Continuing our exploration of concert films, we’re excited to pass along preliminary details about the forthcoming new Chemical Brothers live concert film Don’t Think.
When I read the press release I have to say it’s one of the best curiosity stokers for a concert film I’ve read in a long time, mainly because it actually reads like a concert review — not written by the PR team. So I thought I’d share it with you in it’s entirety:
You blink awake and find yourself halfway up the side of a Japanese mountain. It’s night time, right at the sticky middle point of summer. You’re in an opening in a darkened wood surrounded by – say – 50,000 other revelers, each of them frenzied; delirious from an all-encompassing psychedelia that seems to be emanating from a stage somewhere in the near distance. Above you, lights swoop and strafe across armies of marching toy robots and galloping deconstructed horses; paint balls explode in front of borderline psychotic clowns. You’re in the thick of it, consumed by the spectacle, absorbed into the crowd, surrendering to the noise and the visuals. Stunned by the jaw-dropping intensity of what you’re witnessing, just one thought flashes through your febrile mind.
So as I read on, I was even more pumped to discover that the film will apparently unfold in the direction I wished other fan-centric concert films would have gone, and explored the live concert experience more intimately from the fan perspective, sort of like this one and this one.
Here’s a snippet of cinematic direction as lead by director and long-time Chemical Brothers visual collaborator Adam Smith:
During the film, Smith takes advantage of one of the most unique festival settings in the world when he follows selected audience members away from the stage and out into the natural environment. Then, by adding avant-garde magic realist moments where trippy visuals leave the screens and invade the open spaces of the festival, Don’t Think undergoes a transformation from concert film to fully immersive document of one of the most mind-bendingly psychedelic live shows ever seen. With an extensive global cinema run, the film offers audiences a powerful alternative to the reduced circumstances of watching gig footage on You Tube clips and mobile phone screens.
Shot on location on Sunday July 31st 2011, Don’t Think boasts that it’s “the first concert film to feature glorious Dolby 7:1, surround sound, mixed for the big screen by the band themselves.” And it is due to be shown on more than 500 screens in over 20 territories from February 1st, 2012 (February 3rd U.K). The film has been produced by Marcus Lyall and Lee Groombridge for Ridley Scott’s production company RSA Films in association with ML Studio.
This all looks great and I’m looking foward to seeing Don’t Think, but besides being a stunning visual experience, which I’m sure it will be, I hope the film successfully weaves in the fan experience and tells actual stories of the fans and takes us deeper into what it was like to be at the festival and how the show changed their lives.
On January 26th 2012, 20 cinemas across 20 cities worldwide will host an exclusive advance screening offering fans the first chance to see Don’t Think.
Check out the cinema trailer below and get a full list of cinemas with links to buy tickets at www.dontthinkmovie.com
Until January, let’s swap some Chemical Brother concert stories in the comments below and we’ll explore your experiences in a future episode of Live Fix Radio.