It was 1996 when I bought my first Chemical Brothers album. A year later a leaving Europe. I’m sitting in the tourist class of some Delta Airlines jet flying to NYC. “Dig your own whole” is looping on my CD-Player during that flight and just a few days later, I am listening to the album in my new employer “Thing.net’s” large 26th street loft, after people have gone home.

During my NYC stay I met some guys from Astralwerks, the record label of Big Beat artists like the Chemical Brothers and many others. The label had a loft with a recording studio just next to a friends office on Broadway (& Houston). Astralwerks frequently invited people for some parties and listening sessions into their studio and I used to go in and out there. Today Astralwerks has artists like Hamburg based “Digitalismn” or NYC locals DFA in its portfolio.

I have been in Berlin last weekend. Partying, when I received a message from my friend Donald in Moscow: “Hey, you want to go see the Chemical Brothers next week? I can put us on the list”. Great. I wanted to see them anyway, but expected the typical Moscow premium price and seriously considered going. Now it was no question.

We arrived early last night. Its always risky business with the guest lists and we wanted to have some extra time which was good, because there was no guest list. Donald called the tour manager and found out that the club (B1) doesn’t allow a guest list and the band is arguing with the club (at the time being). He was confident it would be sorted out and it was. About 20 min later a girl came asking us if we are waiting for the guest list. Nevertheless there were many more people on the list than tickets available. We were lucky we were early.

So, would you pay $100 for this show? Yes, you heard right. 2200 Rub. if you bought it upfront or 2500 on the show. Well, the Chemical Brothers“>Chemical Brothers are known for having a spectacular show, but is it really worth $100? Thank god, I didn’t have to make that decision. Nevertheless there were many more people than I expected to see with a premium ticket price like this. Besides the usual creative crowd you could see business men in suits (with their bunnies) and lots of known artists from TV and film. We saw Tschulpan Chamatowa from Good Bye Lenin and many others from TV, DJing, Music and so on. Well, of course… who else could spend that amount of money for a 2 hour show.

The show was good. To be honest I am not sure it was worth $100 for me. I liked the light show and the video projections. As usual the Chemical Brothers work with some of the best artist in that area. The Chemical Brothers themselves are hiding behind a giant table with synths and samplers. Only once in a while they come out front and show themselves. Most of the time, they seem to be hiding inside of the shadow of their large projections. Well, I guess its the music it is all about. Speaking of which. Its always hard for electronic artists to make a live gig in that scale. What should you play? Turning some knops and hitting the sampler? Artists like Massive Attack get a live band, which is learning to play live instruments with their electronic music. Others like Miss Kitten or Etienne De Crecy just spin their favorite records, as they’d do it in a normal club setup. The Chemical Brothers are hiding, but they provide you with a large video screen and giant video projections along with lasers and other light effects.

B1 is known for its bad sound system and setup. I have witnessed that personally with De La Soul and Etienne de Crecy and there is proof of others which think the same way (including some local DJ friends of mine). This fact is always surprising me, since B1 is around for a while now and its known to be the only real live club/location in Moscow. One should think they would get it right at one point. Well, they did last night. The sound was not balanced well, but at least we didn’t have the usual outages and feedbacks. Then again, nobody was singing this time. I am even wondering, if the Chemical Brothers didn’t bring their own equipment. While we are bashing B1 I have a few more comments. The club’s staff is generally unfriendly. Hey, you pay a premium price (OK not me) and then you get treated like a little kid in times. There is lots of improvements to be made on this one. I also got cheated at the bar. I ordered a drink that should have cost 450 Rub. Gave the bartender a 1000 and he gave me 400 change back. When I realized it and wanted to complain, he looked at me, grinned and moved away with a “Sorry I’m busy”. Don’t take any of the cocktails. They are expensive and weak. Man, I paid 500 (yes, five hundred) Rubels for a Long Island Ice tea. I knew the price, because I checked the menu, but for that price I would have expected the usual 0.5l or more. Instead I got a 0.3 glass with mostly Cola.

So, would you spend $100 to see the Chemical Brothers Live? There is another gig at B1 tonight. Hope the Brothers gonna work it out.

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B1 Club

ул. Орджоникидзе, 11

Ordzhonikidze Street, 11

телефон: (495) 648-6777