On The Download: Chemical Brothers At The London Olympia

A little over a week ago, I was in London when a couple of friends I was lunching with (tapas, in case you were wondering) mentioned they were heading to the Olympia to see the Chemical Brothers on Friday night.

It was to be a special show – the first concert at the classic 19th century-built London venue reportedly in over a decade, and one celebrating the release of “Brotherhood,” the duo’s “Best Of” compilation. And it ended up being a very special night.

Jumping on a tube to Kensington (Olympia), well actually Earl’s Court by mistake first, my friend and I eventually made it to the venue, albeit after the Chemicals were on stage. There, 10,000 of our soon-to-be closest friends were dancing throughout the packed arena, which was full of lasers, strobe lights and video of walking robots.

Beneath the giant screens were the Brothers in music – Ed Simmons and Tom Rowlands, though it was hard to see the gents thanks to the technological music-making scaffolding that caged them in.

The hype around Dance music may have faded like a used glow stick, but the Chems show was packed out, with not only a bunch of former ravers, but parents who read newspapers, children, thirty-somethings with jobs, twenty-somethings without and hundreds of college kids. The last time I saw such a crowd it was unsurprisingly at a Tom Petty gig.

Let’s face it, dance bands have never had to have the coolest haircuts (The Strokes), or fashionable French Resistance inspired tour clothes (Coldplay), because without being able to see them, it’s just the music that they’re judged on. And at the Olympia, that’s what counted and what really hit home. A decade on, classics like “Setting Sun” — the one with Noel “Oasis” Gallagher on vocals, felt like being hit in the face by a wave. “Believe” — the newer cut with Kele Okereke of Bloc Party singing, twisted and turned up our spines, and left us stung like touching an electrical socket.

The bars were empty during their near two-hour set. I know, I checked. And even the merch booth had just a trickle of fans stopping by.

Fifteen years after starting their career, the Chemical Brothers could have taken the easy route and made a hell of a lot of money simply DJing. Instead, they focused on being artists and created a catalog to rival any rock artist of a similar age, which is why, long after superclubbing was expelled from the dictionary and being a raver isn’t something you put on your social resume, telling your friends, you saw the Chemical Brothers in 2008 with 10,000 other people is still worth bragging about.