International Goodwill Tour

International Goodwill Tour

Tour by DJ Shadow
Start date	August 6, 1999 (1999-08-06)
End date	January 18, 2000 (2000-01-18)

The International Goodwill Tour was a tour that DJ Shadow headlined during the end of 1999. Dates included festival visits such as Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, La Route Du Rock Fest and Coachella 1999. DJ Shadow also supported the Chemical Brothers and Underworld in America as part of their own tour. Shadow's sets were supported by Quannum, Blackalicious, Latryx, Jurassic 5, and Cut Chemist on various dates.

The tour was highlighted by the Brainfreeze mix which was sold at shows to fans. The mix by Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow would go on to be massively bootlegged across the world. The original Brainfreeze recording was itself a recording of a rehearsal for a show on February 26 1999 which both DJs had taken part in.

For Creamfields, DJ Shadow's set was scheduled for 7:45-9PM, and was followed by the Scratch Perverts at 10-11PM, and James Lavelle at 1230-130AM.

During the 18 Oct 1999 show at The Theater of Living Arts, Cut Chemist had his records stolen and so was unable to perform. On December 20 it was reported that the records had been returned and in January 2000 Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow performed a "farewell" show in California which was live streamed on the Jurassic 5 website and later officially released on VHS and DVD.

On September 1st DJ Shadow played a show in Milan which was recorded and later released as part of his Handmade series. Shadow described the show on his website:

"This was at a time when hip-hop DJs were expected to really show off. I was massively inspired by Q-Bert’s concept of scratch languages and vocabulary, which I think you can hear during the solos over ‘Lesson 4’ and ‘I Changed My Mind.’ Listening to it now, it’s no wonder I started having wrist trouble!...There were massive pot plants everywhere, and the vibe was depressingly laid back at first. When I started, there were about 30 people there. By the end, though, it was closer to about 900, and it was live."

Dates

Date	Country	City	Venue	Notes
6 Aug 1999	Portugal	Lisbon	Sudoueste
7 Aug 1999	Spain	Valencia	-	Benicassim Festival
8 Aug 1999	Spain	Benicassim	-	Festival Internacional de Benicàssim - FIB 1999
13 Aug 1999	France	St. Malo	Fort de Saint Père	La Route Du Rock Fest
20 Aug 1999	Northern Ireland	Belfast	Mandela Hall
21 Aug 1999	England	Chelmsford	-	V99
22 Aug 1999	England	Staffordshire	-	V99
27 Aug 1999	Belgium	Hasselt	-	Creamfields
28 Aug 1999	England	Liverpool	-	Creamfields
29 Aug 1999	Ireland	Dublin	HQ
1 Sep 1999	Italy	Milan	Breda
3 Sep 1999	Spain	Barcelona	Nitsa Club
4 Sep 1999	Spain	Madrid	Maxime
1 Oct 1999	Japan	Tokyo	Liquid Room	Quannum featuring Blackalicious, DJ Shadow & Latryx
6 Oct 1999	Canada	Vancouver	PNE Forum	Supporting Chemical Brothers
8 Oct 1999	USA	San Francisco	Bill Graham Civic Auditorium	Supporting Chemical Brothers and Underworld
9 Oct 1999	USA	Sacramento	Bojangles	With Blackalicious
10 Oct 1999	USA	California	Empire Polo Field	Coachella 1999
12 Oct 1999	USA	Eugene	W.O.W.	With Cut Chemist
13 Oct 1999	USA	Seattle	Aerospace	With Cut Chemist
14 Oct 1999	USA	Portaland	Station 315	With Cut Chemist
17 Oct 1999	USA	Baltimore	Fletchers	With Cut Chemist
18 Oct 1999	USA	Philadelphia	The Theater of Living Arts	Cut Chemist can't play as his records are stolen
19 Oct 1999	USA	New York City	Bowery Ballroom	With Cut Chemist
22 Oct 1999	USA	Detroit	St. Andrews	With special guests Latyrx
23 Oct 1999	USA	Chicago	Smart Bar	With special guests Latyrx
24 Oct 1999	USA	Minneapolis	The Quest	With special guests Latyrx
26 Oct 1999	USA	Denver	Bluebird	With special guests Latyrx
28 Oct 1999	USA	Houston	Numbers	With special guests Latyrx
30 Oct 1999	USA	Austin	Music Hall	With Jurassic 5
31 Oct 1999	Hawaii	Honolulu	Club Superstar
1 Nov 1999	Hawaii	Waikiki	Wave Waikiki
18 Jan 2000	USA	California	El Rey	Brainfreeze Farewell - DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist

Recordings

Several recordings were made along the tour, mostly recorded by fans in the audience. The following are known to exist:

• 13 Aug 1999 - France - La Route Du Rock Fest

• 1 Sep 1999 - Italy - Breda

• 10 Oct 1999 - USA - Coachella 1999

• 17 Oct 1999 - USA - Fletchers

• 18 Oct 1999 - USA - The Theater of Living Arts

• 30 Oct 1999 - USA - Austin Music Hall

• 18 Jan 2000 - USA - El Rey

Review

6 Oct 1999

PNE Forum in Vancouver Canada

As for DJ Shadow, what can I say.... he played his whole album is seemed... plus a few tracks I've never heard. Then as a surprise... Latyryx (Latif The Truth Speaker and Lyrics Born) came on and rocked some solesides shit.... which wasn't all that well received... It was wierd, because all the triphop/acid headz who were there to peep Shadow couldn't really get into it cause it was "too hip hop" it seemed... but they weren't "hip hop enough" for the Jeru fans to get into it... problem!

7 Oct 1999

Fletchers in Baltimore USA

Fletchers was a small place in Baltimore that local bands played at, but sometimes had pretty cool national acts.

The City Paper said "A DJ Shadow performance is something of a cross between a multisensory experience and a brief bout with schizophrenia—your brain overloads attempting to match the alien sounds skittering unpredictably through the speakers with the rapid motion of the DJ's hands. This is a good thing, and not surprisingly, a large, diverse crowd packed Fletcher's to its limits with bodies, smoke, and, eventually, some flailing limbs and nodding heads, thanks to the California-based Shadow.

The show began with a set by local DJ Fluid consisting mainly of interesting techstep and drum 'n' bass-style tracks meant clearly for the dance floor. But save for a few lone ravers oblivious to, or undeterred by, the predominant vibe, there was little movement throughout Fluid's set. Few DJs doing a set of pure mixing could expect to set off a crowd waiting to see a whiz-kid turntablist like Shadow, especially in a non-dance-club environment like Fletcher's.

But when Shadow came on, the crowd quickly sprang to life. He began his set with a friendly introduction and a thoughtful overture of what he'd be spinning in his set: some of his earliest solo works, newer material from the U.N.K.L.E. collaboration with James LaVelle, and lots of hip-hop by groups such as the Jurassic Five and Gang Starr. With this opening, Shadow set the tone for a night on which he proved that he has as many people skills with an audience as he has skills with the turntables.

Throughout the first part of his set, the combination of old-school tunes with big, raucous beats and plentiful scratching and transforming tricks elicited audible excitement from the audience. Many danced with their eyes riveted on Shadow's hands as he pitched a single sound from a record up and down to create a melody, used four fast fingers on his fader to stutter a vocal sample, triggered echoes on particular words within a rap, and juggled perfectly delayed beats back and forth between two turntables. The large crowd clearly had as much fun dancing to live renditions of some of Shadow's solo tracks (such as "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" from the Endtroducing album on Mo' Wax) as they did cheering Shadow when he broke out of the beat to show off.

The most engaging part of the night, however, was Shadow's rapport with the crowd. He appeared to be sincerely enjoying himself, grinning when fans reacted to one of his tricks and coming out from behind his tables to slap hands with those in front. Frequently, Shadow grabbed the mic to address the crowd, explaining the origins of some of the songs he played or announcing his appreciation for Baltimore. His turntable skills alone demand respect, but as he proved here, it is charisma and accessibility that allow DJ Shadow to manipulate a crowd."

Review of 19 Oct 1999 show at The Bowery Ballroom, NYC DJ Anna (with additional reporting by DJ Signify)

By the time DJ Shadow took the stage at 11 pm, some people had been standing around for hours, because the second show got cancelled and the original 8 pm showtime had to be pushed back. DJ Mr. Len played some hip-hop jams to keep the folks happy. By the time DJ Shadow took the stage, everyone was ready to hear the maestro get loose.

Although a lot of music press tends to lump Shadow together with mostly trip hop and electronica artists, he is a hip-hop artist to the core, and there is a reason why his name starts with "D.J."

DJ Shadow's hour and a half live set was an amazing journey through his original music and the work of other hip-hop artists who have influenced him. While he could have surrounded himself with samplers, sequencers and other doodads, Shadow rocked it with two turntables, a microphone, a mixer and a small effects processor. He scratched over his very first record, "Lesson 4" and fucked it up like only he could do. (F.Y.I. The next day whilst record shopping, Shadow told us that he had done both "Lesson 4" and the Lifers Group "Real Deal" remix with only a 4-track, no sampler!) And let me just say that this kid has been practicing, and his cuts got REAL nice. He did amazing chirps, stabs and transforms all over the drum sequences in "Building Steam From a Grain of Salt" and did a live remix of "Midnight In A Perfect World." It was so great to hear my favorite tracks from the groundbreaking Endtroducing album at a live show. But I think it was during the live remix of "High Noon" that the audience really started going crazy, as Shadow continued mixing and scratching the hell out of his best tracks. He also did a small set of hip-hop oldies and goodies in between his own work and actually got this New York crowd dancing.

Shadow started the show with the announcement that the "Brainfreeze" 45 session with Cut Chemist that was supposed to follow Shadow's solo set would not happen, and although the audience booed and jeered, Shadow made a couple jokes and promised that they would return. It turns out that Cut Chemist's box of "Brainfreeze" 45s, originally used at the Future Primitive Strictly 45 Session, were stolen in Portland by someone posing as a courier to pick them up. Cut Chemist and the rest of us were pretty dismayed by the news, but there are detectives hot on the trail as we speak, and hopefully they will be recovered. Cut Chemist did get to flex his skills, on the lighting board, that is! Cut spent the night doing Shadow's lights, very well I might add, and then he went up for a beautiful scratch session over the instrumental of his Blackalicious "A2G" remix at the finale.

UPDATE: Cut Chemist got his records back. Cut Chemist called the author to let her know the records have been found and are on their way back to him.

At the December 17th Future Primitive Soundsession in San Francisco (12/17/99), DJ Anna's set featured a video starring Cut Chemist about the case of the missing 45s.

13 Oct 1999

Aerospace in Seattle, USA

As for DJ Shadow, not much to say. He did his album live. Thats it. It was cool to listen to while we were chillin' in the lounge waiting for the show to start. There really wasn't much to see.

I have to be honest and say that the highlight of the show for me was seeing Latryics. They were hella dope. Tight I tell ya. Lyrics Born has a little sway is his step when he rhymes. All in all a tight show.

18 Jan 2000

El Rey Theater in USA

LUSHED ON SLUSH Crazy shouts out to Cut Chemsit, DJ Shadow and everyone involved in last night's Brainfreeze: The Last Dance concert at LA's El Rey Theater. I was very blessed to have the opportunity to come down for the show (almost derailed at the airport when my credit card company decided to put a hold on my sh*t, 20 minutes before my flight). Like the original Future Primitive Sound Session where Brainfreeze was first publically played for folks, this was an all 45 evening with DJs Marvski, Dante, Numark, Z-Trip, Cut Chemist and Shadow breaking out their 7"s and breaking down the crowd with the ridiculous songs they pulled out of the woodwork.

I got there too late to catch Marvski's set but Chi-town's Dante kept it strictly funky, flipping out 45s full of raging breakbeats and slick vamps. Jurassic 5's Numark pulled out crazy hip-hop 45s, including MANY a song that you probably never knew was on 7". He was killing it with some Run DMC sets, then bringing in the Beasties, LL, and a whole range of '80s old(er) school legends.

Arizona's Z-Trip was his usual eclectic self - what I think is brilliant about Z (and you can hear this on the Future Primitive Sound Session album with him and Radar) is how he manages to take songs that aren't necessarily ultra-rare, dusty finger dug, etc. etc. and make the sh*t sound GOOD in the mix. For example, he brought the house crashing down with a set of 80s t.v.show themes, including *The Dukes of Hazard*, *Miami Vice* and the monster jam from *The A-Team*.

As for the main acts: Shadow and Cut, what is there to be said? It was a mindblowing, amazing performance, one that not only cements the two as skilled DJ/performers (who says Shadow can't cut it up?) but just deep musical minds who have a real ear for the feel of funk. Most of their set was based of the *Brainfreeze* mix-album, but they took creative license to branch out with some new mixes and extended sessions such as both Cut and Shadow's beat-juggling sets - *pause* think about that. Beat juggling with 45s that have to use the 7" adapter. Talk about hand control...damn!.

As an added treat, Quannum's Lateef came on down from the Bay to rip "The Wreckoning" 45 mix that he and Shadow originally put together on his first Solesides 12". True to form, Shadow supplied the background beats, crashing down beats on the funky chrome axe of the turntables. Not to be outdone, Dialated People's Iriscience jumped on-stage and got funky to the bone, sparking off the "Triple Optics" remix last heard on *The Funky Precedent* with Cut Chemist taking over DJ duties for Babu.

One of the best indicators of how dope the show was could be seen in how many talented peers of the two DJs became part of the stunned fans. Z-Trip was literally bugging out and some of their new material and in the front stage crowd I could spot the Beat Junkies' Rhettmatic, Future Primitive Sound Sessions' Mark Herlihy, Stonesthrow's Peanut Butter Wolf, Breakestra's That Kid Named Miles, and Blackalicious' Chief Xcel was hiding in the back, intently focused on the musical mayhem around him.

For those who still haven't gotten their *Brainfreeze* CD...oops - last night was supposed to be the last chance, BUT fear not...there will be a *Brainfreeze 2* in the works for sometime this year or early next.

For those who haven't heard of *Brainfreeze* to begin with...damn, where the hell you been? Not to self-promote too egregiously but check this story out on the *Brainfreeze* phenom, penned by yours truly: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/00/08/music-wang.shtml

Images

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  Tour Tee Black

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  Tour Tee Blue

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  Tour Tee Back

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  Spain Poster

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  FIB Poster

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  Pukkel Pop Poster

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  V99 Poster

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  Coachella 1999 Poster

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  Chemical Brothers poster by Chris Shaw

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  Ticket to August 10 gig

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  Flyer for Oct 13 gig

External Links

DJ Shadow Live @ Fletcher's (Baltimore) Oct. 17 1999 on Youtube

CMJ New Music Report 25 Oct 1999 page 36 mentioning the tour

MTV News Article on Tour

T-shirt on Minor Thread Flickr

Tracklist of 13 Aug 1999 La Route Du Rock Fest show

Poster for Chemical Brothers show Chris Shaw

Review of Chemical Brothers show on August 10 1999

Freeze show from 18 Jan 2000 on YouTube

Review of October 19 1999 show

Review of January 18 2000 show

Interview with DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist about the tour