Irving Plaza - Chemical Brothers

Irving Plaza mania! I would never have believed it, but Irving
Plaza changed identities for a visit from the UK's Chemical
Brothers, (nee Dust Brothers). No longer was Irving Plaza the
"rawk" club. Rather it was a club in the nightclub or rave
tradition. The sides of the room had laserlight decorations going
rabid. Sometimes based on actual dancers on the floor, sometimes
abstract patterns. All in all, a very different scene than the
normal layout I was used to at IP. The stage was no longer the
focal point in the room. The mix of people was far eclectic: joe
bob, frat boy, drag queen, raver, goth, and me. (I could throw in
some more stereotypes, but I won't. What was interesting was the
range of people, underground and very above ground, scenesters,
and those without a care.) I witnessed three DJs playing before the
Chemical Brothers, first some nice hard techno. A nice way to
prep oneself. Next up some old skool hip hop mixing. Okay, but a
little heavy on the MCing for my tastes. Also I was not used to
the "demonstration" dancers up on the stage. Went and chilled out
with a friend in the lobby while ambient was being spun. Came
back up, and heard some nice trance from DJ Reese.

Finally, the Chemical Brothers were up next. Techno live PA's are
usually mixed into a whole other event whether it's a full blown
all night party or just a "show" like tonight at Irving Plaza. As
such, there is usually a lot more to describe than just the
music. However, sadly, this included the fact that the venue was
WAY packed. So packed, it was hard to dance much more than
swaying to the beat. One had to be warry of others' flying hands
and feet, and as such I was sad I was on the dance floor and not
someplace where I didn't have to worry about getting hurt. The
music was manic crazy. The beats and samples came excited and
fast. Much of the set consisted of the Chemical Brothers new
album "Exit Planet Dust" released domestically on Astralwerks.
Again, strangely enough with techno oriented live PAs, the oft
unknown band becomes the central "rawk star." This is sad and
unfortunate as often with live electronic music, the "band" does
little more than bounce up and down to the beat and press buttons
at times to sequence various DAT tapes. Any ways, rather than
concentrate on dancing (some did luckly), people's eyes were
glued on the fellows on the stage. <sigh> The music was estatic
and made for dancing, movement permitting or not, loud and
craaazzzyy! Other than the crazed mix of people and crowded
conditions, this was a gig worth attending. Better next time to
see them in the larger dance oriented "rave" situtation.


(UPDATE: the second time I saw them at Irving Plaza - maybe
spring 1996? - the show was much better and by being closer up
front there was less crowding problem.)