Hopeful faces lined Hatch Street on Saturday night, anxious to get in to the second night of Orbital’s first indoor Irish gigs since 2001. The news of last minute tickets released this week and stellar reports from the previous night saw an impressive turnout, the resulting outcome saw many of these hopeful faces turn disappointed as Tripod soon reached full capacity.
Connected arrived just after ten bells, quickly dumped our coats in the corner and ducked and dived our way through the mob to the front row. Seemingly half the crowd were stuck in the cloakroom queue, but a heaving horde were still able to welcome the world's most famous head lights on stage as the Hartnoll brothers launched into ‘Impact’.
Phil ‘n’ Paul energetically pumped the crowd and seemed to be enjoying it as much as the fans. Known for their high production aesthetics at gigs, the lads were elevated on a mini stage on the main stage with flowing visuals forming a frame behind.
Team Connected were dubious of the 10pm matinee time slot for the two hour set, but the crowd were already lubed up nicely after the days sport and were brought through Belfast, Chime, Satan, Halcyon and On and On, Bigpipe Style, Lush and One Perfect Sunrise.
The cheeky sampling of pop anthem ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ by Belinda Carisle, although established in their sets, met a mixed reception as the tone of the set became lighter. For some it was jarring, but other die hards raved on regardless.
Bodies of all ages pogoed and pointed non-stop until the music reluctantly died and the lights went up. Although my companion voiced irritation at DJs who do encores [“Why not just play through?, she asked], no one was complaining when the head lights returned to the stage for the Alison Goldfrapp stamped, ‘The Box’.
When the final house lights came up with shirts sticking to backs and smiles all around, euphoric fans made their way to the merchandise stand like zombies, anxious to capture the memory in something concrete.
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