KEY POINTS:
You know you're at a Chemical Brothers gig when one beer has the same effect as three shots of absinthe.
The British dance icons put on a show that felt just the same - bright on the eyes, hot on the brain and, at times, as overwhelming as a rush of adrenalin.
Combined with the optical illusions created by their otherworldly light show, even teetotallers would have found themselves in an altered state. Especially when a clown face that would have given Stephen King nightmares snarled from the backdrop during All Rights Reversed.
After 16 years together, Ed Simons and Tom Rowland don't need to impress with new tricks.
They can get away with playing their songs one after the other.
In that sense, it was a fairly simple set by their standards, with minimal tweaking, although they did stretch out the shrill intro of Hey Boy, Hey Girl, and play with the bleeping rhythms of Out of Control.
Despite a new album to flaunt, this was a show steeped in nostalgia, as they dropped favourites from Exit Planet Dust days and beyond, moving between muddy psychedelia, uplifting instrumentals and a few quieter, reflective moments.
Perhaps it's telling they opened with Galvanize, rather than one off the newest and least appealing album, We Are the Night. They also opted not to play that album's novelty hit, The Salmon Song.
While early hits Block Rockin' Beats, Chemical Beats and Loops of Fury kept loyal fans happy, the best stuff was from their 1999 album, Surrender, and the throbbing show they put on at the Big Day Out in 2000. Particularly when the backdrops flashed with illuminated snowflakes on The Sunshine Underground.
But when they did turn on the sirens, rev the bass or fire up the amps, they showed they still know how to get pretty nasty. Which is just how we like 'em.
