Orbital use first live vocalist in almost 8,000 days!

ORBITAL + MANAMI – BRIGHTON CENTRE 8.4.23

The 13-date UK & Ireland ‘Optical Delusion’ tour certainly ended on a massive high this evening as famed electronic music duo Orbital (who took their name from the M25) brought their stunning show to the Brighton Centre and shared something rather special indeed!

The world changed for Sevenoaks (Kent) born brothers Phil and Paul back in 1989 when they emerged from the knocked-through stair cupboard ‘home office’ under the stairs of their parents’ house, gleefully having tinkered with their keyboards, a drum machine and a 4-track, the result ‘Chime’. Sometimes in music you hear a sound like nothing else you have heard before, such as Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ or ‘Blue Monday’ by New Order, well ‘Chime’ was one of those moments for me. ….and thus Orbital was born!

Phil purchased his first synthesiser after hearing ’80s groups such as Cabaret Voltaire pioneering a new electronic sound. The seed was doubly planted with inspiration from Kraftwerk with their uniform of red shirts and black pencil ties. Although Orbital rose to prominence during the post-acid house era, the brothers always wanted to be treated like an electronic band, with their uniformity set via their trademark torch glasses which gave them their iconic unifying look.

The brothers absorbed elements from a wide range of genres, such as ambient, electro, punk, and film scores. They became one of the biggest names in music during the mid-’90s by completely reinventing the notion of what a dance act could do live, turning multitudes of rock fans on to the limitless pleasures of electronic music. It’s not for nothing that the band’s colossal set at Glastonbury Festival in 1994 is regularly cited as one of the greatest gigs of all time.

Since breaking through with their landmark 1990 Top 20 hit ‘Chime’, Orbital have released a string of critically praised albums, including the 1993 landmark ‘Orbital 2’ and 1996’s ‘In Sides’. As the duo’s own music became more cinematic-sounding, they scored films such as ‘Event Horizon’ and ‘Octane’. The pair are often like chalk and cheese which possibly contributed to why Orbital disbanded in 2004, but thankfully reformed in 2009 and release full-length ‘Wonky’ and soundtrack ‘Pusher’ in 2012, when they performed at the 2012 London Paralympics with Professor Stephen Hawking.

Following a second breakup in 2014, they returned once again in 2017, releasing ‘Monsters Exist’ the following year. On 29th June 2018 Orbital played a headline outdoor show at Brighton Racecourse – read our review HERE.

Moving forward, last year Orbital celebrated over three decades of making music with ‘30 Something’ which unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks by luminaries including David Holmes and Jon Hopkins.

Two weeks before last Christmas, Orbital announced their ‘Optical Delusion’ album and tour. With this new album (their tenth album) Orbital dug deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown, but fully recorded in the uncertain after times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and beguiling images from recent times, when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnoll brothers watched on TV as kids finally came true.

The album’s lead single, the BBC6 Music playlisted lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, is an incendiary collaboration with Sleaford Mods whose brilliant video has racked up almost a million views. The band then released a second track, ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’, in which a classic, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing “Ring O’Roses”, the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

A third single was dropped on 1st February in the form of ‘Are You Αlive?’. This was in collaboration with Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter, who are originally from the Isle of Man but, like Orbital, are now based in Brighton. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul Hartnoll. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”

“‘Are You Alive?’ came about when I had the instrumental and felt it could do with a delicate vocal,” Paul continues. “Enter Penelope Isles! They took it away and Lily came up with some killer hooks, we spent a day rearranging the song and Hey Presto! ‘Are You Alive?’ was born. But don’t be fooled by the sweetness of the sound, the lyrics have some bite. It’s a dog-eat-dog world…”

The origins of the song come from a 6Music project called ‘The Virus Diaries’ that Paul did with his old schoolmate, the poet Murray Lachlan-Young. Every Wednesday the two had to deliver a track; this one was originally called ‘Garden Centre’. Then Paul began to wonder what it would be like with sung vocals. Lily Wolter’s lyrics developed it into a haunting breakup song and it grew into a gorgeous musical box melody – all the poignancy of the last few years in one place.

After a gap of 1744 days, ‘post pandemic’ Orbital were finally performing live in their adopted City of Brighton and it was going to be something rather special indeed. Prior to the brothers gracing the stage, the punters were warmed up by a DJ set from Manami who is a Tokyo born DJ, producer and pianist, who has been raised in the UK and is based in Bristol. Tonight, she positioned herself stage left (our right) and put on a set that lasted from 7:30pm to 8:55pm. The steady flow of punters meant that the longer she played, the larger her captive audience would become, although the upstairs stands were not in operation this evening, there was just the normal large standing area in front of the stage and the temporary south stalls seating at the back of that.

A minute after Manami had departed, at 8:56pm the punters were witness to the backlighting screen flashing and intro music teasing us that Orbital were on their way. This was just like how Kraftwerk do it. Talking of which, I was extremely fortunate to have seen both Kraftwerk and Orbital playing live on the Luton Hoo Estate for ‘Tribal Gathering’ on 24th May 1997. My memories of that were being at the front for Kraftwerk and witnessing them perform some unreleased material, and for Orbital it was being rammed inside the giant circus top style tent with the continual stream of human sweat dripping down off the canopy throughout their 11-tune set.

Back to tonight and at three minutes to nine Phil and Paul entered the stage from their left (our right) and climbed up upon their raised gantry podium area where their front facing and side facing equipment was positioned and they were off with ‘Smiley’ which is found on last year’s ‘Thirty-Something’ compilation album, which is also written as ‘30 Something’.

Everyone was doing their jobs perfectly, the Hartnoll’s on stage and the sound and light guys at the vast mixing desks situated at the rear of the hall. The sound in the Brighton Centre is unrecognisable from that 40 years ago, it’s so much better, with no horrible echoes bouncing off the back and side walls like there used to be. From where we were situated it was lovely and crisp and just the right dB level. The lighting was as you would expect, spectacular and easily comparable with The Prodigy (5.11.18) and Jean-Michel Jarre (6.10.16) concerts that I have witnessed here. This evening it was a combination of screen projection films and backdrop graphics, plus the wonderful spectacle of the light show which played throughout the performance.

Each time I have previously witnessed Orbital, it has always been the taller and 4 years younger Paul on stage left (our right), with his barefooted brother Phil on the stage right (our left) and this evening is no exception. We are blessed to still be able to see these guys as post lockdown Phil had a cancer scare and immediately kicked his lifelong smoking habit.

Tune two was the recent ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ single, with its pandemic ‘Ring O’Roses’ related theme. This was followed by ‘Where Is It Going?’ which I believe featured quotes by Stephen Hawking, as per the version found on last year’s ‘Thirty-Something’ compilation album, as opposed to the original version found on 2012’s ‘Wonky’ album. You see here’s the thing with Orbital, although we were given a copy of tonight’s setlist, it has the main manes and not all of the elements within some of the songs that have two or more multiple parts, plus the lads add in their live adaptations for the tour, so I have tried my best to give you the full setlist as I see it. If any other fans are able to assist with any possible errors then please do so.

The set this evening had a rave acid house vibe and I’m certain that many that attended such illegal warehouse/field events were given a well deserved nostalgia injection, minus the E’s.

‘Dirty Rat’ from ‘Optical Delusion’ had its turn next. The rear screen was filled with the face of Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods who collaborated with the brother on this track. I have tended to enjoy ‘The Mods’ more with each year in passing, which could be a sign of a combination of my partner Jordan Mooney (RIP) strongly suggesting that we both go along to see them at Brighton Dome (review HERE) plus the fact I now get where they are coming from.

A new reworking of their 1996 No.3 UK hit single ‘Satan’ was given to us next. Interestingly this didn’t surface on an album until the release of 2004’s ‘Orbital: Live At Glastonbury 1994-2004’, and then again as ‘Beelzedub’ on their 2012 ‘Wonky’ album. Tonight’s version included a rapid drum and bass ending. Clearly this is a tune that the lads enjoy revisiting and tweaking from time to time. Although, by memory, I believe I preferred their version played a handful of years ago at Brighton Racecourse.

A trio of compositions from their ‘Optical Delusion’ album followed, namely ‘Requiem For The Pre‐Apocalypse’, ‘You Are The Frequency’ and ‘Home’, all of which for me were totally eclipsed by a blinding version of 1999’s ‘Nothing Left 2’ off of ‘The Middle Of Nowhere’ album.

Orbital were now 50 minutes into their set and things got very special indeed! The music stopped and uniquely the lads took a mic and introduced Lily Wolter from Penelope Isles who came on to the stage. I was extremely proud of Lily having followed and reviewed and met her and sibling Jack many times over the past few years. I’ve seen them on tiny support slots where I purchased a handmade CDR copy of their early work that they put out there. Then they were signed to former Cocteau Twins band member Simon Reymonde’s ‘Bella Union’ label and released albums through them and headline tours, including their sold out gig at Chalk on 10.12.21 (review HERE).

Lily joining Orbital on stage WAS a big a deal as it was 7,971 days ago when the lads last had a live vocalist on stage with them, that date being 11th June 2001 on the ‘Jools Holland Show’ which featured Naomi Bedford. The tune tonight was the last single ‘Are You Alive?’ from the ‘Optical Delusion’ album. Not only did Lily sing the vocals, which incidentally had a real Kate Bush feel about them, but after five minutes of being on stage, she too donned a pair of Orbital trademark torch specs and climbed up to the boys and stood in front of them and played the Novation synth, thus Orbital had for just a few minutes become a trio. I’m not totally sure if this has ever happened in the band’s history before! What a result!!

Lily vacates the stage and ‘Halcyon + On + On’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album) with its sample of Kirsty Hawkshaw’s vocal from the Opus III hit ‘It’s A Fine Day’ is given an outing. After which Phil suddenly takes off his head torch specs and dons a wig. Then we hear a sample of 1996’s super-smash-hit ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls, which arose out of an idea that Paul had about turning the tune into something that he would like. An edit of this was premiered in a mix for the Mary Anne Hobbs show last summer. The new result is titled ‘Spicy’ and is an old skool piano house ravey anthem, which they have turned backwards and chopped up and other crazy stuff. I’m sure many enjoyed this, but I wished that they hadn’t played it as I have NEVER been a fan of Posh, Scary, Baby, Ginger or Sporty. They should have opted for their 1997 No.3 ‘The Saint’ hit single instead, or even better ‘Doctor ?’ their rave re-working of the Radiophonic Workshop’s ‘Doctor Who’ theme.

After ‘The New Abnormal’ (from ‘Optical Delusion’), the concert took a massive upturn with the welcomed arrival of one of the set highlights, 1991’s ‘Belfast’ from their debut green cover ‘Orbital’ album. My skin tingled during this and ‘Spicy’ was a distant memory. The bar was raised even higher with the introduction of the legendary ‘Chime’, which can be located on the aforementioned 1991 debut green ‘Orbital’ album. Terrific stuff as was the following tune, ‘Impact (The Earth Is Burning)’ from 1993’s brown cover ‘Orbital’ album. I had by now almost fallen into a trance-like state with the arrival of those last two mind-blowing numbers. I had time to land back to earth as the lads left the stage for three minutes (from 10:34 to 10:37) but they did “rustle up” as they put it, some other tunes.

They played us out with, according to the setlist ‘Out There Somewhere’ (which was the only tune not to have any backing visuals or film) and ‘Lush’. But I think the full listing is more than likely ‘Out There Somewhere? Part 1’ and ‘Out There Somewhere? Part 2’ (both from 1996 ‘In Sides’ album) and ‘Lush 3-1’ and ‘Lush 3-2’ (both from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album) and ‘Lush 3 (Euro-Tunnel Disaster ’94)’ (from 1994 ‘Diversions’ compilation album).

Bang on 11pm to the second they stopped and the elder and slightly shorter statesman announced to us all “I don’t wanna go!”. He really meant it! The brothers were so much in the zone, that I would surmise that they could have gone on for a third hour, but we had been served exactly 120 minutes, which is a fair deal. I had been looking forward to this concert ever since it was announced three and a half months ago and it lived up to all expectations…..an absolutely brilliant night out!!!

Orbital setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Smiley’ (from 2022 ‘Thirty-Something’ compilation album)
‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Where Is It Going?’ (feat. Stephen Hawking) (original from 2012 ‘Wonky’ album, this version from 2022 ‘Thirty-Something’ compilation album)
‘Dirty Rat’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Satan’ (including fast D’n’B version at end with elements of ‘Beelzedub’ (‘Satan’ from 2004 ‘Orbital: Live At Glastonbury 1994-2004’ album) (‘Beelzedub’ from 2012 ‘Wonky’ album)
‘Requiem For The Pre‐Apocalypse’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘You Are The Frequency’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Home’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Nothing Left 2’ (from 1999 ‘The Middle Of Nowhere’ album)
‘Are You Alive?’ (with Lily Wolter from Penelope Isles on live vocals and electronics) (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Halcyon + On + On’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Spicy’ (unreleased)
‘The New Abnormal’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Belfast’ (found on the 1991 debut green ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Chime’ (found on the 1991 debut green ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Impact (The Earth Is Burning)’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
(encore)
‘Out There Somewhere? Part 1’ (from 1996 ‘In Sides’ album)
‘Out There Somewhere? Part 2’ (from 1996 ‘In Sides’ album)
‘Lush 3-1’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Lush 3-2’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Lush 3 (Euro-Tunnel Disaster ’94)’ (from 1994 ‘Diversions’ compilation album)

www.orbitalofficial.com