The Chemical Brothers

AO Arena, Manchester

“Just remember to fall in love. There's nothing else.”

And there was so much love in the AO Arena for The Chemical Brothers on Friday night, as Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands returned to where it all began.

It’s been 35 years since the pair met at the University of Manchester and it was a glorious homecoming for the absolute legends of electronic dance music.

Having a pre-gig drink in a bar that was playing Chemical Brothers tunes, the atmosphere was happy and everyone was ready for a party.

And the gig did not disappoint as Manchester’s adopted sons graced the stage at bob on 9pm, delivering a blistering two-hour set of too many tunes to mention with a backdrop of mind-bending visuals.

The setlist kicked off with Go, and the crowd needed no warming up – we were more than ready to go.

From Do It Again and the bossy visual instructing me to ‘Just get yourself high’ (I’ll stick to my £16.95 two-pinter of Biarra Moretti if it’s all the same to you Mister Devil) to the gorgeous Swoon which always makes me smile (see this article’s intro).

The crowd lapped up the likes of Hey Boy, Hey Girl then MAH and a progressively delightful Star Guitar.

There was a bit of a mash-up including Elektrobank and Setting Sun, I would’ve loved either of these in full. Or just even a bit more than a taster.

Tracks from the new album - For That Beautiful Feeling – released just last month included Live Again, The Darkness That You Fear and Feel Like I'm Dreaming.

Another visual highlight were the huge colourful balls that bounced around the standing section of the arena while Saturate from 2007 album We Are The Night played.

The Private Psychedelic Wheel, with more mind-bending visuals in the style of church stained glass windows, brought the epic gig to a close.

A triumphant show by the pair whose tunes have been the soundtrack to our lives for up to 30 years – with hopefully more to come.

The Chemical Brothers will be at Dublin's 3Arena on November 1, Birmingham's Utilita Arena on November 3 and London's O2 on November 4.