9/24/07.

My favorite concert ever started like most concerts I've been to. You show up a little late, to avoid the terrible opening bands. You find the optimal standing room taken already, so you do your best to maneuver to somewhere in 'the middle,' and wait as the last opening band finishes up their lackluster set. As they do, the handful of friends they have at the show cheer maniacally, but every else just sort of settles in, to await the main act.

You stand, and you wait in relative darkness, as more and more people file in. You notice the space around you get smaller and smaller, until someone is dangerously close to your ass, while you're dangerously close to someone else's ass. You shift your weight from foot to foot, wishing you had arrived early enough to snag a seat, or a good wall or railing to lean against. You start to sweat, but only on the inside of your shirt, and it drips slowly down your body, but there is no way to cool off, except to fight your way through the now full venue and lose your valuable standing space.

So you wait. And you get thirsty, wishing beers weren't 9 bucks, and waters weren't 4. And someone around you smells. Not just of alcohol, but of having not showered since last night, and you can't figure out who it is. You see an occasional person walk across the stage, checking sound levels, making sure all the wires are plugged in. Every time someone new walks across the stage, you crane your neck to try to see around the tall guy in the hat who decided to plant himself in front of you. A group of Asians chats excitedly and quickly somewhere behind you.

That was all typical at the best concert I've been to. But that moment when things suddenly get a little darker, and everyone cuts the conversation...that was just buildup. It started out slow. A few flashes of light, a low meandering bassline.

Then, it started.

I can't describe it very well. Honestly, I was rather overwhelmed. The first song had video with old 50's style Russian Industrialist/Communist propaganda video.

Link.

I admit, the Chemical Brothers are not my favorite band, and the Riv is not my favorite venue. But man. That night, was something else.