Photo by Marek Richter

Earlier this year we brought you news that Orbital would be reforming for The Big Chill festival set to take place in August. Well the Hartnoll brothers have been busy getting more summer bookings in and have announced a bunch of new gig dates:

Fri 12 Jun – Sun 14 Jun – Rock Ness 2009
Fri 24 Jul – Sat 25 Jul – Global Gathering 
Fri 7 Aug – Sun 9 Aug – Big Chill
Sat 19 Sep – Manchester University
Fri 25 Sep – O2 Academy Brixton

And if that’s not enough for you, this is a fresh press release from the organizers of Barcelona’s Sonar festival:

Orbital will be one of the main attractions on the bill of Sónar 2009, Barcelona’s International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art to be held on 18th, 19th and 20th June. 

Orbital, the most important group in electronic dance music in the ‘90s, return to the international stage in 2009 with a tour that will give a fresh airing to all the major hits of their career, which will be an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate 20 years of cinematic techno anthems and symphonies.

The Hartnoll brothers are considered the pioneering duo in the introduction of live improvisation to their performances, a rarity in techno shows at the end of the twentieth century, which they will reproduce once again at what will be their third show at Sónar.

Orbital created dozens of legendary anthems between 1989 and 2004, including Chime, The Box, Belfast, Satan and Style. These anthems have influenced and inspired several generations and a vast number of musicians in the following years. 

For their show at the 16th edition of Sónar, they guarantee their patented torch specs will appear, as will new audiovisuals to give a dash of colour to a session with no new songs and packed with all their greatest hits. 

More artists on the bill of Sónar 2009 will be announced soon.

After working on various solo projects, brothers Phil Hartnoll and Paul Hartnoll have confirmed that they are reforming Orbital and will be playing at the Big Chill Festival in August 2009.

Brighton’s Phil Hartnoll said in a statement:

“It’s not an exercise in nostalgia – the time just seems right. Everything just seemed to fall into place. We’ve got 15 years of active service making song. If you boil that down to a 90-minute festival set you should get something thoroughly exciting from beginning to end. Let’s put some fun back into it.”

The Big Chill Festival is taking place 7-9 August 2009 at Eastnor Castle, UK. Tickets will be on sale soon.