Thursday 24 September 2009

How To Rave 101...

I have just got back from probably one of the most enjoyable gigs I have ever been to...

ORBITAL - Live at the O2 Academy Brixton.

What I had figured would be a nice bit of appreciative chin-stroking and the odd hands in the air moment while we all gawked at the little lights on their heads, quite rapidly degenerated into a sweaty filthy rave up.

And who were the instigators? The brothers Hartnoll, that's who...

Clearly they were enjoying themselves as much, if not MORE than we were!

What stood out about this gig for me was the awesome raw power at work in the room. 808s synced to 909s synced to 303s, all colliding in a frenzied barrage of real LIVE dance music. This wasn't just a load of loops and audio tracks playing from a laptop but proper live analogue knob tweakage... (a point proven by their rig shutting down mid song and the midi notes on their Moog hanging! lol)

And the intricate simplicity of the tracks worked to perfection. These guys didn't fuck about with white noises and swooshes. There were no enormous build ups and over the top fx laden crescendos... It was just DAMN GOOD MUSIC...

Seeing them in action made me realize the massive influence they have had on my life. They are I guess to me, what Pink Floyd are to my Dad...

In fact they are one of the main reasons I do what I do, and from now on they will be the reason why I want to do it for ever...

Thank you guys. You absolutely rocked my world tonight.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Mr. Funkagenda,

    I saw the vids & pics ... it must have been insane there. I love Orbital too but I only got to listen to them since 1995 or so. Please continue to share with us your experiences outside your artistic life.

    Cheers & lots of beers!
    deejayotto.

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