DON'T THINK: The Chemical Brothers Spill Onto The Big Screen

The Chemical Brothers perform at Denver's Fillmore Auditorium, September 2010

by Toby Click

For nearly twenty years, The Chemical Brothers have created electronic music designed for listening as much as dancing. So perhaps this makes them especially suited to being the subject of a concert film.

Don't Think is a full-length movie, directed by Adam Smith (who made a complete set of videos for all the songs on the British duo's 2010 album Further). Chronicling a performance at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival 2011, it was shown in movie theaters across the nation in a one-night-only event on February 1.

If you have not seen Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons perform live, this is arguably the next best thing. No less than twenty cameras were positioned on the stage, above the stage, in the audience, near the concession stands, all with the goal of capturing the experience from every viewpoint.

The pair performs against an enormous dazzling video backdrop, which displays imagery such as toy robots, 3-D zooms through cathedrals, wild animals, silhouetted lovers, and a giant evil clown commanding the audience to "get yourself high." Throughout, we see the reactions of the audience: some are amused, exhilarated, bewildered, disturbed. At one point, pictures of crickets are projected onto the ground, and curious fans chase after them like a cat following a laser pointer.

Songs include most of their better-known hits: "Block Rockin' Beats", "Star Guitar", "Out of Control", and the title's inspiration: "Don't Think", a bonus track from Further that figured prominently in another movie, Black Swan. A generous portion of screentime is devoted to the sprawling epic "Escape Velocity".

The mix does not simply blend each song's finish into the beginning of the next, but there is layering of elements, sometimes from three or more tracks at once. There's a lot more going on than a couple of guys on a stage pressing a spacebar on a laptop. Although there's a particular moment, when a single finger presses a single key labeled "HBHG", which sends the audience into raptures with the droning intro of "Hey Boy Hey Girl". In a post-movie commentary, the director points out how he included this moment to illustrate how something as simple as pressing one button can ignite such an emotional response among thousands of people at once. And Tom & Ed have many, many buttons at their disposal.

Although no announcements have yet been made, it stands to reason that Don't Think will soon be available for home video and/or audio. When and if it shows up, give it a listen. And maybe dance, too.