What: Orbital + Severed Heads
Where: RCC
Genre: Music
(Review by Sarah List)
RCC has certainly been serving up an incredible list of international and local music acts in 2019, not the least of which was the very fabulous Orbital who had not graced our shores in over seven years. Orbital are foundational pioneers in the electronic music sphere, having popped out their first track Chime from under the stairs at one of their family homes (just like Harry Potter) in 1989.
Orbital opened with their track There Will Come a Time that was co-written with Brian Cox, featuring graphic imagery of the worst things that humans are doing to the earth, setting the tone that this would be a rabble rousing, activist-charged set. Orbital are well known for using their music and dazzling visual display as a stage for bringing light to issues that they are concerned about, and the message that closed the opening track was one of hope where we need to take better care of our planet. As someone who is pretty invested in supporting sustainability, it was an emotional opening and even without the imagery, it’s a challenging track that punch the feels of anyone who has them.
Cardinal Pell also featured prominently alongside the word ‘Lucifer’ in visuals for Satan Live, one of their most famous tracks, and communicated their feelings on that topic pretty decidedly.
Highlights of the set included Halcyon (featuring Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name and Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth samples), and from their latest release Monsters Exist, the dreamy Tiny Foldable Cities.
The pair were energetic and communicative with the audience all night. They were clearly pleased to be in Australia, and were especially happy with the crowd vibe on their night in Adelaide. Formalities of making the audience beg for an encore were done away with and they happily charged on to include a classic remix of the Doctor Who soundtrack in their bonus set.
Fabulous night from Orbital – and it’s a shame I unfortunately missed the Severed Heads after a miscommunication from the RCC about the set times start.
10
Overall Score
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