Chemical Brothers & adidas say Don't Think, Dance

When adidas and Chemical Brothers united for an evening of dance and film in London it was the hottest ticket in town. A screening of Don't Think, a film by RSA director Adam Smith which records a Chemical Brothers gig in Japan, plus thrills and spills added by adidas, was where everyone who wasn't watching the Olympics wanted to be.

The Quarry editor Mark Whelan edited the film and below we hear from Talent Hungry's Frankie Singler, who works with London edit house The Quarry, about the night and what it offered.

"Last week we were waiting patiently at The Quarry for that all-important email; confirmation from adidas that we had secured an invite to their immersive screening of the Chemical Brothers concert film Don’t Think. 

The #adidasunderground email hit our inboxes at the 11th hour. We raced to our secret location in East London and were welcomed by an army of clown-faced make up artists, ready to transform us.

Once made up, we were taken to another secret site, given wristbands and a white zip-up adidas top. A quick dance to a personally selected song in the Absolut Vodka booth meant another free drink to add to the two on our wristbands. We were then transported to our third and final secret location.

The atmosphere was electric; two big screens, situated at right angles, were playing a one-off 60 minute film specifically prepared for that night. Don’t Think director Adam Smith of RSA and the film's editor, The Quarry's Mark Whelan used archive rushes from the visuals of previous Chemical Brothers gigs, cut to a sound mix that the Brothers had made especially.

Clown-faced Chemical Brother fans continued to join the party organised by ML Studio. They lined up at the Absolut bar, had their photos taken by a Facebook-linked camera and played Rock/Paper/Scissors in a bid to win their snacks (popcorn or frozen yoghurt) at the Snack Busking stand [you lose, you pay. We played rock, Mr Snack Busking went with paper. Doh!].

And then suddenly the Chemical Brothers’ long time performance artist Mark Monero appeared. The baseline hit our chests, the music filled our ears. The film had begun. All at once, we were transported to the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan which played out on one screen whilst other visuals played out on the screen next to it with flawless unity and incredible artistry.

As we danced through the incredible tracks such as Do It Again, Hey Boy, Hey Girl and Block Rockin Beats, dancer Mark Monero made several appearances, his attire mirroring whatever was happening in the film. For Saturate, yellow and green bouncy balls were released. A truly immersive experience. 

Smith’s aim for the film was to "capture the experience of the band's live show in an unconventional manner. Music is the script and the script is a journey through live emotions. Don't Think is what experiencing them feels like”.  And boy did we feel them..."