The Orb

On 20 March 2026 The Orb will be at Metropool in Hengelo. Since the late 1980s Alex Paterson, with a rotating cast of collaborators, has been the core of this London project that links ambient house to dub, reggae echoes and sample collages. The early records The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld and U.F.Orb established the template: slow-moving rhythms, spacious textures, voices lifted from films or radio and motifs that shift patiently. In the years that followed The Orb moved between the abstract and the club-oriented, making detours into techno-minimal and soundsystem culture, and collaborating with artists such as David Gilmour and Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Live, The Orb translates that studio approach into an audiovisual set in which improvisation and real-time processing are central. It’s not a cut-and-paste of classics, but a continuous stream that balances ambient, dub and house, with low BPMs, deep bass and layers that gradually unfold. Paterson directs, samples and weaves elements together, while visuals place the sound in a nocturnal context. A performance for those who appreciate long arcs of tension, detail in the sonic palette and that typical The Orb blend of contemplation and playfulness—right on the edge between listening at home and the final hours in the club.