New Order live @ Coachella Festival - Indio (USA) - 2005.05.01

Put on the sun block, and still got a decent burn out of it all today. Yeah, I think Jim got the setlist right, Atmosphere was good, I don't recall any "whoops" from Barney on that one.

There did seem to be a couple of sound problems, from Barney saying that Phil's chimes were too loud on Atmosphere, to the fact that I think Barney's mike cut out a bit at the beginning of BLT, I think Hooky had a gripe about something, but it was a long day out there.

Blue Monday sounded really good, I thought, the expressions on the face of the people around me hearing it live easily made my umpteenth listening as good as the first, there were some really happy people singing and dancing along.

Figured there was gonna be a crunch up front, I was close to the front for Gang Of Four ( who truly rocked) and upon the end of their show, there wasn't much of an exodus of people, and there were lots of others staking their postions. Wasn't gonna fight the crowds anymore, so Brian, Rinna and I staked out a good postion in the middle, and enjoyed the show there. sorry Churchy, I figured that was gonna happen.

Photos and a couple movies:

Coachella pics & movs

Apologies in advance for the nightmarish sound mix on Atmosphere. I was by the speakers, it's almost unbearable, turn your sound down.

Jetstream on the other hand turned out pretty good.

Enjoy!

Just got back from the show and it was awesome!!!

Here are some pics I took from the show...

Coachella 2005 http://coachella.fac73.com/

Ad when, exactly, was the last time they didn't play "Temptation"???

I imagine there were some disgruntled Vikings "in the area"...

Doctor Clayhead wrote: Ad when, exactly, was the last time they didn't play "Temptation"???

I imagine there were some disgruntled Vikings "in the area"...

That's the first time since the Point Depot in Dublin in 1993.

Guys, returned from Coachella about an hour ago. Stayed for NIN as well.

Perhaps I shall be the one being pessimistic about the concert. Sadly enough, it was NIN that ended our (wife and myself) day on the high note, not New Order. We were very disappointed that Temptation, TF, Love V and She Lost Control weren't played. Since the setlist from the Oakland show was posted, we were really looking forward to Love V and SLC.

Firstly, we should have organized a meet up with the British lads. I couldn't find them with their union jack anywhere. Being in a group of New Order would have been more fun jumping and singing along. We were in a crowd that stood still through eveyrthing except, BLT and Blue Monday. Sam (the Happy one) did approach me when we were watching Gang of Four. He helped us moved closer to the barricade. Thanks Sam!

Secondly, maybe it was because we were too close to Hooky's bass amps, we couldn't hear Barney's voices at all. At times, it was difficult to figure out which verses Barney was singing. And yup, the bass line in one of the songs was a little distorted. Like one octave higher or something. I remember being this close at AreaOne 4 years ago and had a lot of fun singing along.

Thirdly, the NIN fans were rough. Very rough in fact. Even half way through the New Order gig, they pushed and shoveled their way in. Half the time during the New Order gig, I had to concentrate on staying upright and preventing my wife from being squashed by pple all around. Once New Order left the stage, all hell broke loose. I had to lift up my wife above the crowd and the security in front carried her over the barricade. I joined a bit later. For that, we lost a cap, a cell phone and a camera. Plus, my pair of glasses is broken too.

I told myself that this is not how I wanted the night to end. So we watched NIN from a further distance and the show was spectacular. But the more aggressive NIN fans are the ones who really annoyed me.

Anyway, don't want to bore everyone with all the nitty details. Now, we really want to attend the Chicago and NY shows but we didn't plan anything. So maybe next time.

Thanks for reading.

Vince Se wrote:

Thirdly, the NIN fans were rough. Very rough in fact. Even half way through the New Order gig, they pushed and shoveled their way in. Once New Order left the stage, all hell broke loose. I had to lift up my wife above the crowd and the security in front carried her over the barricade. I joined a bit later. For that, we lost a cap, a cell phone and a camera. Plus, my pair of glasses is broken too.

That's why I hate festvals! Come on guys, play proper concerts not these stupid festivals.

Tell me about it. Thing is I attended AreaOne and that was a festival too and it wasn't too bad. My wife and I are fans of NIN nonetheless. We just didn't think that the crowd was this rough. We have bruises and aching muscles over now.

I must admit it wasn't the best concert I have attended. But at the very least, we got to meet New Order in person on Wednesday. So that sort of neutralized the New Order experience.

Ruined in a day wrote:

That's why I hate festvals! Come on guys, play proper concerts not these stupid festivals.

gregv wrote:

Love Will Tear Us Apart. Hooky dedicated it to Steve, followed by "you bastard."

Haha - David Sultan thinks it was dedicated to him!

Vince Se wrote:

Thirdly, the NIN fans were rough. Very rough in fact. Even half way through the New Order gig, they pushed and shoveled their way in. Half the time during the New Order gig, I had to concentrate on staying upright and preventing my wife from being squashed by pple all around. Once New Order left the stage, all hell broke loose. I had to lift up my wife above the crowd and the security in front carried her over the barricade. I joined a bit later. For that, we lost a cap, a cell phone and a camera. Plus, my pair of glasses is broken too.

I told myself that this is not how I wanted the night to end. So we watched NIN from a further distance and the show was spectacular. But the more aggressive NIN fans are the ones who really annoyed me.

very sorry to hear that about being upfront, it was exactly all those aggressive NIN fans that made me skip their set, the best news, in a twisted way, is that they probably baked all day while wearing their black clothes in the hot sun. I just wonder how they would've reacted if NO had played Dead Souls (I know the possiblities are zilch and nada).

Israel De La Mora wrote: Just got back from the show and it was awesome!!!

Here are some pics I took from the show...

Coachella 2005 http://coachella.fac73.com/

Yeah, me too. Still an error. Over its hosting capacity.

The NIN fans were atrocious. Right after NO ended I thought I would squirm my way towards the front, which I got about a good few rows ahead. Then everyone was pushing to the front so I decided to elbow people in their chests to get em away from me, but I took advantage of this by squirming farther and farther to the front :P . I got all the way to the third row middle, when I just said fuck it. NIN sounded like shit, absolute shit, for the first few songs except for March of the Pigs, which I could have enjoyed more if I didn't have to elbow all the arses near me to keep from being pushed to the ground. So I eventually made my way to the barricade and hopped it onto the hands of a couple of security officials, but my foot got stuck in the crowd, and since it was so packed I could not get it out of the crowd, but after a good minute I was able to get it out, and I left. I was already exhausted before since I was hopping around and slightly dancing for Miss Kittin hours earlier (she had the best performance by far out of all the artists that I saw), and thus I was trashed and had a headache from the potsmokers around me during the Miss Kittin performance. I walked around a bit, then went back towards the main stage to hear NIN play 'Hurt', which turned out to sound like drivel to me, but 'Head Like a Hole' sounded ridiculously good. The new NIN song sounded bad because they failed to be able to make that bouncy synth sound that is very prevalent in the studio single. After all this, I went to the Sahara tent, and they rocked the tent with 'Firestarter'. So IMO, Miss Kittin and The Prodigy were the best acts to see, and I guess you could add Ben Watt to that list as well.

Isn't the key point here that if you like sub-adolescent goth gibberish like NIN then you get what you deserve?? Or have we recently entered some kind of parallel dimension where Reznor and co. aren't a pile of stale wank???

I think this pretty much sums it up:

Near or very near to the stage, sound is shit. Further, and I do mean much further away, it was like watching DVD in your living room.

Tristan Jayol XVI wrote: NIN sounded like shit, absolute shit, for the first few songs except for March of the Pigs, which I could have enjoyed more if I didn't have to elbow all the arses near me to keep from being pushed to the ground.

Gotcha Greg. Same post here and Coachella.com, efficient use of resources!

As if we had a choice to get out immediately after the NO set. You sounded like I deserved to lose my belongings. Hey, thanks for pointing that out.

And really, keep your opinions about NIN to yourself.

Doctor Clayhead wrote: Isn't the key point here that if you like sub-adolescent goth gibberish like NIN then you get what you deserve?? Or have we recently entered some kind of parallel dimension where Reznor and co. aren't a pile of stale wank???

As much as I hate to say to say it, New Order was pretty uninsprired. I've seen 'em a few times before and this performance was phoned in. It's a shame. Not like this show was at the end of a long tour of anything. In fact, Sumner even said at the end of the set, "We're sorry we weren't more animated, but that's life." Dance injuries aside, I think they could have played better. They were, like "Ok. We're going to play Blue Monday now (checking watch)."

Too much new stuff too, in my opinion. New Order doesn't need to push the new record that hard. But then again, I'm hoping for a setlist straight out of 1989. I don't know, if you're pressed for time and doing a festival show, you'd think you'd bust out the hits. One, because you are likely to have a big draw of fans who are there just to basically see you, and two, with a festival crowd, chances are they're not going to know the new songs anyway. I'd have traded 3 new songs for just ONE song from 'Technique' or 'Lowlife.' Or even 'Temptation' for chrissakes.

Which leads me to another point, have they forgotten how to play the songs off 'Technique' or have they just lost the sequencer files and are too lazy to reprogram them? Anyone?

Funny sidenote - one of the teenagers who went to the show with us asked, "Did the singer from New Order even show up? Who was that guy on stage?" hehe

I think the most interesting bands at festivals are the smaller ones that have something to prove. The Arcade Fire, British Sea Power and MIA were all psyched to be there and it showed.

As far as NIN goes, yeah, unfortunately, agressive bands tend to bring that element out, whether the people are fans or not. That's one reason why festivals can be truly lame. My friend's girlfriend almost got trampled just trying to get out of the main stage crowd after New Order ended and NIN hadn't even started playing yet.

If they NIN types wanted to see something truly anti-social, they should have made your way over to the Wolf Eyes tent where the band did nothing but make pure noise for 45 minutes. Those wisecracks at Pitchforkmedia even described Wolf Eyes as "making music that makes you want to kill yourself after listening to it." You'd think that would be right up the typical NIN fan's alley - makes "Hurt" looks like a Kylie Minogue tune in comparison. Not like you can even understand what Wolf Eyes is even singing/screaming about anyway, mind you, but it doesn't matter.

thomas wrote:

Which leads me to another point, have they forgotten how to play the songs off 'Technique' or have they just lost the sequencer files and are too lazy to reprogram them? Anyone?

They've upgraded their sequencer technology quite a bit since 1989, and no longer use floppies and an Emulator. They haven't reprogrammed most of them (I think Fine Time may be the only survivor, and they haven't played that for some time, so it is reasonable to assume they've binned it at long last!). Roger Lyons from Lionrock is their programmer, and he hadn't been working on the Technique songs last I heard.

Thanks for the info. That is interesting info and good to know.

If anyone from the New Order camp is prowling around the site, please get Roger Lyons on some 'Technique' songs, pronto. I know a lot of fine New Order fans would appreciate it. Thanks.

Heck, they could even do 'Run' and 'Love less' without much programming, I'd think. Or how about 'Sunrise'?

Now we're talking.

oldmonkey wrote:

thomas wrote:

Which leads me to another point, have they forgotten how to play the songs off 'Technique' or have they just lost the sequencer files and are too lazy to reprogram them? Anyone?

They've upgraded their sequencer technology quite a bit since 1989, and no longer use floppies and an Emulator. They haven't reprogrammed most of them (I think Fine Time may be the only survivor, and they haven't played that for some time, so it is reasonable to assume they've binned it at long last!). Roger Lyons from Lionrock is their programmer, and he hadn't been working on the Technique songs last I heard.

Yes, that is very good to know, even if it is sad news! Thanks a lot!

FAC103 wrote: so Tristan, why weren't you in OAKLAND?!?!?!

Ermmm... I was playing Madden at the time, that's why :p. Anyways, I try to limit my ventures into Norcal.

I noticed Transmission opened with the sustained synth effect that starts the studio version. I've never noticed it before in any bootlegs or the Oakland show for that matter. Has it always been in there live?

Firstly, we should have organized a meet up with the British lads. I couldn't find them with their union jack anywhere. Being in a group of New Order would have been more fun jumping and singing along. We were in a crowd that stood still through eveyrthing except, BLT and Blue Monday. Sam (the Happy one) did approach me when we were watching Gang of Four. He helped us moved closer to the barricade. Thanks Sam!

Yeah, was great meeting you in the pit, for lack of a better term. I should have listened to the advice I gave Al who told somebody to go to the Philside, would have been a smoother time there.

Secondly, maybe it was because we were too close to Hooky's bass amps, we couldn't hear Barney's voices at all. At times, it was difficult to figure out which verses Barney was singing. And yup, the bass line in one of the songs was a little distorted. Like one octave higher or something. I remember being this close at AreaOne 4 years ago and had a lot of fun singing along.

May have been because we were below the PA system, and Bernard's vocals are "filled" for him through his headphones. Everybody knows the words anyway. :)

Thirdly, the NIN fans were rough. Very rough in fact. Even half way through the New Order gig, they pushed and shoveled their way in. Half the time during the New Order gig, I had to concentrate on staying upright and preventing my wife from being squashed by pple all around. Once New Order left the stage, all hell broke loose. I had to lift up my wife above the crowd and the security in front carried her over the barricade. I joined a bit later. For that, we lost a cap, a cell phone and a camera. Plus, my pair of glasses is broken too.

Oh my god, I got caught in that maelstorm as well. Me and a few like-minded individuals made our way through the hoards out the back, but I was definitely getting close to passing out from the press of NINnies pushing to get in. Sorry to hear about your damages, luckily all I lost was a bit of pride having been teased by fools that knew not what happened.

I told myself that this is not how I wanted the night to end. So we watched NIN from a further distance and the show was spectacular. But the more aggressive NIN fans are the ones who really annoyed me.

I was so thoroughly disgusted I decided to rejoin the horde at the BSP show, which I enjoyed, even if the matching outfits are slightly dorky.

Anyway, don't want to bore everyone with all the nitty details. Now, we really want to attend the Chicago and NY shows but we didn't plan anything. So maybe next time.

Still not too late! I think the vibe will be a whole lot better at those shows, since everyone (unless other miscreants like AJ Wells pop in for a look) will be a fellow NO fan and will treat you with love and respect.

Vince, don't forget to email me at [mail]the@new-order.net[/mail] as I have an item you're missing.

That's why I hate festvals! Come on guys, play proper concerts not these stupid festivals.

In NO's defense, 3/4 of the American gigs will be 'proper concerts', the last time being in 1993...the rough part was that the Coachella date was the one first known about so lots of folks committed before the other dates were announced.

InTheComputer... wrote: I noticed Transmission opened with the sustained synth effect that starts the studio version. I've never noticed it before in any bootlegs or the Oakland show for that matter. Has it always been in there live?

Yeah, the opening synth sustained showed up in Oakland as well. Don't recall hearing it before that in any New Order rendition of Tranny.

thomas wrote: As much as I hate to say to say it, New Order was pretty uninsprired. I've seen 'em a few times before and this performance was phoned in. It's a shame. Not like this show was at the end of a long tour of anything. In fact, Sumner even said at the end of the set, "We're sorry we weren't more animated, but that's life." Dance injuries aside, I think they could have played better. They were, like "Ok. We're going to play Blue Monday now (checking watch)."

Yeah, you're right. The set lost steam after HNWYD. I wonder if Warners is forcing them to play all the new stuff. WFTSC and even HNWYD are at least decent live, but Krafty and especially Jetstream weren't that great (Hooky's bass was remarked to be all over the place on that one). I wonder if the band react to the audience and if it had something to do with all the people into the following act not responding.

Too much new stuff too, in my opinion. New Order doesn't need to push the new record that hard.

Maybe a tactical mistake, maybe not enough other tracks rehearsed, maybe Warners put in a kind word to promote the latest album, maybe they just wanted to.

Funny sidenote - one of the teenagers who went to the show with us asked, "Did the singer from New Order even show up? Who was that guy on stage?" hehe

Haha, good one.

Yeah, more than one person's noticed that BS is increasingly resembling William Shatner, which makes Phil Spock (imagine pointy, elven-type ears), Hooky Scotty, and Stephen Mr. Drum Sulu. Star Order, anybody?

I think the most interesting bands at festivals are the smaller ones that have something to prove. The Arcade Fire, British Sea Power and MIA were all psyched to be there and it showed.

The Bravery and Bloc Party too. 2004 produced a good crop of new bands...many of whom should be sending royalty checks to New Order... :)

The less said about NIN, the better.

tristan ...so you were one of the assholes!