Kevin Bronson on August 30th, 2010

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By Laura Ferreiro

As the summer draws to a close, the Chemical Brothers joined forces with fellow dance music purveyors Chromeo and YACHT for the penultimate show of the 2010 KCRW World Fest series at the Hollywood Bowl. The veteran British duo proved capable of getting nearly everyone at the venue out of their seats to dance – no easy feat at the traditionally subdued venue – but failed to deliver the emotional punch that has become a trademark of their strongest live shows.

• ||| Photo: Andrew Youssef. For a full gallery, see his work on Stereogum.

Starting with “Galvanize” from 2005’s “Push The Button,” Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons seemed poised to mix in several crowd-pleasers with the obligatory material from their new album, “Further.” But this proved a bit of a fluke as they concentrated on the new tunes for most of their hour-and-a-half set. It’s easy to see why the Chemical Brothers have endured as one of the most respected acts in their genre, and their performance was far more earnest and explosive than the opening bands’ tongue-in-cheek, mildly humorous sets. What’s more, their seventh full-length “Further” is a strong album and far superior to the duo’s last two albums, which hinted at a late-career slump. But the band missed the opportunity to blow the lid of the place, teasing the crowd with brief snippets of “Hey Boy, Hey Girl” and “Believe,” but quickly segueing into new tunes that brought the crowd back down to earth.

Adorned by lasers, strobes and impressive video displays, their visual effects were mesmerizing and served as a perfect backdrop to their hypnotizing music. But on the whole, their set clearly lacked the emotional resonance and transcendent experience they’ve been capable of delivering in the past.

Openers Chromeo brought a good dose of humor to the proceedings, arriving on stage to a chorus of sleek-looking ladies (think the Robert Palmer girls) singing their name and pounding on keyboards held up by plastic, high-heeled legs. “Our name is Chromeo, we came to get down,” David “Dave 1″ Macklovitch announced to the massive crowd as the duo cranked out their ’70s disco and ’80s new-wave influenced tunes, which saw Patrick “P-Thugg” Gemayel using a vocoder to digitize his voice and send his high notes into the stratosphere.

Kicking things off with “Outta Sight” and “Tenderoni” from 2007’s “Fancy Footwork,” the Canadian duo (who refer to themselves as “the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human time”) then previewed a smattering of tracks from their forthcoming album “Business Casual,” which illustrate their gift for harnessing the melodic, electronic campiness of ’80s synth rock and turning it into something modern, danceable and sleek.

YACHT did their best to capture the attention of those who arrived early to the Bowl, jumping up and down and pounding out their indie electronic beats alongside a bevy of dancing ladies (again, think Robert Palmer girls) as well as a drum corps who provided live percussion on the mostly electronic tracks. Fronted by vocalist Jona Bechtolt and recent addition Claire Evans, the band harnessed an impressive amount of energy and displayed an appealing stage presence that won over several skeptics by the end of their brief set.

Laura Ferreiro is an L.A.-based freelance writer.