Philadelphia 12/03/2016
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I have my tickets to Philadelphia. Can't wait to see the band again. Excited for the light show!
Much smaller than Radio City - about half the size. It did sell out quick. Sorry, I'm out of extras....
For anyone who fancies it me and JG and some others will be meeting at the Waterford across the street from the tower before the Gig... I reckon round 6ish.. or so.
If you don't have my number or anything..
I'm on twitter @ChrissMari just send us a note and I'll look for you.
Right kiddos. I'm Sat at the tables on the right of the bar when you first come in. Bright stripey shirt. My friend has a big fuck off hipster beard.
Compared to Radio City, they swapped in Lonesome Tonight for 586 (with a few tracks shuffled) and added Blue Monday to the encore.
Went to both NYC and Philly, and both were great. Saw that they had been doing Lonesome Tonight a bit recently and was so psyched to hear it last night. Bernard's intro to it was great as well. Of course they replaced one of my favorites (586), but at least we had that in NYC.
My reflections on the first two shows. Sorry about the length but how can one not go on and on about New Order. Great hanging with JG, Who's Joe, Linus, ChrissMari and others.
I first started going to New Order concerts in 1985 – circa Low-Life. Back then sets usually ran 45 minutes and if you were lucky an hour. Last night’s show clocked in at two hours. With their back catalogue, they need all those 120 minutes and still leave may epic songs on the cutting room floor (and amazingly nary a song from arguably their best album, Technique, is on the set list).
New Order concerts are dance marathons. Or at least the sets supporting this tour are such given the dance-y nature of Music Complete. They have incorporated six songs off the new album into the set (and that seems like a record as well – usually it is 3-4 of a new album). But the new songs fit in perfectly – the transitions from old to new are seamless. And the mega-dance ending at the end (TPK, True Faith, and Temptation) have been supplemented with new anthems to dance the night way.
Needless to say, if you are a New Order fan, particularly an older generation one – you need conditioning and pacing to make it through this set. There is rarely a moment in which you are not compelled to dance. And after the last embers of Temptation, the Joy Division homage/encore provide a perfect opportunity to catch one’s breath (and reflect).
One can quibble with a couple of song selections. Crystal has never been a big fave of mine save for the fact it gave The Killers their name. But clearly Bernard views it as an opportunity to flex his guitar particularly in a very electronic set (at least four songs find Bernard without a guitar). WFTSC seems a bit confusing given that there are so many Technique songs left on the bench. And the omission of Blue Monday in NYC set off many conspiracy theories, but never fear Blue Monday fans, it was back in Philly.
But there is nothing to complain about the show. Bernard is truly excited to be there and it shows. At one point he was exhorting the crowd to clap. Has Bernard been hanging out with David Gahan? Stephen is at his frenetic best. He does not seem to age, nor does he seem to breathe from the first drumbeat to the last. Gillian shows what was missed during her absence. Clearly the electronica is a reflection of her return. Phil is now a veteran (apparently 15 years now) and Tom shows he does not need to operate under anyone’s shadow.
The new tracks – like the album – are brilliant. Singularity is a great opener and transitions well into Ceremony. Tutti Fruitti (the voice from Fine Time returns) and People on the High Line (funky bass line would make Nile Rodgers smile) are given the extended mix treatment positioning them, along with Plastic, to join the mega-dance set. Even the old songs, some of which N.O. has been playing since the 80s never seem old or faded as the band always tinkers with the mixes. TPK is still the definitive dance song – an epic, soaring, hedonistic delight. And Temptation is rightly enthroned as the signature song – put at the end of the New Order set – and is the song that gets the crowd to respond in the way Bernard wants. Young and old crooning about blue eyes and green eyes. Maybe this is what can finally unite millennials and Gen Xers.
Every time I see N.O. these days, I can’t help but wonder will this be the last time I see them. Will this be the last time I hear Temptation – the song that redefined my life and told me what love really is about (even though it may tear “you” or “us” apart). New Order seem too engaged, energized, and dare I say “happy” to end it now. At least I hope so. They still have so much more to offer. And their crowd features a lot of young hipsters discovering them for the first time. They continue to be relevant and vital. Music is not complete yet, at least not for them.
New Order brings the Joy (Division) at the Tower
by Steve Klinge, For The Inquirer.
New Order deftly looped the past to the present to open its set at the sold-out Tower Theater on Saturday night. "Singularity," from last year's Music Complete, began with a foreboding, sparse arrangement that contained echoes of the band's early-'80s origins while videos played of Thatcher-era crowd clashes and Berlin Wall protests. Then, the band played a note-perfect "Ceremony," the last song that Joy Division wrote before the death of lead singer Ian Curtis and the 1981 debut single released by the remaining members under the name New Order.
Hearing "Ceremony" was a treat for fans of Joy Division and early New Order, but its guitar-centered sound represented only a small portion of the group's history. The original New Order lineup - singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, drummer Stephen Morris and then-new keyboardist Gillian Gilbert - quickly began experimenting with synthesizers, sequencers, and other elements of post-disco to create a still-influential merger of guitar-based rock and synth-based club music.
Music Complete is New Order's first album with its new lineup: bassist Tom Chapman ably replacing Hook, who left acrimoniously in 2007; Gilbert, who returned to the band in 2011 after a 10-year hiatus; multi-instrumentalist Phil Cunningham, who had replaced Gilbert; and originals Morris and Sumner. The album is a worthy addition to the band's legacy, and such songs as the high-energy, danceable "People on the High Line" and the urgent "Restless" were highlights of Saturday's two-hour set, especially when enhanced with dynamic, carefully synced light and video projections.
But, strong as they were, the new songs that dominated the first 70 minutes felt like bridges to the past. They were overshadowed by the rush of hearing old favorites such as the MTV-era hit "Bizarre Love Triangle," arranged like an extended remix of sequencers, syn-drums and a very Hooky bass solo, and surprises such as the early B-side "Lonesome Tonight" and the melodica-laced "Your Silent Face."
The show's final 45 minutes were brilliant. The main set ended with the trifecta of "Perfect Kiss," whose tagline, "Let's go out and have some fun," could have been the night's motto; "True Faith"; and "Temptation," which began by copping the opening of Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" before building to a propulsive, extended climax. The encore was all classics: Joy Division's elegiac "Atmosphere," with a video tribute to Curtis; the indelible "Love Will Tear Us Apart"; then finally New Order's own unsurpassable "Blue Monday." The show at the Tower was only one of six U.S. performances, and by the end, it felt like a privilege to be there.
New Order Mix Sentimentality with the Present at The Tower Theater
http://rockonphilly.com/2016/03/new-order-mix-sentimentality-with-the-present-at-the-tower-theater/
About a half hour before the Eighties legends New Order were slated to take the stage, the sold-out Tower Theater was completely packed with fans new and decades-old crowding together in the pit. Of course, if you’re a band that basically invented New Wave dance music, you’re definitely going to have a mesmerizing stage setup and light show. From before the show through the entire two-hour set, vibrant lights and LED screens with psychedelic projections illuminated the crowd. It may be something that only New Order can get away with, but they make their grandiosity feel warranted and necessary. More importantly, these musicians can still put on an incredible show, even if they’re around sixty-years-old.
For the majority of their lengthy set before, New Order played material from their tenth album Music Complete, released last fall. If you disregard the frantic flood of fans and the conspicuous LED screens, it’s possible to watch New Order’s set without their legacy getting in the way. But in the encore, where New Order played two songs from their original band Joy Division, “Atmosphere” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” the sentimentality felt a bit fabricated and forced. Regardless, the Joy Division songs are still fan favorites for sure, and there’s something incredible about seeing a song written almost forty years ago performed live. New Order wrapped the night together with “Blue Monday,” an irresistibly danceable single from 1983 that has sold more 12″ records than any other song. It may be 2016 in Philadelphia, but New Order can make you feel for a fleeting moment that you just might be in an 80s dance club.
