New Order ?

OK, so I'm an eternal optimist, but even so I fear that you lucky chaps and sheilas who will get to see the troops dahn anda in the next few weeks will get some (most, natch) of the noises foisted upon us Euro types last year. For those who have forgotten what that entailed......

Crystal, Transmission, Regret, Ceremony, 60 Miles An Hour, Your Silent Face, Atmosphere, Close Range, Touched By The Hand Of God, Bizarre Love Triangle, True Faith, Temptation, Love Will Tear Us Apart///Rock The Shack, Blue Monday

So here's the point of the thread. Why don't they make it interesting by mixing up the order, maybe even playing them in a New Order each night ?

Here's my starter for ten.....

Temptation/Ceremony/60mph/Your Silent Face/Atmosphere/Touched/Close Range/Crystal/True Faith/BLT/Transmission (Though hopefully they will have ditched this and reintroduced a New Order song)/Blue Monday/////LWTUA/Regret.

And, really pushing my luck I know, it would be great if

a)Barney stopped bloody whooping; and b) he shut up between songs rather than spouting a load of (usually) embarrassing shite !

Enjoy the shows :)

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis If they're gonna play the same songs, I'm at a loss as to why they don't start with a Blue Monday, as opposed to close with it, just to garner a modicum of interest from those who aren't really *that* interested in the Order. Case in point was the Robbie support slot where the Goirmans didn't tap their feet till the very last track. I'd go for - Blue Monday / Toothache / Crystal / Regret / KW1 / 60mph / Close Range / Touched / BLT / Love Shack / Ceremony / Temptation (encore) Atmos / LWTUA / Transmish.Bit cheesey with the JD encores and it'd be nice if they could replace the new 'tinny' versions of BLT, Touched and TrooFaith with their chunkier originals.

You may be onto something here sir - traditionally at Australian dates, Blue Monday has been used as a set opener on more occasions than it has in the rest of the world. Brisbane 85 they didn't even come on stage until Barney had to start singing, according to someone who was there ! (Hard to believe, as there is a bit of bassline before that).

Can they replace the new crap versions of BLT/Touched/Poo Face with the real proper versions though ? Or will they take eons of programming like Perfect Kiss ? Whatever happened to the old programmed version of PK ?

Not having heard any of the live mp3s of the Euro shows, I like the idea of the Crystal opener. I'm guessing they play the album version- I'm anticipating the group coming on while the femme vocal intro plays, the excitement builds, Steve comes in- the drums break, there's a wall of guitars, thunderous bass and then in comes Barney, "We're like crystalll.." The pit jumps and we're offfff....

Am I right? I've been playing it that way in my head.

And I'd kill to hear them play ANY damn version of PK.

Crystal is a great opener, but i think Regret is a better first song. Anyone who was at Reading 98 will agree with me on that one.

Originally posted by depthcharge Not having heard any of the live mp3s of the Euro shows, I like the idea of the Crystal opener. I'm guessing they play the album version- I'm anticipating the group coming on while the femme vocal intro plays, the excitement builds, Steve comes in- the drums break, there's a wall of guitars, thunderous bass and then in comes Barney, "We're like crystalll.." The pit jumps and we're offfff....Am I right? I've been playing it that way in my head.

Sort of, but before you get that you have to suffer the sight/sound of Barney gooning about. The days where they would walk on and start playing, maybe doing three/ten songs before saying a word are long gone. Round about 1986 they discovered a new way of doing longer sets. It's called spending between one and two minutes between songs without doing anything except talking shite.

Bloody proxy server !

You know, multi-sending is starting to cause my nicotine cravings to rise.....the sensible post I just did above arrived three times, and it wasn't that good :)

Originally posted by Keeper Of The Major Key Crystal is a great opener, but i think Regret is a better first song. Anyone who was at Reading 98 will agree with me on that one.

I was at Reading and at Ally Pally and that's why I wouldn't mind a change of choon at the front end.

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis > Originally posted by Sloppy Giuseppe> > Can they replace the new crap versions of BLT/Touched/Poo Face with the real proper versions though ? Or will they take eons of programming like Perfect Kiss ? Whatever happened to the old programmed version of PK ?

Perhaps Steve could have a dig around in the loft and see if there's any old 1989 5" floppy disks up there?! ;)

Well if they set that Lyon geezer to work now, maybe we could hear some wanted stuff in the summer !

Bands should be able to play any given song on any given night. It's part of what being a band requires. Underworld and Orbital both have more intense programming to do before a tour and they rock. True Faith, BLT, BM have been in the set for nearly 15 years, nearly every night (i wouldn't be surprised it they have played these 3 songs every gig since 87) Even though i don't listen to much U2 these days, i respect their ethic when it comes to live shows so much more than NewOrder's. Our guys are a bunch of lazy bastards who go through the motions and only give the bare minimum. Tim, i agree Barney's got to stop whooping so much. I really think its the Charley that gets him overexcited and causes him to RUIN many songs in multiple ways: whooping, forgetting the words...Also, does Hooky have to yell "Here we go" before the concluding run on LWTUA everytime? Allen, do the shows seem a bit contrived recently? Have you been able to suggest any set changes? i remember you mentioned they would never be able to program the perfect kiss but any other comments from the camp about possible changes? if there's sheet music for NewOrder songs, i don't know why they can't play the Fu@#ing songs. I don't have to hear the exact same presets that were used on the studio version. in fact, it's weird to hear a recording from 2001 that musically sounds exactly like the album version (until Barney pops in to Fuk it up) New Versions, different set. is that so hard?

Originally posted by Geaux Hagen Bands should be able to play any given song on any given night. It's part of what being a band requires. Underworld and Orbital both have more intense programming to do before a tour and they rock. True Faith, BLT, BM have been in the set for nearly 15 years, nearly every night (i wouldn't be surprised it they have played these 3 songs every gig since 87) Even though i don't listen to much U2 these days, i respect their ethic when it comes to live shows so much more than NewOrder's. Our guys are a bunch of lazy bastards who go through the motions and only give the bare minimum. Tim, i agree Barney's got to stop whooping so much. I really think its the Charley that gets him overexcited and causes him to RUIN many songs in multiple ways: whooping, forgetting the words...Also, does Hooky have to yell "Here we go" before the concluding run on LWTUA everytime? Allen, do the shows seem a bit contrived recently? Have you been able to suggest any set changes? i remember you mentioned they would never be able to program the perfect kiss but any other comments from the camp about possible changes? if there's sheet music for NewOrder songs, i don't know why they can't play the Fu@#ing songs. I don't have to hear the exact same presets that were used on the studio version. in fact, it's weird to hear a recording from 2001 that musically sounds exactly like the album version (until Barney pops in to Fuk it up) New Versions, different set. is that so hard?

He's got no excuse for forgetting the words these days, he's got them on a computer monitor in front of him ! You're right, they are lazy, but it is sort of endearing !

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis > Originally posted by depthcharge> > Am I right? I've been playing it that way in my head.

Ish. The band have been on stage for the start of the intro, and Dawn Zee didn't go any foreign dates (well, not Paris and Stockholm anyways) so her warbling was sadly lacking abroad.

Yep, indeed. Don't expect this charming lady to be in Aussieland (except maybe, in case she has some family living there....?). She also did not appear in Cologne, so she missed all 'continent' (real eurolands) gigs.

However, even when she's not there, Crystal still is strong opener. You' ll enjoy it....... (jalous, jalous, jalous...... )

DJ

Originally posted by Geaux Hagen Bands should be able to play any given song on any given night. It's part of what being a band requires. Underworld and Orbital both have more intense programming to do before a tour and they rock. True Faith, BLT, BM have been in the set for nearly 15 years, nearly every night (i wouldn't be surprised it they have played these 3 songs every gig since 87) Even though i don't listen to much U2 these days, i respect their ethic when it comes to live shows so much more than NewOrder's. Our guys are a bunch of lazy bastards who go through the motions and only give the bare minimum. Tim, i agree Barney's got to stop whooping so much. I really think its the Charley that gets him overexcited and causes him to RUIN many songs in multiple ways: whooping, forgetting the words...Also, does Hooky have to yell "Here we go" before the concluding run on LWTUA everytime? Allen, do the shows seem a bit contrived recently? Have you been able to suggest any set changes? i remember you mentioned they would never be able to program the perfect kiss but any other comments from the camp about possible changes? if there's sheet music for NewOrder songs, i don't know why they can't play the Fu@#ing songs. I don't have to hear the exact same presets that were used on the studio version. in fact, it's weird to hear a recording from 2001 that musically sounds exactly like the album version (until Barney pops in to Fuk it up) New Versions, different set. is that so hard?

I agree to a certain extent, but you have to remember that they haven't played some of the songs mentioned live for many, many years.

Think of some aspect of your job that you haven't done for ages. If someone asked you to do it again, would you be able to, at the drop of a hat?

Originally posted by Old Blue > Originally posted by Geaux Hagen> New Versions, different set. is that so hard?

I agree to a certain extent, but you have to remember that they haven't played some of the songs mentioned live for many, many years.

Think of some aspect of your job that you haven't done for ages. If someone asked you to do it again, would you be able to, at the drop of a hat?

It's hardly at the drop of a hat though, is it ?! They rehearse the set first, yes even the JD songs, and then churn out the same stuff every night regardless. For a band who once played 31 different songs over three consecutive nights in 1986, showing a really big and varied use of the extensive back catalogue they had even then (and that's having dropped 7/8 of Movement and 3/8 of PCL), what we currently get is taking the piss a bit. They've been doing largely the same set every tour since 89 now. Obviously there's a few factors here, such as technological advancement meaning that a lot of songs haven't yet (and why not?) been programmed, and Barney's brain no longer being able to cope without autocue, plus the recruitment of a new guitarist maybe having a major influence on what can and can't be played. I'd have accepted all of those excuses until last summer. Not now though. Maybe we'll get surprises in Australia !!

Yeah, you're right about the technological stuff and change in personnel. I think a lot of of bands suffer the same problems once their back catalogue hits a certain size. Michael Stipe, for instance, has openly admitted that he needs to "re-learn" the older songs before they go on tour. He also reads the words off a bit of paper, so Barney's not alone on that one either!

Originally posted by Old Blue Yeah, you're right about the technological stuff and change in personnel. I think a lot of of bands suffer the same problems once their back catalogue hits a certain size. Michael Stipe, for instance, has openly admitted that he needs to "re-learn" the older songs before they go on tour. He also reads the words off a bit of paper, so Barney's not alone on that one either!

Neither Stipe nor Barney have the same star quality in terms of props and lyric memory joggers as the old man of misery though, one M E S, who used to use a lectern with all his scraps of paper with lyrics on, and often barked random ideas he had on stage into a dictaphone for future use in his vendetta against the world !

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis I'm not really concerned about the number of songs they are/aren't playing, it's just the running order which fcuk's me off. The best gig of the UK dates, for me, was the 2nd Glasgow gig. They swapped Transmish and LWTUA around. Genius! If they want to stick to a basic winning formula, fine, but why not swap a couple of songs in and out? Stick an Isolation in place of Transmission one night, stick an LWTUA in the encore and move Blue Monday back into the set, etc etc. Bring back Love Vigilantes in place of Close Range the odd night. And on, and on.

Agreed ! 75 mins or 14 songs is plenty, the same way that 8 or 9 never used to be......

It wouldn't hurt to mix it up a bit though. I couldn't believe the three Brixton dates having the same set, I thought there might at least be a bit of variety somewhere. It takes me back to spring 85, when The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Sisters were all doing tours. The Smiths played the same set every night religiously, never any scope for change. The Bunnymen did the same by and large, but at least the encores were different (this was around the time when they started supporting themselves, and were doing 40 mins of covers then a greatest hits set), and it was I suppose inevitable that the Sisters did the same set every night, but they had an excuse in that the drum machine had been pre-programmed. Even so, their second night at the Lyceum they played several different songs and really swapped the set around, so if they can do it, others surely can who aren't 100% reliant on boxes to do it ?

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis We had a chat about sets in the US with Barney and the impression I got was that he GENUINELY thought that the set they were doing was the BEST they could possibly do for the fans! Obviously, we put him right! Fair play to them though, the sets have been bloody good. Just a bit, er, repetetive! Nearly had a heart attack at the 2nd Paris gig when Barney said "We're gonna play a slow one now" after Close Range, then went on to play Touched and Barney quipped "Only joking!". Sods.

When you speak to him in Australia, can you ask him why they did Malvern again of all venues back in 86? Curious to see if our local campaign had anything to do with it or not !

I think there's a couple of reasons why the set has been largely repetitive and consisted mainly of the 'hits'. Firstly, the band have been away from the live circuit for ages. A lot of folk who saw them in their current tour probably had never seen them before. I would imagine that the people would be a bit pissed off if they went to a New Order gig and they played a whole load of album tracks that only us genuine fans recognised and wanted and didn't play say, Blue Monday or True Faith. Secondly, given that Gillian isn't performing live can we really expect Phil Cunningham to be able to play the keyboard/guitar lines for over 30 songs? Unrealistic if you ask me.

I can't see the set changing for the Aussie dates, but I'd be appalled if nowt changes for the rumoured festival dates later in the year. I imagine they'll have cottoned on about "RTS" and "Slow Jam" being dead ducks as far as the audience is concerned, and we'll get a more, er, 'diverse' set. Keep shouting for "Age of Consent": the fuckers'll give in eventually!!

Is anyone else dreading the inevitability of a Glasto slot: I'm just too old for all that camping bullshit. AND it'll inevtiably piss down....

Miserable Martin.