Live
Orbital
Brixton Academy
25 September 2009 (gig)
30 September 2009
In 2004 the Hartnoll brothers, that comprise Orbital, announced that Glastonbury would be their last UK gig ever. The revellers flocked to see this legendary act and felt a touch of melancholy when the rave was over. Fast forward to 2009, and the brothers decided to come out of retirement to play to dedicated fans and followers inside the infamous Brixton Academy and sold out their two night stint.
Orbital have been around for 20 years and in that time have shaped and challenged electronica to a quintessence, so having the privilege of witnessing their revolutionary sound is overwhelming.
Purple lights illuminate the stage and smoke billows out into the crowd. As the curtain goes up revealing four white screens where the visuals will be displayed, the brothers walk out wearing glasses with lights on the side of them, so that they can see what they are doing when they do their precise and ridiculous mixing. A sample of 'Time Becomes A Loop’ is echoed around the academy, before launching into 'Out There Somewhere Part One’, which pleases the crowd. The bass is heavy and insane and the beat is slow. The juxtaposition of the peaceful, serene woman’s voice and the hectic electronic beats are extraordinary.
'The Moebius’ which is from their first album Orbital (The Green Album) has a sample of the Star Trek The Next Generation episode 'Time Squared', and the words 'when we reach that point, whatever happened will happen again" are projected at the raving crowd.
During the set, the visuals displayed are not light hearted; they touch on the joys of science and the bleakness of current affairs. For instance whilst building up the crowd with intense rave beats, on the screens above are images of global warming and how mankind has destroyed the earth. Going to an Orbital gig is not to be taken lightly, it is an education.
As set one finishes, they take a small break to thank their bopping crowd and propel into set two. Set one eases the audience into the beauty of the act whereas set two throws you in at the deep end wanting you to get immersed and find your way out gradually. The presence of 'Remind’ makes everyone flow more fluidly and the slow beatsy sound builds up until you simply cannot take it anymore. They obviously know what gets a crowd going. They are veterans and modern acts have tried to emulate their style but have inevitably failed in their quest. Before set two finishes, the blissed out 'The Girl With The Sun In Her Head’ from 'In Sides’ rounds it off aptly.
Set three utters the words: 'Mumbo jumbo, black magic, hocus pocus' before the crowd realises that it is the beginnings of 'Satan’, and they wave their hands into the air with the strobes assault the audience, leaving them disorientated and anxious to dance. Flowing into the familiar 'Belfast’ with the distinctive heavenly woman’s voiced looped throughout the song. The song is distinctly electronic and is an indication of a winding down to the proceedings in an almost mythical and heavenly manner. They slowly move into the eponymous 'Halcyon’ which is the ultimate way to end the set, but instead of calming the audience down, the brothers gets everyone going with their wicked version including samples from Belinda Carlisle’s 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ and the classic Bon Jovi track 'You Give Love A Bad Name.’ Orbital’s heavy synths and beats over the samples are wicked producing a really techno version.
Leaving the stage, the crowd think that’s it, but fortunately they saunter back on stage ready to play 'The Box’ (parts one and two) as they can’t let people leave calmly, they want them to leave on an absolute high and finishing with the famed Dr Who theme, they certainly have achieved this. Will this be their final gig? They clearly enjoy it too much to leave again and their fans will always welcome them back with open arms and rave whistles a-plenty.
Orbital have been around for 20 years and in that time have shaped and challenged electronica to a quintessence, so having the privilege of witnessing their revolutionary sound is overwhelming.
Purple lights illuminate the stage and smoke billows out into the crowd. As the curtain goes up revealing four white screens where the visuals will be displayed, the brothers walk out wearing glasses with lights on the side of them, so that they can see what they are doing when they do their precise and ridiculous mixing. A sample of 'Time Becomes A Loop’ is echoed around the academy, before launching into 'Out There Somewhere Part One’, which pleases the crowd. The bass is heavy and insane and the beat is slow. The juxtaposition of the peaceful, serene woman’s voice and the hectic electronic beats are extraordinary.
'The Moebius’ which is from their first album Orbital (The Green Album) has a sample of the Star Trek The Next Generation episode 'Time Squared', and the words 'when we reach that point, whatever happened will happen again" are projected at the raving crowd.
During the set, the visuals displayed are not light hearted; they touch on the joys of science and the bleakness of current affairs. For instance whilst building up the crowd with intense rave beats, on the screens above are images of global warming and how mankind has destroyed the earth. Going to an Orbital gig is not to be taken lightly, it is an education.
As set one finishes, they take a small break to thank their bopping crowd and propel into set two. Set one eases the audience into the beauty of the act whereas set two throws you in at the deep end wanting you to get immersed and find your way out gradually. The presence of 'Remind’ makes everyone flow more fluidly and the slow beatsy sound builds up until you simply cannot take it anymore. They obviously know what gets a crowd going. They are veterans and modern acts have tried to emulate their style but have inevitably failed in their quest. Before set two finishes, the blissed out 'The Girl With The Sun In Her Head’ from 'In Sides’ rounds it off aptly.
Set three utters the words: 'Mumbo jumbo, black magic, hocus pocus' before the crowd realises that it is the beginnings of 'Satan’, and they wave their hands into the air with the strobes assault the audience, leaving them disorientated and anxious to dance. Flowing into the familiar 'Belfast’ with the distinctive heavenly woman’s voiced looped throughout the song. The song is distinctly electronic and is an indication of a winding down to the proceedings in an almost mythical and heavenly manner. They slowly move into the eponymous 'Halcyon’ which is the ultimate way to end the set, but instead of calming the audience down, the brothers gets everyone going with their wicked version including samples from Belinda Carlisle’s 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ and the classic Bon Jovi track 'You Give Love A Bad Name.’ Orbital’s heavy synths and beats over the samples are wicked producing a really techno version.
Leaving the stage, the crowd think that’s it, but fortunately they saunter back on stage ready to play 'The Box’ (parts one and two) as they can’t let people leave calmly, they want them to leave on an absolute high and finishing with the famed Dr Who theme, they certainly have achieved this. Will this be their final gig? They clearly enjoy it too much to leave again and their fans will always welcome them back with open arms and rave whistles a-plenty.