So I didn’t make it to the Oakland show - did anyone else? The SF venue was pretty small, and while it eventually filled it, it was still akin to a dance party in someone’s basement. The next day at work I was grabbing coffee in our cafeteria and the person next to me said “So, did you enjoy The Orb last night?” I had never met him before, but that tells you how small the venue was. Another thing of note: LX did the whole gig in sweatpants. We are getting old, aren’t we? And now an amusing report from Tim in Boulder: Begin forwarded message:
From: "Tim C" <timctheorb@gmail.com> Subject: LX Boulder report Date: August 17, 2014 at 8:56:17 AM PDT To: "'Rachel Roth'" <rachel@migoto.com>
You can fwd to barely-functioning list if you like, or just enjoy report yourself J. This was reply to report from SF gig so I’ve just inserted a couple clarifying edits rather than retype -
So yeah, he started out similarly [Ultraworld type ambient stuff] – there was Valley or Plateau (can never keep them straight) in there too – he got in Mile Long Lump of Lard as well (yes!). Start was very ambient, everyone seated (nice venue, wood floor) – Towers of Dub comes on and I was running around telling people to get up etc. Cheerfully of course. (“IT’S -FUCKING TOWERS OF DUB-, come ON!”)(People didn’t get up immediately but it didn’t take them long – he did a good job bringing it up.)(Crowd was also um interesting – I get the impression that lots of people go to shows at this venue because it’s the hip thing to do, not based on who in particular is playing. So that was part of my motivation in the abovementioned performance - fucking with them.)
He then played the groovy techno stuff you mentioned [“135ish bpm techno which was pretty groovy”] – he actually mixed and programmed pretty well, far better than the last such set (at a bar in SF) I saw. He got in Assassin and the Digweed (I have it but couldn’t remember who the hell did the remix) mix of Once More, which was pretty damn nice. There were a couple ambient interludes (one may have been Eno or something) that were very nice too.
I’d say overall I’m really annoyed that they billed this as The Orb which it obviously wasn’t. In fact whoever’s responsible it’s admittedly bullshit. But for an LX DJ set my overall assessment is it was basically a good set done as if the Orb did a DJ set, which is basically what it was. It had the same flow/type of material/fun changes/samples/etc. that basically are the Orb.
Oh, and he opened with music from A Clockwork Orange – that menacing keyboard ambient stuff. I went right up there and shared a laugh with LX over that one. Wonder if he recognized me from before:
- Went in to inspect venue, look for Nick/Stef/other friends. - No one there yet, on way out saw LX leaving sound/vision control area at back of hall and mentioning “I have to go downstairs and get my head right.” - So I’m standing there kind of cracking up at that, figured I’d say hi or something, so he sees me and goes “Can I do something for you?” - I detect I may well be being rude so I’d better say something quick – “I don’t know, shake my hand?” - “Oh, sure!” or similar. We shake hands and I go “Yeah it’s really nice to see you tonight.” - (Some sort of genuinely friendly acknowledgement, departure.)
Cool guy. Faith in Orb restored despite the billing/management BS!
Cheers, T