ORBITAL + CONRADICAL – CHALK, BRIGHTON 23.5.25
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 released 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.
Orbital then celebrated over three decades of making music with 2022’s ‘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. The following year their tenth studio album arrived in the form of ‘Optical Delusion’ and BBC6 Music playlisted incendiary collaboration lead single ‘Dirty Rat’ with Sleaford Mods.
Orbital have now this very day reissued their iconic second self titled album which is also referred to as ‘Orbital 2’ or the ‘Brown Album’ and this record is notably included in the book ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’. Reissued on vinyl for the first time in a decade, ‘The Brown Album’ 4LP reissue has been cut at half speed, to ensure maximum audio fidelity for this landmark release. This 4LP deluxe boxset includes a special hardback book containing unseen photos, a slipmat, a track-by-track by Orbital themselves, and essays on the music by esteemed music journalist, Andrew Harrison. Find out more HERE.
As a special celebration, Orbital announced a Brighton concert, but it wasn’t on Brighton Beach or the Brighton Centre but at the compact Chalk venue, courtesy of Resident Records. Thus affording hardcore fans the opportunity to get up close and personal to their idols. Thankfully we were there and literally feet away from the Hartnoll brothers and it was very much a family affair as one of their sons Conrad Hartnoll was the support artist, under the guise of Conradical and he dropped banging tracks for an hour to warm up the punters. Find out more about him HERE.
Now before I carry on, it’s obvious that many Orbital fans must have missed out on this full capacity performance at Chalk. However, there is a saving grace as the band have also now announced a DJ Set night on Saturday 5th July 2025 at the Concorde 2 from 9pm to 2am, where Phil Hartnoll will be spinning Orbital favourites plus more & Paul Hartnoll presents ‘The Folk Horror Electro Techno Disco Roadshow’. Tickets for this new event will be going on sale on Tuesday 27th May at 10:00 am and can be purchased HERE.
Occasionally some of these Resident outstore events tend to be stripped back or shorter warmup set by the artists, but tonight it’s a full on 96 minute extravaganza with accompanying videos on the rear screen behind the duo, and their usual electronic equipment is on the go, which as far as I could see from virtually the front were two Novation keyboards, Roland keyboard, Sequential Prophet – 6, and to the side there are another six units. Our journey starts at 8:04pm and runs until 9:40pm. The sound is perfectly crisp and the lighting is top drawer.
The event commences with plinking keyboard sounds and the video backing screen is changing colours. Then one deep base note hits and the crowd fever erupts as the brothers take to the stage wearing black clothing and sporting their trademark light spex. As ever, the slightly shorter Phil with the tash is going barefoot and the one that interacts with the punters the most. Acid house rave culture has come to Brighton and there’s even a whiff of weed in the air. They kick off with their 1991 ‘Choice’ single which hasn’t dated one bit, and follow this with ‘Where Is It Going?’ from 2012’s ‘Wonky’ album, which features samples of the late great Stephen Hawking. The intensity increases with the arrival of their 2022 ‘Dirty Rat’ single, which features the Sleaford Mods, and the more I hear this, the better it gets!
Next we are given an extended version of their 1996 No.3 hit single ‘Satan’ which incorporates a fast drum & bass section near the end with elements of ‘Beelzedub’ from 2012’s ‘Wonky’ album. This then segues straight into ‘Home’ which is a fast banger from 2023’s ‘Optical Delusion’ album. Their setlist now reads “French Alive” which actually is ‘Oxygène (Are You Alive?)’ from 2023’s ‘Optical Delusion Deluxe Edition’ album. This has vocals in French, has a bangin’ beat and rhythmic keys, with shuffling backbeat. For me, the gig then goes stratospheric with the arrival of ‘Lush’ and at the beginning of this Phil gets out his phone and takes piccies of the euphoric (packed in like sardines) crowd. The lighting increased intensity during this extended number which as far as I could tell incorporated ‘Lush 3-1’, ‘Lush 3-2’ (both from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album) and ‘Lush 3 (Euro-Tunnel Disaster ’94)’ (from 1994 ‘Diversions’ compilation album). Suffice to say this was immense!
‘Lush’ was matched by ‘Impact (The Earth Is Burning)’ from the brown album and this really gave me the tingles and was possibly my choice cut from the performance. They then segued right into ‘Remind’ which is also on the brown album. Thankfully, my dancing boots were given a brief rest with the arrival of the truly hypnotic ‘Halcyon + On + On’, also on the brown album. This samples or emulates the cracking Opus III ‘It’s A Fine Day’ megasmash. At this point, I was almost certain that this quite possibly was the best set I’ve witnessed all year, and I’ve seen tons, and whether it might actually end up as my Gig of The Year 2025, then……noooo! Samples of Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 smash ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ rang out across the venue followed by samples of the Spice Girls ‘Wannabe’ drivel from 1996. Yes I understand that millions of folk in this country absolutely love that Spice Girls smasheroonie, but I’m not one of them (bah humbug!). This song in question is titled ‘Spicy’ and I heard it the last time I saw Orbital live, and (I believe) it’s unreleased and hopefully will remain so. For this Phil donned a Spicy Girls wig, but looked more like Limahl (Kajagoogoo) meets Martin Degville (Sigue Sigue Sputnik). Yes it’s all meant to be fun, but I crave serious dance tracks, and thus my aching feet sat this one out. If only that had played ‘Dr Who’ instead like they used to!
Moving on…the lads penultimate selection was ‘Belfast’ from 1991’s debut green ‘Orbital’ album. This is another masterpiece and I’m floating away to dreamland, as though I’m also listening to The Beloved’s ‘The Sun Rising’. After this the lads finally interact with the crowd for the first time “Hello Brighton local people you’ve been brilliant….”. They then proceed to throw a few t-shirts into the crowd. My male colleague jointly caught the first one at the same time as a lady, and so being the gent, he gave way, only to be rewarded himself seconds later with a t-shirt of his own! They signed off with the timeless classic ‘Chime’ which is also on the green album. After which they delivered a message from the heart “Thank you Brighton you’ve been brilliant!”. They weren’t wrong you know, as I reckon that we have just witnessed the best ever Resident Outstore concert!
Orbital:
Phil Hartnoll – keys and electronics
Paul Hartnoll – keys and electronics
Orbital setlist:
‘Choice’ (from 1991 ‘Midnight’ / ‘Choice’ single & US version of 1991 debut green ‘Orbital’ 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 Deluxe Edition’ album)
‘Satan’ (including fast DnB version at end with elements of ‘Beelzedub’ (‘Satan’ from 2004 ‘Orbital: Live At Glastonbury 1994-2004’ album) (‘Beelzedub’ from 2012 ‘Wonky’ album)
‘Home’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion’ album)
‘Oxygène (Are You Alive?)’ (from 2023 ‘Optical Delusion Deluxe Edition’ 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)
‘Impact (The Earth Is Burning)’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Remind’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Halcyon + On + On’ (from the 1993 brown ‘Orbital’ album)
‘Spicy’ (unreleased)
‘Belfast’ (from 1991 debut green ‘Orbital’ album)
(encore)
‘Chime’ (from 1991 debut green ‘Orbital’ album)
