Orbital reformed

[northernme]

Heard off of a mate in leeds that Orbital are reforming - is this true - anybody got the lowdown on this?

ah sweet it is true!!!!!

[Sperge]

Yes, completely true!

They're doing the headline set at Big Chill 2009 to mark the 20th anniversary of Chime.

BC still aren't claiming it as an exclusive so hopefully it won't just be a one-off.

[baldmosher]

I demand my money back, they told me it was their last ever show, I have been robbed.

[buzzingtalk]

ooohh amazing! i shall be trying to blag into the big chill then

would be amazing to see them, ive seen some epic gigs of theirs on dvd/youtube etc. looks amazing and the crowd are loving it

[Sperge]

I demand my money back, they told me it was their last ever show, I have been robbed.

If you mean the Glasto 2004 set, it wasn't their last one anyway. I also went to the TitP one after that (which actually had a much better crowd), they also played at the Oxegene festival in Ireland and the Wire festival in Japan before their live John Peel session at Maida Vale.

They never ruled out a comeback - indeed, the press release back at the time said something along the lines of who knows, they might end up having as many comebacks as Status Quo.

They always hung on to certain key bits of kit and the Doctor Who sample they used on those sets had the Doctor saying "One day I shall return", so I always clung to the hope that one day it would happen.

[lahmjpowder]

When I spoke to Phil when he played Bangface last i said just as I finished talking to him "Hopefully see you and your brother together next time".

Lovley coinsidence.

[Sperge]

Chime at Orbital's legendary Glastonbury 1994 set.



The blonde girl in that looks remarkably like someone I used to know who was into Orbital around that time. Thought she'd never been to Glasto though.

[fletcher]

That really would make be buy a ticket for glade 09

[imitationleather]

Gah, The Big Chill? Why?!? Maybe Glade is going to be too small for them now...

I too really hope that this isn't just a one off.

[Sperge]

Gah, The Big Chill? Why?!?

My thoughts exactly.

Full of middle class tossers who just don't get it. Hardly a rave event. Mind you, having Orbital headlining would mean a lot of ravers coming there just for that...

[fletcher]

From 365mag.com

Yes, you've read that correctly. Revered (and till recently retired) electronica pioneers Orbital will pick up their acclaimed electronica act to headline the The Big Chill festival next August in the UK. It will be their first gig after their farewell performance at 2004's Glastonbury festival.

“It's not an exercise in nostalgia, the time just seems right. Everything just seemed to fall into place,” says Orbital member Phil Hartnoll. “We've got 15 years of active service, making song. If you boil that down to a 90-minute festival set you should get something thoroughly exciting from beginning to end. Let's put some fun back into it.” Orbital are famed for their breathtaking dance & electronica compositions ever since the late 80's, resulting in the outfit growing out to become one of the world's most respected electronica acts. Their gig will be billed as Orbital: 20 years after Chime as a reference to the duo's seminal classic 1989 Chime tune.

[Magma]

Orbital have got a lot of mass appeal... if they're going to do a comeback, it's bound to be one of the big festivals. I'd never rule them out for Glastonbury, they're possibly the act I've seen most times at Worthy Farm and the Glasto crowd loves them.

I have a score to settle with an ex-girlfriend if they do come back though... she dragged me away from their last ever Glastonbury show after throwing a tantrum that she didn't like electronic music and she didn't want to stand there being bored for hours. I've no idea what we went to watch in the end, but it obviously wasn't very memorable... we have an agreement (still friends, somehow) that the next time they're on and we can make it (proper show, Long Range/Phil Hartnoll doesn't count), she's paying for the tickets.

*fingers crossed for free Glastonbury ticket*

[lahmjpowder]

I could see a slot on the pyramid stage before a headliner or even headlining the other stage on one of the nights.

[imitationleather]

I really don't think Orbital are Pyramid stage headliner material. That slot's strictly reserved for massive household names, which Orbital - as popular as they are for an electronic act - just aren't.

[pesh]

get em back on the Jazz Stage, I've seen em at every Glasto since and in Brixton a couple of times and theyve never come close to matching their Jazz Stage gig in 99

[Sperge]

I really don't think Orbital are Pyramid stage headliner material. That slot's strictly reserved for massive household names, which Orbital - as popular as they are for an electronic act - just aren't.

They played the Pyramid Stage in '95 to over 60,000 people who thought they were jolly good.

Of course that was an era when rave and electronica were massive. One of the reasons they called it a day in 2004 was that guitar bands were back in and the dance giants like Underworld, Leftfield and Prodigy were either breaking up or their albums were bombing, so they thought it was a good time to quit while they were ahead.

Now a lot of people are very bored of these identikit indie guitar bands and there does seem to be a revival of interest in electronic dance music and rave culture, not to mention a renaissance of big free parties. We even see it reflected here in the fact that the board is way, way busier for late November than it's ever been in previous years and we do get people finding their way here through Google searches on "rave".

I'll agree that it might be too much of a risk for the Eavises to get Orbital to headline the Pyramid in 2009, they're going to play it safe after crapping themselves over the Jay-Z thing this year, but who knows what might happen in future years? It all depends on whether this revived interest in electronic acts continues to gather momentum or fizzles out really.

[lahmjpowder]

I meant like the slot before the actual headliner, the 2nd headlining slot per say. I cant imagine the Eavis' are going to dare put anyone else except a guitar band as headliners after this years controversy.

[imitationleather]

Glastonbury's a bit of a different beast to what it was in 1995 though, isn't it? The headliners these days have to be proper huge names that can be taken to the bank. The sort of acts to shift tickets to the punters who aren't overly interested in the festival as a whole.

I think an example of how far Glastonbury has come is that Shakespeare's Sister headlined in 1992.

Er anyway, from a purely selfish point of view Orbital playing at Glastonbury would be no good for me because it's highly unlikely I'll be able to go. Bah!

[Sperge]

Glastonbury's a bit of a different beast to what it was in 1995 though, isn't it?

Ummm yeah, which is why the next three paragraphs went on to say how much things had changed since then and that there seems to be a slight swing back towards electronica/dance (not big enough to justify an Orbital headline slot on the Pyramid - but we can dream).

[lahmjpowder]

How about Bangface takeover night at the Glade stage on Friday with them headlining?