Well, my dilemma from Wednesday was solved. New Order tickets = bought. And available on some variety of website that is linked to them, you can buy a CD/download of one of their recent concerts, live in a place called The Troxy in London on 10/12/11. As a slight taster if what's coming up for me in 3 months, I decided to get it, hoping that it would assuage my fears about my memories of New Order being ruined when seeing them. So to that end, consider this review to be a live review. Or as much of a live review you can get from only listening to a gig from a different city on your computer.
My previous live experience of New Order comes in the shape of one thing, and one thing alone: videos. Youtube is possibly the best website on the internet, if solely for its many users who serve to provide myself and others with footage of things we would otherwise have had no chance of seeing.
(if you view that on youtube, You'll note that I have the highest voted comment, some 3 years since I posted it)
This is only one of the many New Order videos I've enjoyed over the years, and I'd never have seen it without Youtube. Aside from the multitude of videos on there, all I would have had is the Live in Glasgow DVD (as well as the bonus DVD of rare/unseen footage), so I am eternally greatful to the people on there who gave me the chance to see a band I never thought I would have.
As for that Live in Glasgow DVD, I remember getting that and spending hours watching it, transfixed and in awe. There's a reason I consider New Order to be the greatest band ever, and it's as much for their live performances as it is their studio output. Even in this performance, roughly 30 years after they started playing as Warsaw, they gave everything, and put on a damn good show. There are few bands who can go through the kind of crap they did and still be able to play together that well.
So, it is partially down to this that I entered this London gig with some trepidation. Would they still be as good, after so much time and arguments? Without defining member and as shown in the The Perfect Kiss video, coolest man ever, Peter Hook?
(note: the FAC321 video doesn't seem to be on youtube any more, ironically)
The short answer is yes. While the bass was probably the defining characteristic of New Order's sound, it could be over-powering. Especially on the last two albums, Get Ready and Waiting For the Sirens' Call. And even from the aforementioned Glasgow gig, the bass at times was too much. It sounded out of place with the rest of the band, almost drowning them out. A more reserved style is on offer from Tom Chapman, otherwise known as "the guy who played bass in Bad Lieutenant," one which benefits many of the songs on offer. It allows the other aspects of the band's music to be shown in greater prominence, and they certainly hold up for themselves.
This allows for some rarer songs to come into the setlist, with songs like 1963, 586 and Age of Consent appearing and sounding fresh, but not overly changed from their original forms. I think this is another mark of what makes New Order so great, this massive shift in their sound has been carried off seamlessly, and in parts they are better for it. The continued use of two guitars in certain songs now available with Gillian back on keyboards is another bonus, touching songs like 1963 and True Faith up with a rockier element which again, works. In fact, it does more than work, it sounds better than it ever did before.
One thing that has always stuck in my head about New Order is a quote from the sleeve notes on the re-issue of Low-life. About producer and remixer of some songs John Robie, who said to Bernard that; "this song is in the wrong key for you, you should change it so it keys in with your voice." That it took three albums for someone to tell the singer he wasn't singing properly is rather amusing, but for New Order, it's normal. That's where the charm comes from. They aren't the greatest band ever in spite of having a singer who couldn't carry a note in a bucket, they are because of that (along with everything else). Bernard's live voice has taken many years to grow into his own thing, compare Ceremony from 1981 and
His voice grew from someone going on Stars in Their Eyes being Ian Curtis to an established vocalist in his own right. With this gig in London though, it's different again. Established songs like Crystal and indeed Ceremony sound the same, while others like Age of Consent and 586 feature more yelps and quirks than usual. Perhaps it's nerves from not having performed them in several years, but there's often a feeling of... almost of weakness running through it. As if his voice is failing him a bit. But the show was played at a fairly high pace, so maybe it was that. Plus the overall angrier feeling of it probably contributed to that as well. To quote Bernard himself, "we're punks, we don't fuck about." Hopefully he'll be more used to playing the rarer songs (and you know, maybe other ones like Procession, Leave Me Alone, Sunrise, Weirdo, Broken Promise, As It Is When It Was, Vanishing Point and Dream Attack... though I'm getting ahead of myself there) by the time May comes. But I get the feeling I won't care either way.
So to sum up, this gig from the Troxy is by no means perfect. It is however much, much better than I was expecting, and one that fills me with hope for seeing them in May. I'm getting excited now folks. This could get ugly.
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