CityLife

Orbital

INNOVATIVE: Orbital

FIVE years after announcing their split, brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll are back on tour with their seminal rave troupe Orbital to commemorate their 20th anniversary. 

The news of the reformation was not only a surprise, but also cause for great excitement amongst a generation of ravers who considered Orbital essential players in the acid house movement.

The second of a two night-stint, tonight gave ample evidence that in spite of their advancing years, Orbital’s reputation for hedonistic live performances, forged by a legendary performance at Glastonbury in 1994, is undiminished.

After an excellent support slot from Manchester’s next great band Delphic, the Hartnoll brothers, complete with trademark head-lights, take to their stage set which is as domineering as ever, with little changing since their early days (apart from the Apple Mac that is now a prominent tool).

After a surprisingly tentative opening where the peculiar timeline visuals were far more interesting than anything happening onstage, Orbital suddenly burst into life, happy to give the excitable crowd exactly what they want.

Pivoting around mid-set highlight Satan, most of their best moments are gladly revisited: Chime, Halcyon and Belfast all sound mammoth, twisted in all sorts of directions, all the time building unstoppable momentum that turns the crowd into frenzy.

The brothers’ enthusiasm certainly helps, able as they are to connect with the audience in a way that dance acts traditionally find difficult, starting clap-alongs, dancing like fools and generally engaging the crowd with infectious charisma.

A bizarre re-working of Belinda Carlisle and Bon Jovi towards the end of the set was as baffling as it was needless, momentarily turning the gig into some sort of erstwhile student disco.

Nevertheless, it didn’t detract from the fact Orbital can celebrate 20 years of innovation knowing they are still capable of providing old skool thrills like few others.