To be honest, after the shenanigans of the OD album and tour I hadn't expected to hear much about anything for a while from P+P. But the wheels of the rumour mill started to grind late autumn last year and oh how the few crumbs we got whetted the palate. Seemingly, Paul had changed his mind about going back and having a gander at the early albums for a fresh look. I knew Phil had been interested but until Paul got on board that wasn't going to happen. The stars aligned however, and Paul was now keen to have a crack at re-mastering the early albums. And they was going to start at the very beginning with Green. Now this could be fun I thought.
The first album is, for a lot of us, pre-fan days. I certainly had no inkling that Orbital even existed, never mind released an album until a few years later when I first heard Halcyon. So already I was slightly blinded by what I had heard but getting to Green much later again made for a slightly awkward encounter. You can sense the effort put into it but it lacked the coherency of vision and purpose of the later albums that came just from experience and practice. A good collection of tunes rather than an Orbital album. That they were going to look at it again for a refresh was great news.
But wait, there's more...
There was also going to be a tour.
Yes, I love the albums and tunes individually but the true joy comes from the collective experience of the crowd at an Orbital gig hearing the tunes live. I think the general lack of love for Green is partly due to us hearing very very few of these tunes live. Yes Chime and Belfast are regulars but these are from previous releases, whereas the rest of the album hadn't seen the light of day since the first comeback tour with The Möbius splicing the two parts of OTS as the set opener. I certainly have no recollection of any of it being played at any juncture of my Orbital gig life up to now so I was intrigued to be finally able to hear these pieces live.
But wait, there's more...
Fucking hell, they are going to throw in Brown as well and do two for one on the gigs, playing both albums in full on the one night...
Ahh the Brown album. The constant of the live gigs. Always three tunes from it and sometimes four. Much and all as we would love to hear more variety sometimes, if we heard a P+P gig without Lush, Impact, Halcyon and Remind, it just wouldn't feel right. For this reason I was at first surprised that they were doing Brown as well, but thinking on it, it dawned on me as a little bit of a no-brainer. In comparison to the amount of work involved in updating Green updating the remaining three tracks on Brown should be fairly handy surely? But, we were getting Brown as well so who cares. And I was going to get to hear Planet of the Shapes
As soon as tickets came out I had ones for Dublin. They were going to finish the tour here this time, having started the OD tour here. Had been hoping to get over to Blighty of at least one but I knew that was going to be an ask and I never got there. So, apart from the weeks of waiting for the actual gig, I also had to stick my fingers in my ears and close my eyes every time a clip was posted of everyone else having fun. The FOMO was nearly unbearable but when they announced the NY gigs I was fit to sell a kidney to go
...Never mind, the collection of wastrels and ne'er-do-wells that would be turning up for the Dublin gig would make up for it. Thanks to the community we had successfully got Badger back over from Oz for the tour and he would be joined by some of the other stalwarts of the fan base from further afield than the Rep. of Ire. to make it over to Vicar St for the night. Usernick, Stargurl, , Wend'n'Tez, Kagey (and Beth), Roz (and Laura) and Walt'n'Brian rounded out the OG Looperz for the night, so a motley crew was indeed assembled.
I like Vicar St. Only worked there a few times so no horror stories about it in that regard but most of the gigs I had seen there had been comedy gigs. Did see Moderat in there a few years ago which was brilliant so I knew the sound would be fine. It's a fairly conventional box with a balcony and a few seats around the outside of the dance floor. Floor was fully carpeted and not sticky at all so pretty good for dancing on.
The one thing you will not find lacking in Dublin is a good pub close to a venue for a meet up before the gig. John's Bar and Haberdashery was so adjacent that if you stumbled coming out the door you'd almost bump into the venue before you hit the floor. A bunch of us old lags went for dinner before (I'm still chuckling at the fare in comparison to what we would have eaten when at this nonsense when young) so with our stomachs well lined we headed for the pub. The one truly unusual occurrence was the appearance of the sun
Two hours later a goodly amount of lubrication having been consumed we headed in. The time in between had been spent catching up with old friends from previous adventures and meeting many new ones. This is one of the many things I love about our thing. I have yet to meet a true douche. Everyone there just wants to get their groove on and have a good time and not spoil anyone else's fun. Long may it continue.
There is this theory....
The next hour is a bit of a blur. This not me having foggy recollections now from two weeks ago but I remember feeling like this on the night. I found a headspace and just stayed there, feeling the music wash over me, and being aware of the crowd and it's collective heartbeat but have very little memory of any of the visuals. I had deliberately not listened to either album in the run up to the gig, trying to keep as fresh a listen to the tunes on the night as I could and to go in with no expectations as to the mixes or deviations from the base tunes as I could. It was interesting to hear them start and feel the crowd react to each tune. Yes it was a room filled with hardcore fans but for most of us it was our first time hearing them live and I was slightly trepidatious about how they would go over. Of course, I had nothing to fear at all in reality. Not a single tune felt out of place or got a less than loving reaction. Yes, a few were a little clunkier than others (looking at no one in particular, SCI) but that made no difference to the fans, as the love was everywhere. Just hearing them live made them all special but Speed Freak, Fahrenheit 303, Desert Storm and Midnight being the stand out tracks for me from the first half, even though I could have done without the vocal track on Midnight (just coz it muffled my favourite bit of the tune). However, most surprisingly enjoyable was Torpedo Town. As I had tried avoid spoilers I actually had no idea where it was going to be placed but I loved it coming just before Chime and the mix in from High Rise was great.
I can understand why Green hasn't got the plaudits that the later albums did but the re-mastering has breathed new life into it and I really do hope we get to hear all of these tracks live at some point in the future.
Even a stopped clock...
From that moment I had the finest single hour of my gig going life. I am now truly convinced Brown is the best Dance Album period. However, about half way into PotS I realised I might be in a bit of trouble. I was aware of just how hard I was going at it but my only though how the hell am I going to manage L-I-R* if I'm this knackered already
.I soldiered on nevertheless....
I love PotS. Definitely my most anticipated tune of the night and it did not disappoint. Have been long advocating for this live and got exactly what I wanted. My point about the three headed dog that is L-I-R was valid though. It mauled me thoroughly (in the best possible way of course) but I was buggered by the end of it. Was really glad of the slight breather at the end of Remind. Sometimes the most important bit of a record is the silence between the tracks
One of the great guessing games of an P+P gig is what combinations of versions of Impact will we get. Tonight I thought it was fairly straight tbh. There were snippets of the other mixes but it was fairly true to the album I felt.On to the other two sadly neglected tracks from Brown, Walk Now and Monday. I though they were done wonderfully well, especially Monday. Definitely an improvement over the album version, with a lot of new spangles thrown over the original. I really want this and PotS to appear again sooner rather than later. Halcyon of course was the coup de gras. And we got to hear it completely clean. This alone was worth the ticket price and I'm not really joking. I have been waiting for an unadulterated and pure version at a P+P gig since I started going voluntarily (the second one if you're asking). Now I will probably never hear it again so I will cherish this night for this if nothing else.
If I had been choosing the encore tunes I would have not picked three of them. Not because they weren't enjoyable in context but I'm not P+P so...
Spicy is marmite. Tbh I don't really have that much of an issue with it but it is the tune that easily raises the most eyebrows and hackles and I can understand why, Dirty Rat has to be live and is a good catharsis but I still think there is better and I have never been mad about WiiG which I just can't explain. Satan of course was brilliant but when is it never?
The afters was held in Centre Point (Button Factor, Black Box, Temple Bar Music Centre or what ever it is called this week)
Conradical was great again and Phil was Phil again and I got to meet the lovely Niamh out it crowd again, just like Paddy's day last year. As always though it ends too soon.
Now onwards to Beyond the Pale and Margate.
See you soon Lads.
E.&O.E.
* If anyone ever sets up an Irish Orbital fan club it has to be called The Children of L-I-R