Flight Facilities performing with an orchestra again as Australian bands keep getting hooked on classical

IT was a musical experiment that paid off for Sydney dance duo Flight Facilities. Now the boys are back to mix their electronic sound with a symphony orchestra.

Flight Facilities are doing another orchestra show as Australian bands get hooked on classical. Picture: Supplied.

SYDNEY dance duo Flight Facilities are getting hooked on classical music again.

Flight Facilities will play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at a special show at the Domain on September 10.

The event is part of the Red Bull Music Academy Weekender which runs from September 8-11.

The FF x SSO gig follows the duo’s wildly successful experiment last year when they played with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in a show that sold out in two hours.

Tickets for the Sydney event went on sale today, with punters expecting to fly in from all over Australia for the bespoke performance.

They’ll use Italian composer Davide Rossi’s score from last year’s gig for the Sydney performance, but it won’t be the exact same show, which was documented on vinyl and download last year.

“We’ll rearrange the order,” Flight Facilities’ Hugo Gruzman says. “We’re writing new music now and we’re liking what’s coming out of the speakers and the songs have the elements of the orchestra we picked up last year in them so hopefully we’ll have some new songs to play too. That would be nice.”

Playing a show with an orchestra is one of the most expensive undertakings for a local band.

“I don’t know if we’re stupid or not but we can’t do things half-arsed,” Flight Facilities’ Jimmy Lyell admits.

Hilltop Hoods are touring Australia with 50 musicians on stage. Picture Simon Cross

However these events open up classical music to new audiences, as well as giving existing fans a special night out.

Gruzman says “Some orchestras are caught in the old school, but a good way to make these symphony orchestras thrive and show their relevance to new audiences is by doing contemporary stuff, which the Hilltop Hoods are doing as well.”

The Adelaide hip-hop crew had dabbled with strings in the past on a remix album in 2007, and this year released Drinking from the Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung, recorded with the 32-piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the 20-piece Adelaide Chamber Singers Choir.

The album continued their run of No. 1 releases.

Hilltop Hoods have toured the new release around Australian arenas over the last month, selling out venues with over 50 musicians on stage.

Their with-strings-attached tour ends in Perth this Saturday at Perth Arena.

Lyell says last year’s show has given them a headstart for what’s needed in Sydney.

“The undertaking should have been a year long process but we crammed it into six or eight months last year,” Lyell says. “We were basically writing new music for the orchestra show, we had to rewrite all our songs again. But we’ve been itching to do it again.”

For Flight Facilities fans, there’s still no news of a follow up to their acclaimed debut Down to Earth,which will again form the basis of the Domain show.

However their next release could be a remix for an international act they’re keeping quiet about.

”We’ve done a remix for a band we’ve admired for years and years and years, and it’s featuring an artist we also love so hopefully they like it and use it.”

Flight Facilities with Sydney Symphony Orchestra in The Domain, Saturday September 10. $86, http://www.redbull.com.au/weekender