Live at Glastonbury, 25 June 1994

Paul Mison

The first time I saw Orbital live was at the Glastonbury Festival. It was Saturday, supposedly a dance-only day on the second stage, just over half-way through the weekend, and I had just watched the (OK) Bjork set during sundown. It was now almost completely dark, and the DJ was warming up.

Enter Orbital. I was too far back to see them, but their little lighted glasses made it possible to make them out even as far back as I was. They started with a new track (Forever, which wasn't released then.) You couldn't really dance to it, and there were lots of samples, but it sounded pretty good.

Then came a load of harsh, metallic clanging. You could dance to it, so I did, but it was weird. It was the first time most of the crowd were hearing Sad But True. The vocals came over the top, providing a much-needed hook. Things were hotting up. The screens behind the stage were showing messages, images, all sorts. The lights were manic.

Familiar sounds drifted into the mix. It sounded like the brothers were about to cut into an old track. The beats started, and it was Impact, and the crowd finally knew what was happening. The whoops and whistles sounded, and the frenzy was on. This turned out to be a much-extended version. No-one knew what was going on, but hell, they danced to it. It was ace.

As Impact faded, Remind took off, continuing the pace, the messages getting freakier, a boiling planet appearing on the screens. The music kept up, passing with only the tiniest break into Walk Now..., and the crowd loved it, showing their appreciation at the point where everything stops, except the pedestrian crossing beats, slow at first then whoosh, too fast to keep up with, speeding along. The song continued onwards, the crowd with it.

Then the end of the songs from 'Brown'. Again, the shortest of pauses, and into Chime. The electronic bells echoed around the arena, and the duo's biggest hit garnered some of the loudest cheers, quite probably of the weekend. The song could only last for so long, though, and soon the band were off, after nearly an hour.

Next, the best thing of the weekend happened. Orbital returned. Just for one song, but that was Are We Here?, and what a shock that was. The beats were excellent, danceable, fast; there were strange samples, musings on philosophy. Then the song changed, becoming more ambient, the perfect close. And the linking factor, the final sample, the last thing to come out of the mix. "What does God say?"

After that, the crowd dispersed. Despite the 'no raves' policy, of two years standing, the blanket stalls and tents were ready for their transformations to raves and chill-out zones. Sunrise was only 4 hours away, and didn't seem that long to wait. Why not stay up all night?

Reading, and reminiscing, about that weekend the following Wednesday, the NME had an all-too-short review of the gig. But the bit at the end summed it all up. It said how the reporter had overheard a couple of lads.
"What did I miss?" asked the one who'd seen Paul Weller on the main stage.
"You missed- you missed- you missed the whole fucking vibe, man!" replied his pal.

• Contact the author at PMison@aol.com

[ Also: Live at Cardiff, Glastonbury '95 ]