New Order live @ Aragon Ballroom - Chicago (USA) - 2005.05.03

Guyfamous wrote: Too many people around me only knew the very popular songs. Almost all of them were lost when the new songs were played.

yeah, i got a few strange looks when i cheered for WFTSC.

Ross E wrote: Hey, for those of us there early enough, how about that music? My ears perked up when I heard an Enjoy the Silence mix, Some Pet Shop Boys, Pulp, Blur...and even a Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb female-sung uber-mix? Or am I just losing it?

the Pink Floyd Cover was done by Scissor Sisters. Ana Matronic, who does some vocals on Jetstream, is a member of that band. I'm not sure if she sings the PF cover, or if one of the guys in SS does it (the lead singer has a somewhat feminine voice).

Wanted to add more...

The opening band (The Assassins) were okay, but I found myself wanting them to hurry the hell up so NO could get on stage. I was pretty close up, near the guys who were holding the giant ass flag. The performance itself was amazing, I was thinking it might've been somewhat of a letdown based on their performances on the DVDs. They were pretty enthusiastic, the light show was awesome, and the performances sounded just like the recordings. I kinda wished Gillian was doing the keyboards, so that I could've seen the authentic NO, but whatever. The new guy did pretty good. I also wished they played a few of my own personal faves: Perfect Kiss, Thieves Like Us, Subculture, Vanishing Point.

Had an amazing night...definitely the best concert I've ever been too. I was right in front of Hooky two rows back...perfect spot. As others have said the band we are all in great form, they playedwonderfully w/ loads of energy, lots of banter, Barney telling jokes w/ Stephen doing the BUH DUM CHING after the punchline, Hooky was all over the place and really screaming on his backup vox (particularly Tranmission and LWTUA). Though Barney was in a lot of pain he managed to do a bit of his goofy dancing during BLT.
Highlights for me were Love Vigilantes (perfect opener!), Temptation, and YSF. I actually think this was the best setlist of this decade so far.

There seemed to have been a few mishaps: towards the end True Faith the guy running the sequences from the Powerbook looked at Hooky and held up four fingers and shrugged. The song might have ended four bars early. Did anyone else notice this? Also at the beginning of Blue Monday Stephen's keyboard had no output and Barney seemed a little confused.

After the show I went to the after party at Neo. Drank, danced, and chatted with a few NOOLers(WenOrder, Spotnick, DJ Kamar). Saw drugrep outside the bar but I'm not sure he made it in (Did you?). Although I ended up losing my favorite coat at Neo I stil had an excellent time. Thanks again NOOL for putting on the party!

Alright, I set up a photobucket thingy for my pics:

http://photobucket.com/albums/y188/Ross_E/

"...Aragon2" is Barney curled over his guitar during a Temptation solo. Let me know if its not working. I will add continuously.

oh yeah...at the end, Hooky took off his black No shirt and threw it into the crowd. don't know who got it, but i bet it was pretty sweaty.

i can't register for the dimeadozen site...it says it's full. can someone post the show elsewhere?

John Forester wrote: Had an amazing night...definitely the best concert I've ever been too. I was right in front of Hooky two rows back...perfect spot. As others have said the band we are all in great form, they playedwonderfully w/ loads of energy, lots of banter, Barney telling jokes w/ Stephen doing the BUH DUM CHING after the punchline, Hooky was all over the place and really screaming on his backup vox (particularly Tranmission and LWTUA). Though Barney was in a lot of pain he managed to do a bit of his goofy dancing during BLT.
Highlights for me were Love Vigilantes (perfect opener!), Temptation, and YSF. I actually think this was the best setlist of this decade so far.

There seemed to have been a few mishaps: towards the end True Faith the guy running the sequences from the Powerbook looked at Hooky and held up four fingers and shrugged. The song might have ended four bars early. Did anyone else notice this? Also at the beginning of Blue Monday Stephen's keyboard had no output and Barney seemed a little confused.

After the show I went to the after party at Neo. Drank, danced, and chatted with a few NOOLers(WenOrder, Spotnick, DJ Kamar). Saw drugrep outside the bar but I'm not sure he made it in (Did you?). Although I ended up losing my favorite coat at Neo I stil had an excellent time. Thanks again NOOL for putting on the party!

I've tried to stay away from posting my own review in another post. But you about summed it up for me. Starting out with LV was just amazing. Unfortuantley it was at the same time the four drunks started pushing people around.

We where right were Hooky came over most of the night right in front to the left a bit. Just fantastic. I really felt sorry for this one lady who was getting pushed around a lot by the drunks. You can see my other post for that.

Was drugrep with Lou Diamond Phillips at Neo?

TruFthMorningSun wrote: oh yeah...at the end, Hooky took off his black No shirt and threw it into the crowd. don't know who got it, but i bet it was pretty sweaty.

i can't register for the dimeadozen site...it says it's full. can someone post the show elsewhere?

His shirt landed right in front of me - well, into 10 hands of crazy people. I gave it a try, but my conscience kicked in and let it go as soon as I saw it was clearly caught. Oddly enough, looked like a girl ended up with it. Good to see.

Yeah, dimeadozen is full - any alternatives?

But it was quite nice to meet Johnny Giles, Al Jarvis, FacSeven, WenOrder, Kamar and a lot more people...

Good to meet all of you (you too, Nic) and more whose names I've forgotten or confused.

For those I didn't get introduced to I was the guy in the Stone Roses shirt.

Great show, great setlist, great afterparty. 24 years since I last saw them and worth every minute.

Can't add to everyone else's raves.

Colin

dimeadozen is full. It says I can't register for a new account.

Does anybody have a copy of this yet?? I would love (need) to have a copy.

Please email me at freeman914@aol.com

I have a great Doves bootleg from Lost Souls tour and the 1st Oasis show in Chicago at the Metro for trade.

Thanks

Brad

The torrent on dimeadozen has been obsoleted - instant upgrade! Upgraded version (same original source though) Basically some screechy frequencies were smacked down and the version being currently torrented beats the crap out of the original.

Drew

Ok, here we go...

Got to Green Mill at about 4:40, but no one was in there (was running late, had to forgo the 'L' for a cab. Had everyone left by then?

Got to the Aragon and waited in line on the side of the building, talked to some nice folks from Ohio (can't remember your names though, had to run to the shop to get some water for me and the Mrs.,...It was the bloke who gave away his extra ticket , and the nice couple (girl wearing a red England jersey/guy wearing a Moog shirt). A bit scary all the crackheads roaming and asking for change though

Loved the venue, drinks were pricy but strong (Note, best to send your girl to get the drinks, they make em EXTRA strong). Assassins were fantastic, goddamn the girl in the band was beautiful. A bit buzzed then, so got a pic of the girl (much to my fiancee's chagrin )

New Order got on stage, and I died. I was someone else. Love Vigilantes started, and I lost it. Crystal. Regret. Transmission. BLT. True Faith. Blue Monday. A madhouse, and I was on top of the world. (If anyone is wondering, I was the cunt yelling for "This Time of Night" after every song and yelling out for Phil). Also, shoutout to the girl w/ black curly hair, glasses, black top wearing a glow-necklace (didn't catch your name either :( ) who was discussing songs w/ me. (She insisted Atmosphere would be played, I was pushing for some older NO).

Still half deaf, but the memories will last forever. Cheers. Long live New Order. I'm out.

Could some kind soul e-mail the torrent to oddhandle@yahoo.com? New users aren't permitted.

Thanks in advance!

Just got back home from Chicago, but have to say the show was just amazing. I flew across country to see them in 2001 (vancouver) and that was special for being my first NO experience... but this was by far the best concert. Phil really adds to the sound, doesn't he?

I didn't get a chance to download it, and now both torrents are not working :/.

Here is part 2 of my review.

First off, since people wanted more details, let me re-start at the start. We arrived early, around 6:30, just as they were starting to let people in. Already a huge line, but we were still able get a good place up front, right in front of Phil (I’ve been right in front of Hooky before, so I thought I would try a change). There were about 4-5 people in front of me. I was the white guy wearing a “recycle” white T-shirt, my girlfriend is Chinese. As someone else mentioned, I also loved the warm-up tunes, Depeche Mode “Enjoy the silence”, the Scissors “Comfortably Numb”, etc.

The Assassins came on round about 7:30, but we were all just impatient for NO to come on. Young band, they try hard, the bassist had an uncanny resemblance to Hooky circa 1984, with the close-cropped beard. They struck me as trying to be a cross between a young New Order and Maroon 5. I didn’t think they were that good (although better than the openers for U2 last week – Kings of Leon – Yech!!!) The Assassins played till about 8:20, then we impatiently waited for New Order to start, and they finally came on at 8:45, and we were in Heaven! The set just flew by! I have already posted my review of the first part of the show, so here are more details that I can remember:

Transmission was awesome! Sounded great, good energy.

BLT was also very good. Towards the end of the song, Barney got his roadie “Roger” singing with him, and let him sing a couple of lines on his own. I must say, Roger was pretty darn good! Barney joked that he should let Roger finish the set.

LWTUA – simply awesome. Hooky screaming into the mic “C’mon Chicago!”

Temptation – the high point of the show, the crowd went nuts, everyone sang along. Sounded fantastic. Hooky was sweating profusely, and at the end of the song, tore off his shirt and walked off bare torso with the rest of the band.

After a short break, they came back on, and Barney asked if we wanted to hear Atmosphere or YSF. YSF of course! Inexplicably, the cheering was about equal so Barney said “well I guess we will play both then”. I thought to myself, well, they have been playing well over an hour now, so I guess they finally axed BM off the set list! (Which I didn’t really mind because they always complain about having to play it).

Atmosphere was good, but maybe a bit to slow and moody for me well as a live tune. I was yelling out for them to play Ceremony (keep the tradition alive, what the hell). Others around me joined in, but to no avail of course (by the way – Ceremony live is simply incredible! Once you have seen the way they play Ceremony live, you will never forget it. So much energy and power, not like the studio version. Check out the little snippet of Ceremony on the 5 11 DVD, under the extras, from New year’s eve 1998 – unfreaking believable live, trust me, I was there.)

Anyway, I digress. YSF – what can I say? Classic NO, beautiful, simple, perfect. Love that melodica. Hooky pulls out the big old 6-string bass for this one, and I love that bass line.

So I thought, well, that’s the last song, right? But wait, no! They played Blue Monday! And without complaining about having to play it! Somehow, that made it sound way better! Plus Barney added in the Kylie Minogue sample “Can’t get you out of my head” near the beginning, hilarious. (Kylie does a mix of her song using the bass and drum line from BM, so touché!) Unfortunately, Barney seemed to re-injure his foot towards the end. He finally started to try his trademark jig with a bit more vigor during this song, but landed a bit awkwardly. I saw him grimace, and he limped very slowly to the keyboards to finish the song. Then goodnight!

Hooky (who now had on a black NO T-shirt), tore off his shirt, tossed it into the crowd, and walked off bare torso again.

All in all, simply magnificent. Best yet! Barney was in fine form musically, although he couldn’t do his jig b/c of his foot injury. But he was in a great mood despite the foot. Very relaxed and confident.

Hooky was simply amazing, incomparable. He did the whole bass-god thing with even more gusto then ever, which is hard to imagine. Roaming around the stage from one far end to the other, sweating profusely. He played his bass so low that it really WAS scraping the ground on numerous occasions. I love the way he would eyeball into the audience, pirate like. Plus all his trademark moves, that only he can do authentically (anybody else would look so Spinal Tap). Words cannot describe how awesome it is too watch him go at it 110%.

Simply a perfect set. Except of course, if they could throw in Ceremony. But they played for 1 hour 45 minutes (until 10:30), which is very good for these guys.

I can’t make it to New York, I have to return to my regularly scheduled life, but I hope and pray that they return to North America in the fall so I can see them again.

Cheers! Have fun in New York! I am going to listen to the bit-torrent of the show now! (Ah, the wonders of modern technology.)

Roy, Great review.

hey where were standing? that's my "woo" the very last one. i had a hat on, probably the only one in the building. do you have the whole concert on audio?

Ok, here we go...Got to Green Mill at about 4:40, but no one was in there (was running late, had to forgo the 'L' for a cab. Had everyone left by then?

Aleph,

You may have been too early, not too late. I got there around 5:00pm and met up with 10-12 NOOL guys (we were at the far end of the bar).

Colin

It was a real pleasure meeting you guys at the pre-gathering in Chicago, Its dedicated individuals like yourselves that spread and keep alive and well the New Order legacy and your efforts are paying off!!! I have to say I was at their gig in Mt. View, CA in ’01 my first N.O. show ever, and it was everything I had expected, top notch, however the show in Chicago was over-the-top! Hooky was really enjoying himself on stage showing of his skills, Barney as well, I just hope Barney is alright from his injury in CA because he was limping a bit near the end … –Neo after the show was JAMMED, by the time I arrived the line was down to the street and they were only letting people in as people left and there weren’t to many people that left once they were in *sigh*. I was so impressed with there performance that I spend all day yesterday jumping through hoops to take off of work and arrange for a flight from Milwaukee, WI to NYC and get tickets for there last U.S. performance this year, I managed to do all the above! –yippie!!-- Nick I hope to say hi to you at the pre-show gathering once again. You have got to be the most dedicated fan!!!-- And you best share those pictures you told me at the Arragon that you would be taking backstage with me:) -Brian

nothing to add to what everyone said, except this: i've only seen them one other time, at finsbury park, and this exceeded my expectations.. couldn't go wrong after the opener, could you? it's left me on a high even today.. :)

god.. come back soon, new order..

First, I have to thank Corey for getting me into the meet & greet. You fulfilled one item on my "gotta do before I die" list and I am eternally grateful. Just got the pictures back so I will be sending those shortly.

It was pleasure meeting Spotnick and Kamar, thanks for putting together the afterparty and keeping this website going.

I got to the Aragon about 4pm, went over to the Green Mill for about half an hour which was way before anyone else was there. Cool having a beer in a Capon bar though!

Missed out on t-shirts, evidently everything sold out. Heads up the New York attendees.

Cheers, Dave (the guy in the paisley shirt)