Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (A mouthful, I know, but stay with me here), also known as the stage name for electro maestro Orlando Higginbottom, has recently embarked on his first headline UK tour. After playing to a plethora of fans supporting the likes of Friendly Fires and performing at numerous festivals worldwide, the use of those head dresses and creating stubbornly infectious beats – it’s fair to say that anticipation is high for tonight’s Manchester sell-out performance.
Along with his ‘Pre-Historic’ EP’s of the past few years causing a storm throughout the underground dance scene, TEED’s latest instalment to compliment his live show, is bought in the formation of neon geometrics and snaking lights surrounding his equipment, which fabulously, elevate the whole performance to a new level within an audio-visual relationship. Taking to the stage wearing what can only be described as a feather blanket draped across his shoulders and back, Orlando proceeds to assault and manipulate his congregation of hardware present on-stage, blasting through fan-favourites, including the un-sing-a-long-able ‘Waulking Song’ and ‘Household Goods’, receiving nothing less than a rapturous response from the capacity crowd. In fact, I have never seen Deaf Institute so euphoric and appreciative of an act of this kind before- but then again that is what TEED does best, blurring the lines and dimensions of genres whilst roping in all kinds of fans.
Another spectacle witnessed, was the concept of a dancing duo sporting everything from skin-tight Lycra unitards’ (better than it sounds, I promise!) to a rainbow assortment of wigs and spike adorned catsuits that would make a DIY Gaga proud. Although the females’ dancing could hardly be described as, well, professional, the pair added an element of pizzazz and vibrancy, along filling in the gap between crows and act in a dynamic way for a genre, even show, of this kind. As the pair saunter on-stage armed with Orlando’s trademark head dress and glitter ribbon cannons, more hits are rolled out to the swells such as ‘Garden’- featuring a beautiful (albeit recorded) vocal on behalf of his regular on-stage collaborator, Louisa along with a phenomenal jungle mash-up to really get the whole room (bar staff and tech guys, I can see you!) reverberating in a state of unadulterated rapture. Finishing on a colossal final track mix, including thuggish, brutal beats, overlopping glockenspiel notes and even the occasional, distorted handclap- and, what’s that? Even a hint of jungle on the vocal front, it appears our feathered friend has blown us away yet again and we certainly cannot wait for his soon-to-be-released debut.
