San Antonio, Texas - AT&T Center 11.3.2023

Expect to see photos of Phil and Tom at the Alamo when the visit.

Andy wrote: Expect to see photos of Phil and Tom at the Alamo when the visit.

PhilC

Still waiting on Tom's obligatory Alamo pic.

Was wondering why San Antonio was the only gig on the tour not to sell out. Then I checked the capacity of each venue:

The Factory in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas: 4,300 AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas: 19,000 713 Music Hall, Houston, Texas: 5,000 Orpheum Theater, New Orleans, Louisiana: 1,976

I guess they were a little overambitious with the San Antonio booking.

I chose New Orleans because I've been through Texas but never to Louisiana. I would have liked to visit Austin, Texas but didn't want to deal with the festival crowd. The Orpheum will definitely be the smallest venue I've seen them play. It should prove to be interesting...

Soundcheck Tweet

PhilC

Setlist

Someone has been updating it in real-time.

Swapped Love Vigilantes, 1963, and Vanishing Point for Regret, Be A Rebel, and Tutti Frutti.

"Transmission" added to the encore, bringing the total set to 17 tracks.

The SXSW set is unlikely to be as long but hopefully the last two gigs will mix things up.

Regarding my post above about the capacities of the venues: Based on this guy's tweet, it might not have sold out, but it was still more than full enough to be considered a success.

so, its been about 10 years, and this is how it goes.

the intro and first 3-5 songs will be about the same.

the last 2 songs, and the encore will be all joy divisions.

the middle 10 - will have about 5-7 of the same songs as their previous setlist, and 3 change.

so the setlist is pretty much fixed for the last decade (with the exception of the mif shows).

again, not looking like theres much deviation in the songs, or visuals.

later || |||| |||| negat ive1

A friend who was there shared some video. The upper arena was curtained off, but the lower arena was full. I’m guessing 8,000-10,000 which would be a great turnout in San Antonio.

negative1 wrote: so, its been about 10 years, and this is how it goes.

the intro and first 3-5 songs will be about the same.

the last 2 songs, and the encore will be all joy divisions.

the middle 10 - will have about 5-7 of the same songs as their previous setlist, and 3 change.

so the setlist is pretty much fixed for the last decade (with the exception of the mif shows).

again, not looking like theres much deviation in the songs, or visuals.

later || |||| |||| negat ive1

That would be disappointing if they had played in Texas every year for the last 10 years.

Their last visit to Texas was in 2015. They played 1 show:The Day for Night festival in Houston. 6 of the 17 songs in that set have not been played yet this tour including the two opening tracks and the final encore (which was a New Order song).

Andy wrote: Regarding my post above about the capacities of the venues: Based on this guy's tweet, it might not have sold out, but it was still more than full enough to be considered a success.

They weren't overambitious, it was what was available at relatively short notice. I believe they've sold more tickets than they expected.

Johnny James wrote: They weren't overambitious, it was what was available at relatively short notice. I believe they've sold more tickets than they expected.

Folks from Austin who didn’t want compete with the SXSW crowd drove down for it to get a proper gig.

Andy wrote:

negative1 wrote: so, its been about 10 years, and this is how it goes.

the intro and first 3-5 songs will be about the same.

the last 2 songs, and the encore will be all joy divisions.

the middle 10 - will have about 5-7 of the same songs as their previous setlist, and 3 change.

so the setlist is pretty much fixed for the last decade (with the exception of the mif shows).

again, not looking like theres much deviation in the songs, or visuals.

later || |||| |||| negat ive1

That would be disappointing if they had played in Texas every year for the last 10 years.

its not just texas, its like that for every single show for the last decade, except the MIF ones though.

later || | | | | | || negative 1

50poundnote wrote: A friend who was there shared some video. The upper arena was curtained off, but the lower arena was full. I’m guessing 8,000-10,000 which would be a great turnout in San Antonio.

The upper tier looks open from a photo no have posted on facebook/twitter

Gig photos courtesy of the San Antonio Current: sacurrent.com

negative1 wrote:

Andy wrote:

negative1 wrote: so, its been about 10 years, and this is how it goes.

the intro and first 3-5 songs will be about the same.

the last 2 songs, and the encore will be all joy divisions.

the middle 10 - will have about 5-7 of the same songs as their previous setlist, and 3 change.

so the setlist is pretty much fixed for the last decade (with the exception of the mif shows).

again, not looking like theres much deviation in the songs, or visuals.

later || |||| |||| negat ive1

That would be disappointing if they had played in Texas every year for the last 10 years.

its not just texas, its like that for every single show for the last decade, except the MIF ones though.

later || | | | | | || negative 1

I don't think there's a fan on this site that wouldn't love to see a return to the haphazard setlists of old. But it's just not realistic in this day and age. Now that most touring acts use backing tracks, many of them play the exact same set at every gig. You're exaggerating about how uniform New Order's have been. It's not as if they've only changed 3 tracks from the setlists 10 years ago, as you make it sound. 3 songs differing from gig to gig was actually quite reasonable on The Unity Tour, for instance. They only had time for a 14 song set, but I attended 3 consecutive gigs and was happy to hear 20 different tracks. The crowd in San Antonio seem pretty pleased with what was on offer. And from what I've seen, some new visuals are being presented. I was relieved they had been changed up for The Unity Tour, but I'm genuinely surprised they have new ones for shows in another region only a few months later.

By the way, the intro is not always the same. They've used "Elegia", "Das Rheingold" and "Times Change". Also, the encore isn't always just Joy Division: San Francisco Houston Hollywood

negative1 wrote: its not just texas, its like that for every single show for the last decade, except the MIF ones though.

...and their Miami residency in 2020.

New Order is a legacy act. Bernard is 67. Stephen is 65. Gillian is 62. I'm sure they're quite happy to not deal with the chaotic nature of their shows 40 years ago when equipment was unreliable and would break down. They've earned the right to play what they want, when they want, and are finally seeing crowds in the US that are befitting of their stature. Their importance is being recognized. They're nominees to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. They don't owe us anything.

Some people just can't let go of the past and still expect them to be that scrappy, unprofessional, drunk and/or high band. Personally, I'm glad they're not, and will go see them as long as they keep touring.

its like that for every single show for the last decade, except the MIF ones though.

later || | | | | | || negative 1

The stats show that since they reformed post-Hooky in 2011, they have played :

50 different New Order songs (out of around 120 NO originals)

9 Joy Division songs (out of around 40 JD originals)

6 cover versions

So it's not as bad as it could have been, given they generally do a 15-20 sing set every night

2 of the same setlists in a row.

do you think anything will change tonight. if it does, it might be 1 or 2 songs.

anyways, nobody said about playing unprofessional, and winging it.

they have 30-50 songs to choose from, and mixing up the songs, even the 'order', would make it a new order indeed.

anyways. sure they're a legacy band, but here in america, as long as they play true faith, bizarre love triangle, and blue monday, thats what the casual people know and wait for.

all the rest of the songs could really be interchanged, and i doubt most people besides fans would know them. so why not throw some different ones in there.

anyway, its not going to happen.

so why not just accept if you see them once on the tour, you'll have seen 90% of more of what they will do at each show.

later | || | | | |||| || | ne g at i ve 1

You have to also consider:

1. They can only play songs that fit Barney's current, lower, vocal register.
2. They can only play things that have been programmed and arranged for their current tech setup.
3. They should only play things they've rehearsed.
4. They probably don't want to play too many songs that remind them of Hook, or were built largely around his contributions.
5. A show has a natural flow to it. While it would be great to hear something like All Day Long, they aren't going to throw that into a typical live set because it would kill the momentum.

And to reiterate, they don't owe us anything. It's great that they're still playing, and I hope they continue. in just 3 more years it will have been 50 years since Stiff Kittens formed, which is a milestone very few bands reach.

I knew Negative 1 would feel vindicated by the repeated set at SXSW. But that was an anomaly, perhaps treating San Antonio as a dress rehearsal for the primary reason they're here. The fact is that the Dallas set before San Antonio included "Love Vigilantes", "1963" and "Vanishing Point", which were not played in San Antonio and Austin. But those gigs featured "Regret", "Be a Rebel", "Tutti Frutti" and "Transmission", which were not played in Dallas.

I know it feels like they should mix it up more, but the statistics don't lie. For someone so seemingly obsessed with minutiae, I'm surprised that Negative 1 seems to keep restating their opinion even after we've replied with cold hard facts.

I can't recall if they said they were attending any of these gigs anyway. If so, I'm sorry they've been disappointed. If not, perhaps they're just trying to convince yourself they've made the right decision.

I largely agree with 50lb note. after so many years wishing they'd tour more, it's awesome they're doing so often now. And, btw, Hooky's shows are more predictable -- he plays those albums announced ahead of time in order, y'know. But it's a joy seeing him play too.