ramshackles
13th July 2005, 02:57 PM
was poking around littledetroit.net and found tonnes of orbit threads...look at this review one lad wote about his last night at the orbit: Wasn't sure whether to post this...Not sure if it's shit or not. I've never really been the bestest writerer and I'm hardly the most knowledgable...But it seems appropriate so here's a review I did (for a general clubbing website thing) of the last night of t'Orbit.
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For over nine years, The Orbit has been the north's finest techno establishment, bringing some of the biggest & best names in the scene to a small Yorkshire town. DJs such as Ben Sims, Robert Hood, Technasia and Carl Cox have all graced the decks here over the years, but the rumour mill is running full-flow, with talk of relocation and possibly even closure.
"Please do not slam your doors and keep your car stereos to a minimum, this is a residential area." After 6 hours of uncompromising techno, it's the last thing you'd expect to hear, yet this phrase has become almost as famous (infamous?) as the club itself. The anouncement is made and the wide variety of clubbers, reluctantly exit the club. But was this for the final time?
As ever, the club was almost empty up untill arund 9:30, the stated time for the guest DJs to start. The residents had been playing the usual warm-up fodder, slowly building with some solid tunes, until around 9:45 when Paul Damage took over the reigns, staying with the steady percussive grooves for around half an hour. The place was filling up.
After what looked like a technical problem (possibly just getting the Final Scratch all plugged-in and ready to go?), Damage dropped a devastating tune, with rave stabs-a-plenty, which went down well with the crowd..It seemed the party-proper had started.
After that it was pretty much a non-stop acid-assault for the next hour or so. Dirty, squelch-strewn tunes with the odd hard percussion led track to break things up a bit got the party well and truely warmed-up for Surgeon...For me, the main event!
Surgeon, real name Anthony Child, has the look of the stereotypical geek from the American teen movies. Any bullying he might have got at school, he dutifully takes it out on the clubbers..Aurally. He started his set with a broody, hypnotic rhythm, with no percussion. Things quickly changed, when after trying to scare us with his uber-dark tunes, he utilised his Final Scratch to the fullest, dropping crunchy beats and classics galore!
Ten minutes into the set, and he'd already dropped Magneze. Where would he take it from here? Well, the answer was everywhere. He turned it into a Surgeon showcase, slipping in Screw The Roses, Badger Bite and Learn Your Lesson, the new, insanely dark British Murder Boys release, with accapellas such as Inner City's Good Life thrown over the top. The atmopshere was a full-on party mood with the dancefloor rammed, and the usual machine-gun crew hanging off anything that could be hung off! (if you've been, you'll know what I mean).
Mr Child played for around two hours, before making room for Regis and his laptop...Although there was time for an edit of Aphex Twin's Digeridoo that made sure not a single seat in the place was being used. I have never been the biggest Surgeon fan before now (in respect to his DJing), but this set will be remembered for a long time. Absolute class!
There has been a lot of debate lately about the quality of live sets, and the degree of live-ness being scrutinised. With the ever-increasing array of tools available for both the producer and DJ, the line between a 'DJ set' and a live performance is more blurred than ever. I don't know exactly to what degree Regis was performing 'live' (and Surgeon too, as he never actually left the decks when Regis came on), but I do know that whatever he was doing, it did its job.
Surgeon, stood emotionless (it seems) behind the decks, and Regis stood beside him, with laptop out front, arms held high, crossed over his face. Relentless four-to-the-floor beats with harsh, complex hi-hat patterns without a breakdown in sight. The moody techno image and repetitive beats that so many people think the entire techno scene comprises of was certainly on show here, and the crowd were lapping it up.
Skinheads in black t-shirts, dreadlocked crusties, girls in micro skirts, cybered-up glowstick fiends and Burberry clad locals..There was a real mix of people and not a spec of pretentiousness in sight. If the rumours of the shut-down are true, then the Orbit will have gone out on a real high, and will be sorely missed, I'm sure by the entire region and even further afield.
The management say not to believe the gossip..We'll see.
************************************************** ************************************************** *******
For over nine years, The Orbit has been the north's finest techno establishment, bringing some of the biggest & best names in the scene to a small Yorkshire town. DJs such as Ben Sims, Robert Hood, Technasia and Carl Cox have all graced the decks here over the years, but the rumour mill is running full-flow, with talk of relocation and possibly even closure.
"Please do not slam your doors and keep your car stereos to a minimum, this is a residential area." After 6 hours of uncompromising techno, it's the last thing you'd expect to hear, yet this phrase has become almost as famous (infamous?) as the club itself. The anouncement is made and the wide variety of clubbers, reluctantly exit the club. But was this for the final time?
As ever, the club was almost empty up untill arund 9:30, the stated time for the guest DJs to start. The residents had been playing the usual warm-up fodder, slowly building with some solid tunes, until around 9:45 when Paul Damage took over the reigns, staying with the steady percussive grooves for around half an hour. The place was filling up.
After what looked like a technical problem (possibly just getting the Final Scratch all plugged-in and ready to go?), Damage dropped a devastating tune, with rave stabs-a-plenty, which went down well with the crowd..It seemed the party-proper had started.
After that it was pretty much a non-stop acid-assault for the next hour or so. Dirty, squelch-strewn tunes with the odd hard percussion led track to break things up a bit got the party well and truely warmed-up for Surgeon...For me, the main event!
Surgeon, real name Anthony Child, has the look of the stereotypical geek from the American teen movies. Any bullying he might have got at school, he dutifully takes it out on the clubbers..Aurally. He started his set with a broody, hypnotic rhythm, with no percussion. Things quickly changed, when after trying to scare us with his uber-dark tunes, he utilised his Final Scratch to the fullest, dropping crunchy beats and classics galore!
Ten minutes into the set, and he'd already dropped Magneze. Where would he take it from here? Well, the answer was everywhere. He turned it into a Surgeon showcase, slipping in Screw The Roses, Badger Bite and Learn Your Lesson, the new, insanely dark British Murder Boys release, with accapellas such as Inner City's Good Life thrown over the top. The atmopshere was a full-on party mood with the dancefloor rammed, and the usual machine-gun crew hanging off anything that could be hung off! (if you've been, you'll know what I mean).
Mr Child played for around two hours, before making room for Regis and his laptop...Although there was time for an edit of Aphex Twin's Digeridoo that made sure not a single seat in the place was being used. I have never been the biggest Surgeon fan before now (in respect to his DJing), but this set will be remembered for a long time. Absolute class!
There has been a lot of debate lately about the quality of live sets, and the degree of live-ness being scrutinised. With the ever-increasing array of tools available for both the producer and DJ, the line between a 'DJ set' and a live performance is more blurred than ever. I don't know exactly to what degree Regis was performing 'live' (and Surgeon too, as he never actually left the decks when Regis came on), but I do know that whatever he was doing, it did its job.
Surgeon, stood emotionless (it seems) behind the decks, and Regis stood beside him, with laptop out front, arms held high, crossed over his face. Relentless four-to-the-floor beats with harsh, complex hi-hat patterns without a breakdown in sight. The moody techno image and repetitive beats that so many people think the entire techno scene comprises of was certainly on show here, and the crowd were lapping it up.
Skinheads in black t-shirts, dreadlocked crusties, girls in micro skirts, cybered-up glowstick fiends and Burberry clad locals..There was a real mix of people and not a spec of pretentiousness in sight. If the rumours of the shut-down are true, then the Orbit will have gone out on a real high, and will be sorely missed, I'm sure by the entire region and even further afield.
The management say not to believe the gossip..We'll see.