Hey,

Thought about chiming in on the topic of live gigs from an earlier post but this is probably as good as place as any to discuss…

I have never had the pleasure of seeing the Orb live, but have spent a good bit of time collecting Orb gigs over the past year (Soulseek, RMStringer's ftp, etc.) - I think Orb live gigs are some of the best music out there.  That is a necessary caveat, as I probably do not have much business commenting on this without have a true live experience.

With that said...

The gigs from 92/93 (93 in particularly) are the best they have to offer.  They have amazing flow - they just seem to glide along in an almost effortless fashion.  Plus I find it interesting to see how the shows from that time seem to change up, holding a lot of the same basic elements, but with different sequences and the addition of subtle nuances make each one very different.  Leeds 92 to Tokyo Yellow 93 to Trekroner 93 to Brixton Academy 93 (11/28) to even the Quart Fest in 94 are all amazing.

I had not heard anything from the Terrarvm tour until very recently (Portland 95) - and must say that it is also very impressive.  The percussion (from what I understand the percussion is part of the live performance but I was not there so what do I know) is very cool.  I put this just a hair behind the 92/93 era.  Plus it was a joy to hear more material from that album in a live setting.

Everything after that has always been a bit harder for me to embrace.  I think you put it aptly, the Orblivion gigs sound very abrasive/choppy, almost like a war scene (not that I would know what that is like, never been in a war.)  The ups and downs, along with the sequencing and sample make for an almost chaotic setting.  That said, I still enjoy them very much - just believe they are a step down from the earlier gigs.  I don't find the Cydonia era material much different than the Orblivion.  Yes things flow a bit better but they are still somewhat choppy and noisy to me.

Sorry I cannot offer more insight into the rave scene (now or then) - the US rave scene never really had much appeal for me.

Steve