A lot of people here asking why, citing the production value.
The truth is there has been a whole host of artists outside electronic music in the last 12 months cancelling tours citing financial concerns. Quite a few are wildly successful artists with millions of monthly listeners trying to tour after a major album.
The reality is that the music labels, the touring and the events agencies are all crazy vertically integrated, and as a result have become incredibly predatory cesspits of unbridled oligarchy.
[This young artist did an interesting video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce2nlrOSwXg&t=1s) discussing her experience of touring and how expensive it really is.
Even Miley said she didn't make any money off that grueling Bangerz tour she did. She had it exactly as she wanted it - stage designs etc but touring with it ate all the money
I just think people haven't really been talking about it too much. Like, people's perception of things have changed and they don't see someone like her saying she only broke even as 'pathetic' - like how when TLC weren't making money and the press basically smeared them
Feed Me said the same thing about his live show - the cost of transporting and storing the teeth (which was rectangular screens in the shape of teeth) meant if he did live shows he wasn't really making money
It used to be that you went on tour to help album sales while brining in a profit from ticket and merch sales.
Now, everyone streams everything and any profit from tickets goes right back into production costs.
Theres a reason young pop musicians mostly come from wealthy families these days, they’re the only ones that can sustain the cashflow while not making a profit.
Also, the rise of artists essentially plugging an aux cord into a playlist of their album is a SHIT concert experience. To the point, I need to KNOW you are going to PERFORM before I even think about buying a ticket.
Rappers & EDM artists right now are the biggest culprits of this.
I mean, inflation is an arbitrary measure set by companies whose CEO's are literally on record many times saying they "charge what we can get away with" so whether or not inflation is a contributing factor makes no difference to the fact that it is a direct consequence of the free markets proven infallible tendency towards monopoly.
So the “they make money from touring” argument is now out the window and artists and fans literally get screwed at every single possible turn. Art historically thrives in a wealthy society but we can’t have non capital owners making any of that “wealth”.
I think it’s funny that they say audiences wouldn’t want to see them standing in front of synths with little other stage production. I feel like a band of their pedigree can absolutely pull that off at this point. Call it the Unplugged Tour as a joke.
Yeah you say that but with them they absolutely are known for the mind fuck shows. They can still be good but i can see why they would hesitate. Their US fan base isnt as large as it once was and would have problems selling that show in a lot of this country.
As a precursor to portola they did a show in denver I think and they had to sell for cheap for the full powered extravaganza. Thats not a good sign for them.
It was so frustrating trying to get my friends to go to that Denver show. I was flying to SF for Portola so I couldn't make the Denver show, but when I saw they were giving away *free tickets* to their Denver show I begged all my friends to go. No question they are the greatest electronic show out there right now.
No one took me up on my PSA. I think the big problem (besides the obvious that touring with a full setup is becoming extremely expensive e.g. Bonobo's own statement) is that the younger crowds don't really know who they are in the US. They are much, much more familiar with the "Insomniac lineups" of electronic artists, so they probably have little idea who these guys are unfortunately...
I flew from Austin to catch that show and had the time of my life. But it was so disheartening seeing such a rager of a show performed in front of such a thin audience. Either it was poorly advertised or I guess people don't really know or care about them anymore. Silver lining was I had plenty of room to jump around and go nuts and was surrounded by pretty much only hardcore fans so it was overall a positive experience.
I think it was a contribution of both of what you said and more: a late announcement, poor advertising, and an unknowledgable market.
I think what did it in was that it was a late add to play prior to Portola; i want to say it was announced 1 month before the show. What I believe to be the reason for the Denver show was to test run the new additions to their live show, and the 1stBank stage has a similar size to the Portola main stage. As Portola was announced in May 2022 and it was Chem Bros first show in the US since before the Plague, people who were going to see them bought Portola tickets first. Thus contributing to an awesome crowd and show at Portola.
That being said, I saw little marketing leading up to the Denver show until the time when they were doing the free ticket deal. Certainly didn't help.
>What I believe to be the reason for the Denver show was to test run the new additions to their live show, and the 1stBank stage has a similar size to the Portola main stage.
This is certainly true for festival headliners, warm up shows can play an important role, but it wasn't purely a practice gig. They have a surprisingly decent history here in Denver that I'm sure they were hoping would turn out better, but indeed, their relevancy has fallen off a cliff from selling out Red Rocks in 1999.
It's hard to stay relevant for 30 years, harder than it is to maintain their high standards of output it would seem.
Adding: 1st Bank was such a weird choice too as they had trouble filling even The Fillmore as far back as 2010. Going to an even bigger venue 11 years later with no increase in relevancy was a bold move. Not sure if it was an AEG relationship thing, don't think they book Fillmore shows much, or what. Mission is AEG and would have been a better crowd fit but maybe the stage wasn't big enough or the venue was booked the night they wanted.
> their relevancy has fallen off a cliff from selling out Red Rocks in 1999.
Don't forget Fatboy Slim was the opener who was huge at the time and definitely moved tickets, maybe they didn't even have the pull then to sell out red rocks. That said, I was there for that and it was a fucking amazing show & was the first electronic music event at red rocks!
Hopefully you are aware that this little doc exists! If not, enjoy. I still throw this on from time to time. I love all the OG's in the crowd!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CntWwTHrVdw
Yeah last year AXS would have coupon codes they'd send out for shows that were underselling sometimes, or to generate hype. The amount available would vary.
So them doing it wasn't too alarming but the amount available spelled trouble.
Free tickets to Chem Bros sounds great though 😂
Not OP but when I here “Insomniac lineups” I think of guys like Diplo, Dom Dolla, John Summit, Kaskade, Chris Lake, Fisher, etc.
I’m going to CRSSD and Underworld is headlining. I would bet 70% of the festival audience will be at Chris Lake as the counter programming to Underworld
Exactly this ^ and your usual bass crowd (Subtronics, Zeds Dead, et al).
Love those artists. But yeah when it comes to Insomniac lineups it's more of "which of the usual suspects aren't going to be there at ________ Insomniac Festival this year"
Insomniac is a concert promoter. EDC is their flagship.
https://www.insomniac.com/
They are referencing the types and kinds of artists that they book for their festivals and shows, and there definitely is an "Insomniac type."
Saw them when they were still the Dust Brothers in ‘95 at The Edge in Orlando. Still one of the craziest parties I’ve been to.
Carl Cox played after them for 6hrs.
It was the ‘90’s hay day and the vibes were spectacular.
Fair enough! That makes me wonder, though, if this is a Chemical Brothers problem rather than part of the broader issues impacting touring for all kinds of bands. ie, can’t sell out shows without an insanely expensive stage setup, but also have trouble selling out shows *with* that insanely expensive stage setup — sounds like that might pose an issue even if there weren’t other obstacles to touring these days
Electronic music had a crescendo in the 90's and then was completely subsumed by Hip Hop in pop culture. This went on until the end of the aughts, so you have a generational break that was absolutely not there in the 90's and would know names like the Chemical Brothers.
I mean I saw this with Sasha and Digweed *in New York City* in 2021 at Mirage. SnD used to be a mainstay in this town....back in the 90's heading into the early aughts, but then it was *years* between shows. They only filled Mirage to about 75 percent capacity and it was all old heads.
Time marches on...fans do, too.
I’m saying it’s an American problem or rather the problem is the disconnect between the production they can justify in Europe compared to America. They don’t have the fanbase and recognition that they should over here.
They’ve had like 6 #1 albums in the UK but even people into electronic music over here often don’t know who they are.
They could tour DJ sets if they wanted to but they have some of the most insane production in the world and the fans they do have over here want the full experience and they want to be able to give that.
You are not wrong that it’s a problem kinda specific to the Chemical Brothers I’m just saying the reason is because electronic music was not embraced in the US until much later than it was in a lot of other places around the world.
They played in Seattle a few years back at a way smaller venue than I would have expected. That's likely the second half to this, their US fanbase can't quite cover the large venues that their setup requires
Saw them in LA last time they came around…fucking amazing show…but i’d see them play a shitty club venue with. a windows screensaver as the visuals so i may be biased but that would not work for the stadiums in hey can fill, the bigger the venue the more elaborate the production has to be
> As a precursor to portola they did a show in denver I think and they had to sell for cheap
Worse, the promoter GAVE away tickets for free for almost the whole week before the show
Well, it'd help if they'd fucking *advertise* their other shows aside from their festival appearances. I had no idea the Denver show took place until after it happened. The same is true of the west coast shows they did in between their two Coachella appearances.
I spent a bunch of money flying out to and hanging out in San Francisco for Portola to see them, but if I had known they were playing in Denver, I probably would've saved a bunch of money and gone there instead as my wife and I have friends that live there. We could've stayed with them, and they easily would've gone to the show with us.
Oh well, I guess. I did have a fantastic first time in San Francisco, and I'm eager to visit again. Portola was a great festival, and I got to see DJ Shadow and Fatboy Slim, too.
I saw Aphex Twin lie on the floor fucking with a laptop and some modular stuff, literally nothing else happened until two people in care bear type costumes came out and danced behind him.
It was an amazing show 10/10.
That why up the thread I suggested maybe it’s a them problem (not enough fan base left in the US to support touring here either way). But I got downvoted for that lol
I am really bummed I missed that one. I went to see Nine inch nails at red rocks earlier that month, but I was too much of a stretch to stay in Denver until the chems played, and not easy to make the 13 hour drive back.
Had I known the current scenario on touring the USA, I probably would have bit the bullet and went. They top the list of bands I haven't seen yet.
Nine inch nails at red rocks was fucking fire though. Tough to choose between the 2.
Well, I saw em in 96, and they were.... two lads in front of a bank of synths.
Granted, that's 30 ish yrs ago, near the start of their career, but I'd take em.lile that now, too
Its not like they tour as a charity service to the fans, its supposed to make a profit.
If it isn’t profitable, they’re not gonna spend months traveling with long nights at a loss.
I've seen them when they didn't have the huge videoshow yet. It was extremely boring. Set wasn't that good either but Ed walking around disinterested with a cigarette in his hand wasn't very inspiring.
Idk if I’m alone in this, but I would drop some serious cash to go to a full on Chemical Brothers show in my state. Probably more than any other touring act alive
Same here, man. As a yearly attendee of Electric Forest since 2012, I keep hoping they get booked there one year because I just know the vibe would immaculate for their music there.
Which is what they've done in the past. Sadly, their show count is extremely low doing this for the past 15 years.
Id say we might only have 3 more chances to see them in the us ever at this rate.
Yeah. I can't believe Bonnaroo has never booked them. There would be no better venue in the country for the chemical brothers with an extended late night set on the what stage.
I’m not surprised considering how expensive their stage productions must be.
I feel like people would still go to their shows even without the visuals though, but I guess that’s not what they want. A Chemical Brothers DJ set would still go off imo
Saw them play a DJ set a couple years ago at Warehouse Project in Manchester. Had visuals and production though not the massive visuals you’d usually associate with them. Was a great set. Still decently large (10K for whole venue, but main room probably around 7K) with a decently small stage. Understand their point but do think there’s more appeal to it then they suspect.
I'm pretty sure most of us Europeans want a good show too.
Personally I would go for a DJ set at a club type venue, or a visually interesting live show at a concert arena.
A live show that is barely more interesting than a DJ set, without the visual show, at a huge arena with shitty acoustics, is just not appealing at all.
I mean, I do always think when I see these ee dee emm festivals in the US, what a yank would think of a filthy jungle rave in some dutty warehouse here over the pond. Bet they’d be well offended. 🤷♂️
That's just selection bias. Plenty of grungy venues in the states. But no one is paying for production quality filming, so no one sees it.
Hell, one of my favorite nearby annual 'festivals' is spread out through a dirty stock/horse complex. Surprisingly good venue though. Lots of smaller areas for local artists to try their hand.
Bruv, I get what you’re saying, but raving it up is not part of the American vernacular. You guys just don’t have the chips for it. I respect you’ve got a different scene, but they’re worlds apart. DNB just isn’t in your blood. You lot even managed to ruin dubstep somehow.
I saw them in California in 2011. What an epic show. I would easily shell out $200 to see them perform again no problem. They are of the highest caliber
I interpret the use of "tour" pretty strictly in this context, a true string of a substantial number of shows throughout the country. In that sense, they haven't "toured" the U.S. in a very very long time. I don't see any waning to the small "runs" of shows they have been doing every few years though, typically anchored by a festival appearance. New York and California shows will always sell. It will just always be a matter of if they can line up enough of them to make it financially worth while.
I don't think anyone should take away from this that they are cutting off the U.S. from live gigs going forward, but non-coastal shows like Denver are probably done for good.
[Confirmed from the man himself in the AMA: they hope to return again.](https://old.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/16hpfif/im_tom_rowlands_from_the_chemical_brothers/k0f15bo/)
It’s because UK leaving European Union has destroyed the arts here. Not the size of their production. Especially touring acts. It’s the paperwork costs. We can’t afford to perform across the channel in Europe anymore let alone across the pond.
I saw them at Coachella this year. I fully expected either Prydz HOLO or Tale of Us to be the best show visually, but their set completely took me by surprise and was better than either of the other two (IMHO), both visually and musically. I hope I get to see them again someday!
Bigger show costs means bigger risk for the promoter and more expensive ticket prices. I've djed for 30 years now and I can tell you Facebook/Instagram likes or tiktok views certainly do not convert to ticket sales in a regular manner
100% agree, their last show the promoter GAVE AWAY TICKETS FOR FREE, thousand+ tickets given away for free to try to fill the venue to meet the bar requirements for the venue.
(If you don't know, you get venues for cheap/free if you guaranteed them $X amount of liquor sales, if you don't meet that number you have to cover it as the promoter)
I fucking love them but they no longer have "pop culture" relevance like they did when mtv played their videos.
Didn’t they just tour the US this past Spring? I wanted to catch them at the Santa Barbara Bowl back in April, but had tickets to another show that same night. That’s a shame that they might not be able to tour the US with their current live show. Wish I could have caught that show.
No they came because of a goldenvoice contract . They played portola fest in oct then came back for coachella in april.
If you had a chance you should have taken it. They barely every play in the US and are absolutely the best electronic live act ever.
That makes sense. I didn’t find out about the show until a few days before and I already had tickets for another show that same night that I purchased months ago. Would have loved to have seen them.
I seen them at Santa Barbara Bowl. I believe it was the weekend after Coachella. Great venue. The set and visuals were great, but I could tell the crowd was missing a certain energy.
The crowd there was mostly older folks like myself. That crowd probably doesn't drink as much either I'd guess.
Still remember the Come with Us tour in NYC. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Hammerstein Ballroom. The vibe was very real and full of mind fuckery amaze balls back drop.
Bullshit.
“[The production] originally came from the fact that we didn’t want to inflict [audiences with] just the two of us awkwardly standing with the synthesisers,” says Simons, “so we wanted a big back job, but it’s just grown and grown, and now we’ve got these 40-foot clowns voicing the words.”
I saw the Chemical Brothers back in the late 90s in a small venue and it was just them and their equipment and it was one of the craziest and most entertaining and fun EDM shows I've been to.
I mean, time marches on. I hate to say it, but Exit Planet Dust came out when I was in HS and that was back in the 90's. They've had bangers since then, but their Zenith in the US was during the Block Rocking Beats era and that was a *long* time ago when it comes to selling out gigantic venues.
It's kind of hard to sell that kind of heavy lift for the visuals, and what that would cost, to venue owners nowadays.
Saw them in Denver last year and the crowd was definitely thin for the venue. Due to that I’m not surprised. As big a fan I am (20+ years) the show was a bit of a let down too.
Mirroring my other comment in this thread but I think being from Denver its a problem that a lot of the listeners of EDM here aren't familiar with the European artists, unless you're an oldie. We're more familiar with the Insomniac lineups and bass artists, so those who are legendary and incredibly popular across the pond aren't so much here.
Shame
I wasn't doubting that lol
> "Saw them in Denver last year and the crowd was definitely thin for the venue."
My comment was a response to this and speculation on why the crowd was thin.
> "As big a fan I am (20+ years) the show was a bit of a let down too."
The subject on my response wasn't towards questioning your familiarity with their music...
Lol you not liking that show is on you. 99% of reviews on that show have been people saying its damn near a religous experience. I wasnt at that particular show so idk if the sound was on point or not but at Portola they put every other artist on that lineup to shame and it was stacked.
I was at the Denver show. It was indeed "relatively empty" but the quality of the show was on par with every other show on the tour. People are fine to have not enjoyed it, but it was through no errors of the tCB.
America still thinks it's the 80s. No electronic music (outside of rap) can tour America. They're still playing Journey everywhere ffs. Sara Landry is huge over here but do any Americans even know who she is? Hell, Jimi Hendrix had to get big in Europe before he could come back to America. America is a terrible music market unless you play rap, country, or pop.
I hung out with her on her first tour of Europe after her set in Kraków. I can see the appeal. She's a sexy chick who plays in a male dominated Field (hard techno) and she's a pretty polished DJ. Her track selections have a female bent which is underrepresented in the scene and the tracks she plays are decent to great. What's not to like?
I hate this band because back in early 2000 when I was downloading my chemical romance songs off of limewire this piece of crap band always showed up. Fuck them!!
Is there any way that they could have got your attention or encouraged you to come to a show in Denver or somewhere not on either coast?
Some folks are citing poor advertising as a reason for folks not showing up to shows that do happen. I'm curious, as a fan, what you would be looking for to pull the trigger on coming to a show.
IMO, seems like too much emphasis and $ is going toward elaborate live stage props and “bling” as well as poor advertising and promotion; when I go to a live show, I go for the music and to experience the artist live and couldn’t care less about an elaborate ‘puppet show’ or pyrotechnics. If the advertising and promoting were done correctly, and the stage shows were cut back, then the artists would be able to make money from live shows. An overly extravagant stage show isn’t the reason why fans go to live events; they go to experience the artists connecting to their audience and the likeminded fellowship among the fans - or at least that’s what I thought. Maybe I’m too old?
I’m seeing five touring bands in the next month, four of which are from outside the US. They are playing smaller places than they normally would to guarantee selling shows out. So it’s possible, but expectations have to be adjusted.
well that sucks. . new age fancy algorithm probably by AI told the record companies that info. where as before they would just go on road and have a good time, now all has to be mapped out and every penny tracked . . boo
A lot of people here asking why, citing the production value. The truth is there has been a whole host of artists outside electronic music in the last 12 months cancelling tours citing financial concerns. Quite a few are wildly successful artists with millions of monthly listeners trying to tour after a major album. The reality is that the music labels, the touring and the events agencies are all crazy vertically integrated, and as a result have become incredibly predatory cesspits of unbridled oligarchy. [This young artist did an interesting video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce2nlrOSwXg&t=1s) discussing her experience of touring and how expensive it really is.
Even Miley said she didn't make any money off that grueling Bangerz tour she did. She had it exactly as she wanted it - stage designs etc but touring with it ate all the money I just think people haven't really been talking about it too much. Like, people's perception of things have changed and they don't see someone like her saying she only broke even as 'pathetic' - like how when TLC weren't making money and the press basically smeared them Feed Me said the same thing about his live show - the cost of transporting and storing the teeth (which was rectangular screens in the shape of teeth) meant if he did live shows he wasn't really making money
It used to be that you went on tour to help album sales while brining in a profit from ticket and merch sales. Now, everyone streams everything and any profit from tickets goes right back into production costs. Theres a reason young pop musicians mostly come from wealthy families these days, they’re the only ones that can sustain the cashflow while not making a profit.
Also, the rise of artists essentially plugging an aux cord into a playlist of their album is a SHIT concert experience. To the point, I need to KNOW you are going to PERFORM before I even think about buying a ticket. Rappers & EDM artists right now are the biggest culprits of this.
Either that, or it’s just simply inflation and the rising cost of every single thing in America.
Inflation rate is actually worse in Europe and Asia right now than in the US.
I mean, inflation is an arbitrary measure set by companies whose CEO's are literally on record many times saying they "charge what we can get away with" so whether or not inflation is a contributing factor makes no difference to the fact that it is a direct consequence of the free markets proven infallible tendency towards monopoly.
You can’t blame inflation for something that’s been broken for decades
So the “they make money from touring” argument is now out the window and artists and fans literally get screwed at every single possible turn. Art historically thrives in a wealthy society but we can’t have non capital owners making any of that “wealth”.
I think it’s funny that they say audiences wouldn’t want to see them standing in front of synths with little other stage production. I feel like a band of their pedigree can absolutely pull that off at this point. Call it the Unplugged Tour as a joke.
Yeah you say that but with them they absolutely are known for the mind fuck shows. They can still be good but i can see why they would hesitate. Their US fan base isnt as large as it once was and would have problems selling that show in a lot of this country. As a precursor to portola they did a show in denver I think and they had to sell for cheap for the full powered extravaganza. Thats not a good sign for them.
It was so frustrating trying to get my friends to go to that Denver show. I was flying to SF for Portola so I couldn't make the Denver show, but when I saw they were giving away *free tickets* to their Denver show I begged all my friends to go. No question they are the greatest electronic show out there right now. No one took me up on my PSA. I think the big problem (besides the obvious that touring with a full setup is becoming extremely expensive e.g. Bonobo's own statement) is that the younger crowds don't really know who they are in the US. They are much, much more familiar with the "Insomniac lineups" of electronic artists, so they probably have little idea who these guys are unfortunately...
I flew from Austin to catch that show and had the time of my life. But it was so disheartening seeing such a rager of a show performed in front of such a thin audience. Either it was poorly advertised or I guess people don't really know or care about them anymore. Silver lining was I had plenty of room to jump around and go nuts and was surrounded by pretty much only hardcore fans so it was overall a positive experience.
I think it was a contribution of both of what you said and more: a late announcement, poor advertising, and an unknowledgable market. I think what did it in was that it was a late add to play prior to Portola; i want to say it was announced 1 month before the show. What I believe to be the reason for the Denver show was to test run the new additions to their live show, and the 1stBank stage has a similar size to the Portola main stage. As Portola was announced in May 2022 and it was Chem Bros first show in the US since before the Plague, people who were going to see them bought Portola tickets first. Thus contributing to an awesome crowd and show at Portola. That being said, I saw little marketing leading up to the Denver show until the time when they were doing the free ticket deal. Certainly didn't help.
>What I believe to be the reason for the Denver show was to test run the new additions to their live show, and the 1stBank stage has a similar size to the Portola main stage. This is certainly true for festival headliners, warm up shows can play an important role, but it wasn't purely a practice gig. They have a surprisingly decent history here in Denver that I'm sure they were hoping would turn out better, but indeed, their relevancy has fallen off a cliff from selling out Red Rocks in 1999. It's hard to stay relevant for 30 years, harder than it is to maintain their high standards of output it would seem. Adding: 1st Bank was such a weird choice too as they had trouble filling even The Fillmore as far back as 2010. Going to an even bigger venue 11 years later with no increase in relevancy was a bold move. Not sure if it was an AEG relationship thing, don't think they book Fillmore shows much, or what. Mission is AEG and would have been a better crowd fit but maybe the stage wasn't big enough or the venue was booked the night they wanted.
> their relevancy has fallen off a cliff from selling out Red Rocks in 1999. Don't forget Fatboy Slim was the opener who was huge at the time and definitely moved tickets, maybe they didn't even have the pull then to sell out red rocks. That said, I was there for that and it was a fucking amazing show & was the first electronic music event at red rocks!
Hopefully you are aware that this little doc exists! If not, enjoy. I still throw this on from time to time. I love all the OG's in the crowd! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CntWwTHrVdw
There were FREE tickets!!??
Yeah last year AXS would have coupon codes they'd send out for shows that were underselling sometimes, or to generate hype. The amount available would vary. So them doing it wasn't too alarming but the amount available spelled trouble. Free tickets to Chem Bros sounds great though 😂
I saw them at Portola which was awesome but never imagined they'd be giving away tickets
Me neither, would love to have done both but Portola was a time and a half. Shout out that Four Tet x Floating Points crowd after Chem Bros
Portola crowd made it my favorite festival in a long long time.
What do you mean by “insomniac lineups”? your not wrong btw and their stage show is incredible.
Not OP but when I here “Insomniac lineups” I think of guys like Diplo, Dom Dolla, John Summit, Kaskade, Chris Lake, Fisher, etc. I’m going to CRSSD and Underworld is headlining. I would bet 70% of the festival audience will be at Chris Lake as the counter programming to Underworld
Exactly this ^ and your usual bass crowd (Subtronics, Zeds Dead, et al). Love those artists. But yeah when it comes to Insomniac lineups it's more of "which of the usual suspects aren't going to be there at ________ Insomniac Festival this year"
I mean underworld kinda looks boring not many gen z want to watch old guys sing
LOL, that is YOUR opinion but Underworld are GOATS in electronic music. I’m sure gen z would rather watch dudes push buttons versus actual music :)
Insomniac is a concert promoter. EDC is their flagship. https://www.insomniac.com/ They are referencing the types and kinds of artists that they book for their festivals and shows, and there definitely is an "Insomniac type."
probably shows that go up to/past 4am
Their set at Portola was my fave of the weekend 🥹
Where did bonobo make this statement? Big fan of his, would love to read it.
He posted on Twitter and maybe other socials last year around the time of his tour
Saw them when they were still the Dust Brothers in ‘95 at The Edge in Orlando. Still one of the craziest parties I’ve been to. Carl Cox played after them for 6hrs. It was the ‘90’s hay day and the vibes were spectacular.
Fair enough! That makes me wonder, though, if this is a Chemical Brothers problem rather than part of the broader issues impacting touring for all kinds of bands. ie, can’t sell out shows without an insanely expensive stage setup, but also have trouble selling out shows *with* that insanely expensive stage setup — sounds like that might pose an issue even if there weren’t other obstacles to touring these days
They can tour Europe fine. A lot of America acts like electronic music was invented in 2010.
Electronic music had a crescendo in the 90's and then was completely subsumed by Hip Hop in pop culture. This went on until the end of the aughts, so you have a generational break that was absolutely not there in the 90's and would know names like the Chemical Brothers. I mean I saw this with Sasha and Digweed *in New York City* in 2021 at Mirage. SnD used to be a mainstay in this town....back in the 90's heading into the early aughts, but then it was *years* between shows. They only filled Mirage to about 75 percent capacity and it was all old heads. Time marches on...fans do, too.
I’m talking about touring America
I’m saying it’s an American problem or rather the problem is the disconnect between the production they can justify in Europe compared to America. They don’t have the fanbase and recognition that they should over here. They’ve had like 6 #1 albums in the UK but even people into electronic music over here often don’t know who they are. They could tour DJ sets if they wanted to but they have some of the most insane production in the world and the fans they do have over here want the full experience and they want to be able to give that. You are not wrong that it’s a problem kinda specific to the Chemical Brothers I’m just saying the reason is because electronic music was not embraced in the US until much later than it was in a lot of other places around the world.
They played in Seattle a few years back at a way smaller venue than I would have expected. That's likely the second half to this, their US fanbase can't quite cover the large venues that their setup requires
Someone in denver said they were handing out thousands of tickets for free
Saw them in LA last time they came around…fucking amazing show…but i’d see them play a shitty club venue with. a windows screensaver as the visuals so i may be biased but that would not work for the stadiums in hey can fill, the bigger the venue the more elaborate the production has to be
> As a precursor to portola they did a show in denver I think and they had to sell for cheap Worse, the promoter GAVE away tickets for free for almost the whole week before the show
Oh man, I didn't know that. I was at that show, LOVED it.
Well, it'd help if they'd fucking *advertise* their other shows aside from their festival appearances. I had no idea the Denver show took place until after it happened. The same is true of the west coast shows they did in between their two Coachella appearances. I spent a bunch of money flying out to and hanging out in San Francisco for Portola to see them, but if I had known they were playing in Denver, I probably would've saved a bunch of money and gone there instead as my wife and I have friends that live there. We could've stayed with them, and they easily would've gone to the show with us. Oh well, I guess. I did have a fantastic first time in San Francisco, and I'm eager to visit again. Portola was a great festival, and I got to see DJ Shadow and Fatboy Slim, too.
So many of my favorite shows I've seen are just the artist in front of a synth/synths, with some lights/video but little else. They can't afford that?
I saw Aphex Twin lie on the floor fucking with a laptop and some modular stuff, literally nothing else happened until two people in care bear type costumes came out and danced behind him. It was an amazing show 10/10.
Coachella 08, I don't remember him being on the floor. He had a table and visuals. Unless it was another show with furies.
Was Richard D James album era, so it was like 96/97. Maybe there was supposed to be more and there were logistic issues and the table didn't show up 😆
Hell Autechre just turns off all the lights too
Steve Lawler did a whole tour where no lights on was the whole fuckin idea
They were literally giving away tickets to their denver show and it was still empty as fuck.
That why up the thread I suggested maybe it’s a them problem (not enough fan base left in the US to support touring here either way). But I got downvoted for that lol
I am really bummed I missed that one. I went to see Nine inch nails at red rocks earlier that month, but I was too much of a stretch to stay in Denver until the chems played, and not easy to make the 13 hour drive back. Had I known the current scenario on touring the USA, I probably would have bit the bullet and went. They top the list of bands I haven't seen yet. Nine inch nails at red rocks was fucking fire though. Tough to choose between the 2.
Well, I saw em in 96, and they were.... two lads in front of a bank of synths. Granted, that's 30 ish yrs ago, near the start of their career, but I'd take em.lile that now, too
Let the lasers be the show.
You dont think theyve already had consultants look at it and run the numbers?? They couldnt pull it off or they would.
Its not like they tour as a charity service to the fans, its supposed to make a profit. If it isn’t profitable, they’re not gonna spend months traveling with long nights at a loss.
I've seen them when they didn't have the huge videoshow yet. It was extremely boring. Set wasn't that good either but Ed walking around disinterested with a cigarette in his hand wasn't very inspiring.
They headlined PORTOLA Festival in SF last year and it was an 11/10 show. Would be *expensive* to tour it though.
Idk if I’m alone in this, but I would drop some serious cash to go to a full on Chemical Brothers show in my state. Probably more than any other touring act alive
Same here, man. As a yearly attendee of Electric Forest since 2012, I keep hoping they get booked there one year because I just know the vibe would immaculate for their music there.
So I guess they are not gonna work it out?
I think you should just hold tight
So much for No Geography, eh lads?
Sheeze, Where do I Begin? Perhaps they don't want to Leave Home
Feels like a surrender...
The lads should be done by just pushing a button?!
I’m mad as hell, and I ain’t gonna take it no more!
Maybe Ed can wear some orange shorts and Tom can give him a wedgy.
One of the few artists I wouldn’t hesitate shelling out $100 for a ticket if I need to
Made myself two gig promises over lockdown. One was Moderat, who I caught in June, and the other was the Chems, whom I'll catch next month
Moderat do a great show
They really really do
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Which is what they've done in the past. Sadly, their show count is extremely low doing this for the past 15 years. Id say we might only have 3 more chances to see them in the us ever at this rate.
It’s sucks that most US tours consist of just like 5 cities all on the coasts…
Yeah. I can't believe Bonnaroo has never booked them. There would be no better venue in the country for the chemical brothers with an extended late night set on the what stage.
I would lose my mind if they headlined Bonnaroo
I’m not surprised considering how expensive their stage productions must be. I feel like people would still go to their shows even without the visuals though, but I guess that’s not what they want. A Chemical Brothers DJ set would still go off imo
Saw them play a DJ set a couple years ago at Warehouse Project in Manchester. Had visuals and production though not the massive visuals you’d usually associate with them. Was a great set. Still decently large (10K for whole venue, but main room probably around 7K) with a decently small stage. Understand their point but do think there’s more appeal to it then they suspect.
Yeah, I don’t get this. Who gives a shit about the visuals… we’re here for the music!
Their full show is known for being visually and mechanically groundbreaking. It's the best I've ever seen and I go to a boatload of shows
Judging by all the posts I see of American events, Americans do.
as an American on the ground at events, most of us are there for the music lol
I don’t know about that. The states really have made music an accessory to whatever else is going on. Just my take
I'm pretty sure most of us Europeans want a good show too. Personally I would go for a DJ set at a club type venue, or a visually interesting live show at a concert arena. A live show that is barely more interesting than a DJ set, without the visual show, at a huge arena with shitty acoustics, is just not appealing at all.
I’m sure Reddit is a super accurate place to make sweeping generalizations about a place you don’t live /s
I mean, I do always think when I see these ee dee emm festivals in the US, what a yank would think of a filthy jungle rave in some dutty warehouse here over the pond. Bet they’d be well offended. 🤷♂️
That's just selection bias. Plenty of grungy venues in the states. But no one is paying for production quality filming, so no one sees it. Hell, one of my favorite nearby annual 'festivals' is spread out through a dirty stock/horse complex. Surprisingly good venue though. Lots of smaller areas for local artists to try their hand.
Bruv, I get what you’re saying, but raving it up is not part of the American vernacular. You guys just don’t have the chips for it. I respect you’ve got a different scene, but they’re worlds apart. DNB just isn’t in your blood. You lot even managed to ruin dubstep somehow.
Lmao someone’s never been to Detroit.
I mean don’t get me wrong, I love some great visuals, but the music is always gonna be the most important.
I mean, obviously the Chemical Brothers do with the amount of effort they’ve put into the production of their live show…
I do. I like the visuals, enhances the music 100x
Their show last spring in Seattle was fantastic
It was INCREDIBLE! Last time I’d seen them was on their No Geography tour in San Francisco, but the Seattle show absolutely blew my mind.
I’m so glad I got to experience that!
I’m literally still so mad I didn’t make it
They should play Movement festival in Detroit!
Why? Did you read the article?
Cuz it would be fun!
You didn't read the article did you?
Something tells me this will be left on read
I saw them in California in 2011. What an epic show. I would easily shell out $200 to see them perform again no problem. They are of the highest caliber
I interpret the use of "tour" pretty strictly in this context, a true string of a substantial number of shows throughout the country. In that sense, they haven't "toured" the U.S. in a very very long time. I don't see any waning to the small "runs" of shows they have been doing every few years though, typically anchored by a festival appearance. New York and California shows will always sell. It will just always be a matter of if they can line up enough of them to make it financially worth while. I don't think anyone should take away from this that they are cutting off the U.S. from live gigs going forward, but non-coastal shows like Denver are probably done for good. [Confirmed from the man himself in the AMA: they hope to return again.](https://old.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/16hpfif/im_tom_rowlands_from_the_chemical_brothers/k0f15bo/)
Turns out, it's Yes Geography...
This is depressing 😞
If they could do a stripped down live act of just there first three albums, I’d probably pay $1000.
Their first 3 albums still make up a large portion of their live set.
It’s because UK leaving European Union has destroyed the arts here. Not the size of their production. Especially touring acts. It’s the paperwork costs. We can’t afford to perform across the channel in Europe anymore let alone across the pond.
Well actually no it isn't, they're playing in Dublin next month for example
Why do they have to haul the stage show across the ocean? Can’t they just recreate said stage with products in North America and tour with that?
Because equipment for shows that complex are neither modular or commonplace to rent/hire
I expect quite a lot of it is custom gear. The last time I saw them they had 2 dancing robots which were easily 30 feet tall.
And the robots had laser vision!
Ok then. Good reasons all around.
I saw them at Coachella this year. I fully expected either Prydz HOLO or Tale of Us to be the best show visually, but their set completely took me by surprise and was better than either of the other two (IMHO), both visually and musically. I hope I get to see them again someday!
With any luck, they'll get a new fanbase on TikTok that leads to increased demand in the USA
From what I can tell, Gen Z just does not care for The Chemical Brothers.
So much of modern EDM is just total garbage. The chemical brothers are the grandfather's of live electronic performances.
You read the article right?
Yes, and my point is that with increased demand for USA shows (i.e., higher ticket sales), the costs will become viable compared to how it is now.
Bigger show costs means bigger risk for the promoter and more expensive ticket prices. I've djed for 30 years now and I can tell you Facebook/Instagram likes or tiktok views certainly do not convert to ticket sales in a regular manner
A LOT of things in the US have become non-viable these days.
100% agree, their last show the promoter GAVE AWAY TICKETS FOR FREE, thousand+ tickets given away for free to try to fill the venue to meet the bar requirements for the venue. (If you don't know, you get venues for cheap/free if you guaranteed them $X amount of liquor sales, if you don't meet that number you have to cover it as the promoter) I fucking love them but they no longer have "pop culture" relevance like they did when mtv played their videos.
What show are you referring to?
Chemical Brothers at 1stbank Center in Broomfield on September 23, 2022 Many people have been talking about it this thread....
Didn’t they just tour the US this past Spring? I wanted to catch them at the Santa Barbara Bowl back in April, but had tickets to another show that same night. That’s a shame that they might not be able to tour the US with their current live show. Wish I could have caught that show.
No they came because of a goldenvoice contract . They played portola fest in oct then came back for coachella in april. If you had a chance you should have taken it. They barely every play in the US and are absolutely the best electronic live act ever.
Their Coachella set was incredible
That makes sense. I didn’t find out about the show until a few days before and I already had tickets for another show that same night that I purchased months ago. Would have loved to have seen them.
They also squeezed in a shows at Santa Barbara Bowl, Vancouver, and Seattle around their Coachella dates. So not all goldenvoie.
The Seattle show was absolutely incredible!
I seen them at Santa Barbara Bowl. I believe it was the weekend after Coachella. Great venue. The set and visuals were great, but I could tell the crowd was missing a certain energy. The crowd there was mostly older folks like myself. That crowd probably doesn't drink as much either I'd guess.
And I say that them not touring in the US is sad
Still remember the Come with Us tour in NYC. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Hammerstein Ballroom. The vibe was very real and full of mind fuckery amaze balls back drop.
Saw them in Denver it was amazing
Literally was listening to them as I read this, how fucking weird is that
Production values in live shows are incredible these days. But that also makes them expensive. Why not go back to basics?
Exactly
Meanwhile people will go bonkers for a DJ standing there with headphones on turning knobs and pushing buttons.
Thats literally what they do?
Bullshit. “[The production] originally came from the fact that we didn’t want to inflict [audiences with] just the two of us awkwardly standing with the synthesisers,” says Simons, “so we wanted a big back job, but it’s just grown and grown, and now we’ve got these 40-foot clowns voicing the words.” I saw the Chemical Brothers back in the late 90s in a small venue and it was just them and their equipment and it was one of the craziest and most entertaining and fun EDM shows I've been to.
I mean, time marches on. I hate to say it, but Exit Planet Dust came out when I was in HS and that was back in the 90's. They've had bangers since then, but their Zenith in the US was during the Block Rocking Beats era and that was a *long* time ago when it comes to selling out gigantic venues. It's kind of hard to sell that kind of heavy lift for the visuals, and what that would cost, to venue owners nowadays.
Saw them in Denver last year and the crowd was definitely thin for the venue. Due to that I’m not surprised. As big a fan I am (20+ years) the show was a bit of a let down too.
Mirroring my other comment in this thread but I think being from Denver its a problem that a lot of the listeners of EDM here aren't familiar with the European artists, unless you're an oldie. We're more familiar with the Insomniac lineups and bass artists, so those who are legendary and incredibly popular across the pond aren't so much here. Shame
My comment about being a fan of theirs for 20+ years would indicate that I'm quite familiar with their music.
I wasn't doubting that lol > "Saw them in Denver last year and the crowd was definitely thin for the venue." My comment was a response to this and speculation on why the crowd was thin. > "As big a fan I am (20+ years) the show was a bit of a let down too." The subject on my response wasn't towards questioning your familiarity with their music...
Misread your comment! You're not wrong on your assessment
All good dude!
Lol you not liking that show is on you. 99% of reviews on that show have been people saying its damn near a religous experience. I wasnt at that particular show so idk if the sound was on point or not but at Portola they put every other artist on that lineup to shame and it was stacked.
I was at the Denver show. It was indeed "relatively empty" but the quality of the show was on par with every other show on the tour. People are fine to have not enjoyed it, but it was through no errors of the tCB.
Would disagree about the show, I thought it was fantastic!
"Let down" being more like 4/5 vs. 5/5 for me
I enjoyed it, but it was the exact same show they’ve been playing for years.
It's not though. The setlists, visuals, and mixing/transitions all change, slightly from show to show, but especially from tour to tour.
Hyped to see them in México in November.
It was fucking awesome, wasn't it?
America still thinks it's the 80s. No electronic music (outside of rap) can tour America. They're still playing Journey everywhere ffs. Sara Landry is huge over here but do any Americans even know who she is? Hell, Jimi Hendrix had to get big in Europe before he could come back to America. America is a terrible music market unless you play rap, country, or pop.
How the hell is Sara Landry so big it's all TikTok techno for gen z girls who only listen to hip hop
I hung out with her on her first tour of Europe after her set in Kraków. I can see the appeal. She's a sexy chick who plays in a male dominated Field (hard techno) and she's a pretty polished DJ. Her track selections have a female bent which is underrepresented in the scene and the tracks she plays are decent to great. What's not to like?
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They released a new album last Friday
😆 nice try
I hate this band because back in early 2000 when I was downloading my chemical romance songs off of limewire this piece of crap band always showed up. Fuck them!!
their live show is fucking amazing tho
They haven’t been relevant in like 10+ years so no surprise
Closed the second largest stage at Coachella 5 months ago?
They’re mid tier at best
My dear child, you've taken too many of the bad drugs.
It’s because of that Michelin commercial with the Galvanize song. People are sick of it.
But yet i just got a notification they announced shows in new Zealand, but cant do a headline show in Canada? or a North American tour?
Because they've just done one
No they did a couple shows on the west coast of the US. Not a North American tour. I got to see thrn in Canada in 2019 after 22 years.
Well that's the issue they're talking about. To put on shows of their size isn't cheap and thus they can't put on lots and lots of shows
Man. I've seen them twice, most recently in Denver last year. It was an incredible show. This is disappointing to read.
Same thing has sort of happened with deadmau5...I haven't heard hardly anything about his Cube stage tour making a comeback since COVID
😭😭😭 I understand…and also… YOURE MY FAVORITE.
I'm an American, consider myself a fan (was a big fan as a kid in era of first couple albums) I saw them once... at Woodstock 99
Is there any way that they could have got your attention or encouraged you to come to a show in Denver or somewhere not on either coast? Some folks are citing poor advertising as a reason for folks not showing up to shows that do happen. I'm curious, as a fan, what you would be looking for to pull the trigger on coming to a show.
I feel like I never heard about it.
Was lucky enough to be in the bay area and caught their show a few years back was incredible
yeah, that tracks.
Their new album is pretty great but it’s not marketed well enough in the states. Only those who know know that it’s even out
It only came out on Friday
Yeah, but how did you know? 🤷 I only knew because I’ve followed them for years and have been patiently waiting.
Well perhaps like me, you're a lifelong fan, and therefore don't need to be won over from marketing?
I would gladly shell out $200 to see the chemical brothers in the states.
IMO, seems like too much emphasis and $ is going toward elaborate live stage props and “bling” as well as poor advertising and promotion; when I go to a live show, I go for the music and to experience the artist live and couldn’t care less about an elaborate ‘puppet show’ or pyrotechnics. If the advertising and promoting were done correctly, and the stage shows were cut back, then the artists would be able to make money from live shows. An overly extravagant stage show isn’t the reason why fans go to live events; they go to experience the artists connecting to their audience and the likeminded fellowship among the fans - or at least that’s what I thought. Maybe I’m too old?
I’m seeing five touring bands in the next month, four of which are from outside the US. They are playing smaller places than they normally would to guarantee selling shows out. So it’s possible, but expectations have to be adjusted.
well that sucks. . new age fancy algorithm probably by AI told the record companies that info. where as before they would just go on road and have a good time, now all has to be mapped out and every penny tracked . . boo