in classic electronic acts. The Chems' recent appearances at Portola and Coachella. Underworld's second or third festival-backed set of US dates in three years. Prodigy have near sold-out two shows in SF between Coachella weekend. It's quite a shift from the last 2.5 decades.

It's fun to dream.

[Bosco]

 Where's the tech bro multi-millionaire on the forum?

Be somebody: Organic North Fest 2026 - Sonoma County, CA