Wednesday - February 9th, 2005
Zepp Osaka, Osaka, Japan

To become a superstar in the music industry, a certain criterion is often followed. It usually begins with the release of an album and/or single, and a promotional video for the purpose of exposure. After the video airs many times on MTV, recognition and popularity soon follow, if the song is good. Once a certain level of popularity is reached the demand for a live show becomes almost inevitable. As with anything else in this world, there are exceptions beyond the normal patterns, and for the purpose of this article, we are going to examine one of those avant-garde exceptions, The Chemical Brothers.

Who are The Chemical Brothers? Are they really brothers? Do they work in a laboratory? Believe it or not, those questions have been asked by many people although The Chemical Brothers have sold millions of albums and headlined festivals around the world. In case you weren’t sure the answer to one of those questions above, The Chemical Brothers (The Chems), consist of two members, Ed Simons (Mr. Curly Hair), 34, and Tom Rowlands (Mr. Tall Guy With Glasses), 33, who were two University students living in the well-documented Manchester 90’s club scene, famous for the Hacienda and the group New Order. Although they met while studying Medieval History in Manchester during the late 1980’s, both Tom and Ed openly admit that it was the trend-setting music scene in clubs like the renowned Hacienda and Justin Robertson’s Spice that brought them together. “At the Hacienda there’d always be a record you’d be talking about on the bus home, “ Tom describes to The Sydney Morning Herald, “We wanted to make a record where the night almost seemed to stop if you played it.”

Ed tells CNN’s, The Music Room (TMR) he “was inspired by the music scene (in Manchester). You could go to a club, the greatest club I’ve been to, The Hacienda, and you’d be dancing with the people who’d made the records.” After making a few tracks together, Tom and Ed started doing parties and events under the name of their favorite producers, The Dust Brothers. The only problem with that plan was The “Actual” Dust Brothers didn’t want their name being used on someone else’s music, understandable. In order not to offend anyone, Tom and Ed gracefully changed their name to The Chemical Brothers.

In 1995, the dynamic duo signed to the Paris based label called La Collection Francoise, also known as Astralwerks. After signing with Astralwerks they soon released their first full length LP, Exit Planet Dust, featuring hits such as “Leave Home” and “Chemical Beats.” It wasn’t until their 1997 album, Dig Your Own Hole, where the Chems began to get international recognition for singles such as “Block Rockin Beats” and “Setting Sun,” featuring the vocals of Oasis signer Noel Gallagher. The instrumental mix (minus the vocals) of “Setting Sun” was also included on the soundtrack for the Motion Picture Movie, The Saint. Although this soundtrack includes songs from famous artists such as Moby, Daft Punk, and Orbital, “Setting Sun” is clearly the track with the most impact.

The Chems next two albums, Surrender and Come with Us each possessed a number of club-friendly tracks like “Hey Boy, Hey Girl,” “Let Forever Be,” “It Began in Afrika,” and “Star Guitar,” but these albums lack the fluidity of the earlier two. Despite this change in musical direction The Chems stuck to their guns and did what they do best, psychedelic transambient performances at concerts and festivals. From shows like the Glastonbury Festival in England to the Fuji Rocks Festival in Japan it was becoming quite evident both Tom and Ed’s controlled chaotic sound had a huge audience thirsty for more.

The year 2003 marked the 10th anniversary of their first single, “Song of the Sirens,” so to commemorate this event they released their, Singles ’93-’03 album and DVD, which includes all their promotional videos and the hit single, “The Golden Path,” featuring the Flaming Lips. In support of their new CD/DVD package, The Chems did a slew of shows and festivals around the globe including their memorable headline performance at the 2004 Ultra Music Festival in Miami.

With the release of their 5th album, Push the Button, the Chems change their sound once again, but this time borrow the talents of other artists such as the hip hop heavyweight Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) on the hit single “Galvanize,” Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) on the track, “The Boxer,” and hard-rockin’ newcomer Kele Okereke (Bloc Party) on the track, “Believe.”

The release date for Push the Button in America was on January 24th of this year, but the Japanese release date was pushed ahead 10 days because The Chems already had three concerts scheduled in Japan’s metropolitan areas, Osaka and Tokyo. What makes The Chems an anomaly within the typical album, single, and video criterion is their Tokyo show for February 11th sold out even before the album hit stores. It had been two years since they released any original material, nobody had heard anything from the new album, and the highly energetic video for “Galvanize” had not yet debuted on MTV Japan. Despite the lack of media exposure for their new work, The Chems did not lose any revenue in the ticket sales department. One more thing to think about is the electronic music scene in Japan is very young and not well-known outside of Osaka and Tokyo. Taking all these observations into consideration; how is it these two DJ/Producers sold out a show in Tokyo without any media exposure to promote their new album? Festivals, concerts, and the musical genre all play major roles in The Chems selling out Tokyo. Just this past summer The Chems played the Fuji Rocks Festival, the largest and most well-known rock festival in Japan and left the crowd yearning for more. Now fast-forward to February 9th at the Zepp in Osaka, Japan, The Chems, just coming off the Australian five-day outdoor festival, Big Day Out, get ready to begin the first show of their 2005 Japan Tour.

Before The Chems take the stage thousands of people wait with excitement. One Japanese girl told me she has been listening to The Chems since “Setting Sun,” and immediately fell in love with them. I asked her why she liked that song in particular because she can’t understand the lyrics coming from Noel Gallagher, and she said, “I like the way his voice sounds with the music, whether I could understand or not doesn’t matter. It’s just like hearing another instrument.” At that moment it became clear that this particular genre of music goes beyond the language barrier for Japanese people. The Chems do include vocals in some of their songs, but the vocals are either distorted or put in-place to accentuate the sound, therefore contributing to the finished product we hear from their albums and shows. Soon after my conversation, the lights go down and the concert begins..

Behind The Chems was a huge movie screen displaying visuals synchronized with the music being put out. There were visuals of robots, psychedelic designs, outlines of girls diving into nothing, and the shadow of a girl dancing within a kaleidoscopic vortex of green and yellow. Every song ended with a beautifully crafted smooth transition into the next, and based on the reaction of the crowd, it was well appreciated. The show was basically a rollercoaster of beats allowing the crowd little time to rest. Some of the highlights were the transition from “Out of Control” to “Star Guitar,” which started very loud, then slowly got quieter and quieter until only one beat remained. Then from the remaining beat another beat was added, and piece by piece The Chems constructed “Star Guitar,” and during this piecing-together period of this song, the multi-colored visuals added a spiritual essence to their sound. The encore began with a series of strobe lights flashing as sounds of space projected from every corner of the auditorium. The final song of the evening was the concert favorite, “The Private Psychedelic Reel.” With its mind bending visuals, green laser/smoke combination, creating a green cloud visual above the crowd, and wall of sound the show ended with a bang. Then began again and repeated the end bang three times until their final spectacular finish. When the show was finally over, the lights came on and sweaty people lingered as far as the eye could see, as if everyone had just come out of an aerobics class.

The Chems are proof that electronic music is still young and has a huge following among today’s music listeners. They also prove that plugging albums through mass media is one way to get your sound heard across the world, but it is not the only way. Concerts and Festivals allow artists to show their sound live to their listeners, and in doing so it gives the listener a better understanding of what was trying to be accomplished on the album, as well as a great memory. The absence of the language barrier within The Chems sound also played a major role in the success of their sold out Tokyo show. The Chemical Brothers’ 2005 tour of Japan was truly an anomaly within the world of international music in Japan. It is not often that two DJs sell out major concert venues in Japan without any media push, but it does happen. The Chemical Brothers are definitely “dai neenki” (super popular) in Japan, and just to prove it, when they finally did release the album, there was a video for the single, “Galvanize.” By the time the concert in Osaka took place it was sold out just like Tokyo, and “Galvanize” was the number one single in the Japanese Music Charts.