LOOPZ (The ORBITAL Zine) V3.0 - Wolverhampton 1999

OH MY GAWD!!!! Orbital are without a doubt still the MASTERS of live electronica. But to backtrack a bit, we arrived at the Wulfrun (Wilfrun?) Hall in Wolves at 7.30ish, and after a short spell in the bar Plaid were on (at 8 or thereabouts). Now when I'd heard Plaid were supporting I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, "Not For Threes" was _the_ record of 1997 for me (its on Warp people - go buy it!), and here they were! Live!! I missed the first 10 mins of their set (I think), and all the sounds I heard were new to me. More ubeat funky than their last album, but retaining their unique grasp on rhythm. Mbuki Mvuki! (what language is that in again?). I felt though, that as soon as they'd arrived onstage, they were waving goodbye. Full tour and album soon please boys! A brief intermission followed, as they say, and then, to the vicious analogue tones of a Clockwork Orange, the boys made their entry. I'll swear they keep getting bigger and stronger lights on their heads. They immediately seemd in jovial mood - the crowd whooping and cheering as they waved. "Hello"... "HEEEELLLLOOOOO". Everyone knew they were about to have fun.... I am a yet unfamiliar with the new material, so a tracklisting is beyond me. I can tell you that Impact (reversed) was in there, as was Style, and that the new tracks were dead hard; even their take on Doctor Who! A surprise for me was the good ole' Bon Jovi/Belinds break in Halcyon! I was pissing myself anew. The big thing throughout though were the presence of two new elements to the Orbital sound; guitars and dub bass!!! And that's really where I fell off the diving board; My God, THE POWER! We found an ideal dance spot at the back of the hall, behind the mixing desks, and threw ourselves about with big silly grins on our faces. My idea of Heaven....... Congratulating Mickey Mann afterwards, he asked me "Was it too loud?" "Not from where I was standing" I said.