There was little to no room to stand during last night’s Chemical Brothers show at the Bill Graham Civic in San Francisco. The entire venue was packed solid with dancing EDM-type ravers and their neon glow sticks, who had all come out to pay their respects to the 90s cultural icons that provided the soundtrack for so many of our youths.
Although, it must be stated that their music is still as relevant today as it was when the band first made a bang in the 90s. In fact, their sound, in essence, is timeless and proved to be ahead of its time when it first was released almost two decades ago. Back in the day, the English duo comprised of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons were pioneers at bringing the big beat dance genre to the forefront of pop culture and are still carrying that torch today.
But unlike other EDM acts, what separates The Chemical Brothers is the intellectual portion of their performance. The live shows are artistic ventures that engage audience members with large screens displaying psychedelic images, lasers, and strobe lights that project over the crowd. The messaging has hints of philosophy and politics each with many layers intertwined. Last night was no different and left us all with our jaws hanging as they cycled through a big chunk of their impressive catalog along to a perfectly choreographed festival of lights.
Check out some of the visuals we’re speaking of in this series of photographs taken last night at the show.
Photos by Louis Raphael
