THE 50(ISH) GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
The Chemical Brothers Get A Reaction
Album #46 : The Chemical Brothers — Dig Your Own Hole
Maybe it is because we were still in lockdown for a lot of the year, maybe it is because I haven’t been to many as a result, maybe it was because I sold some tickets for one I can no longer make but I realised earlier this week that there is one topic I have completely forgotten about — gigs.
And what better artist to remind me of live music than The Chemical Brothers? I have seen them live twice — both gigs are comfortably in my top 10 of all time. Their headline set at Glastonbury 2011 was the closest I’ll ever come to being at an apocalyptic rave (at least, I hope it is… we will see how COP26 goes I suppose). You don’t really watch a Chemical Brothers show, you witness it — you have no choice but to get involved. The music is extremely loud, the visuals are in your face and you have little to no chance of getting involved. Brilliant.
But it isn’t just The Chemical Brothers who know how to put on a show, and there’s more than one way to skin a cat. There’s the oppressive, aggressive style of dance music, there’s the raucous, low-ceiling bounce of an indie band, there’s the pin-drop intensity of the solo singer-songwriter. All perfectly viable options that leave you with one extremely hairless cat.
My personal favourite is the ‘surprisingly good’ show. Once I went to see Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed in Manchester. Knowing he had an incredible voice I knew I’d be in for a treat but my friends and I only got an idea of the scale of show we were about to watch when he burst onto the stage and shouted down the microphone:
“Y’all havin’ a good time? DON’T BULLSHIT ME NOW!”
The band launched into the first song and from there we experience a 90-minute wall of noise and old-school showmanship. Brilliant. Because that is what live music is all about, isn’t it? Get rid of everything — the light shows, the merch stands, the pomp and ceremony — and go and experience the music properly. In the flesh.
It is odd but I didn’t think I missed live music that much during lockdown until I finally went to a show a few weeks ago. It was only then I knew what I was missing; friendly banter between songs, a shared cheeky grin when someone hits a bum note in a solo. You don’t get that on a live stream or via zoom or Facebook live or whatever else. You don’t get beautiful ethereal vocals, filling a church hall, losing yourself in the music. You don’t get a singer hitting a note that makes you burst into a smile.
The final example I will give is my own wedding — we changed our music options during lockdown as we decided we wanted a live band. Something about the immediacy of live music felt so right after all the time kept separate from each other; a proper party, grabbing the person near you to sing the chorus of a hit… Real life, in other words.
Thanks for reading — over the course of 2021, I’ll be reviewing 50(ish) of the greatest albums ever recorded. You can see the list here:
There is also a playlist featuring the best song from each album here.
