Disney Hall pulls an all-nighter with the Orb

The godfather of the ambient electronic-music scene for nearly two decades might seem an unlikely headliner for an L.A. Philharmonic-sponsored night at Walt Disney Concert Hall. But any show that runs from midnight to 6 a.m. Sunday and finds Patina serving breakfast at 4:30 a.m. is no ordinary night at Disney Hall.

The venue kicked off its two-week Minimalist Jukebox series with a six-hour electronic-music event headlined by the Orb, the brainchild of Alex Paterson.

Disney Hall’s first all-night event featured sound and colorful psychedelic art projections into every room. Fans walked freely throughout the space to experience a multimedia show that also included sets by Dntel; Boom Bip, whose 45-minute display of fleshed-out ambience and cross-genre mix of jazz, rock and dance delivered on the promise that group architect Bryan Hollon has shown on record; and John Tejada, a crowd-pleaser for his blend of techno and industrial sounds.

During much of the early portion of the morning, the capacity crowd milled about in the halls, gathering in common areas to share in the projections and soundscapes.

When the Orb took the stage behind a setup of two turntables and a laptop right at 3 a.m., fans spanning teens to folks in their 50s, with a heavy concentration in their 20s, filled nearly all of the general admission seats.

Much of the event’s appeal was the novelty of seeing a hall normally associated with classical music turned into an early-morning dance club and art gallery. Still, the Orb’s enduring place in the electronic world can’t be underestimated, particularly with Paterson sharing the stage during the show with frequent collaborator Thomas Fehlmann.

They emerged to a serene lullaby-esque track punctuated by bells that quickly segued into a heavy backbeat. Within a few moments, the entire front section of the audience was on its feet, dancing to an enticing techno hook that flowed into a disco-y beat.

Those wanting the more experimental side of the Orb were also satiated with long ambient interludes that featured a melange of sound play ranging from cymbals to spoken word and warm synthesizer grooves befitting the sunrise that awaited those who stuck it out to the end.