Those who watch Phil Hartnoll at Clash26 will see one of British dance music's most influential artists.
As one half of the pop-techno duo Orbital — with his brother Paul — Hartnoll cowrote "Chime," one of the first dance-music anthems, and helped to transform acid house from a countercultural music listened to by people high on drugs in fields to a fundamental part of popular culture.
Orbital played a headline slot on the second stage at Glastonbury Festival in 1994, a gig that Q magazine called one of the best 50 of all time. It showed that live performances of electronic music could stand shoulder to shoulder with live rock gigs — something anyone who saw the Chemical Brothers at this year's Fuji Rock Festival will confirm.
Since Orbital split in 2004, Hartnoll has been in the studio, and has just released a new album, "Ideal Condition." But the biggest cheers at ageHa will doubtless be saved for when Hartnoll plays the Orbital tracks of yesteryear.
Clash26 takes place Sept. 8 at ageHa, 2-2-10 Kotou-ku, Shin-Kiba, Tokyo, from 11 p.m. Tickets are ¥3,500. For more information visit www.ageha.com.