From reading (older) articles and books on the history i noticed that at quite some events fights or something like that broke out between the audience or even someone in the audience with the band. So i was wondering is this a true fact? did or does it happen quite a lot during (earlier) New Order gigs? has anyone on this forum ever been caught up in a punch-up during a NO gig or got some verbal abuse from the band?
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New order and fights
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i remember there was a big punch up in the crowd at blackburn king george's hall in 1985 during tpk
bansheeman wrote: i remember there was a big punch up in the crowd at blackburn king george's hall in 1985 during tpk
BLACKBURN YOUTH
bansheeman wrote: i remember there was a big punch up in the crowd at blackburn king george's hall in 1985 during tpk
yeh I can vouch for that one. Didnt someone lob a glass pot at Steve's kit coz they were late?
Macc '85 kicked off big time. Hooky stuck his Bass in a guys face
Got into an argument with a bloke at Tolworth '83. Decided to settle it outside after the gig, but cos everything went tits up towards the end, we ended up chatting and got on quite well in the end...
There was a big fight at Portsmouth Guildhall 84. I was right on the edge of it, shielding my girlfriend and got a stray Doc Marten in the nuts. Don't think the band even noticed... (The fight I mean, not the state of my gonads).
A friend of mine saw a gig in Southern California in 1985 (not sure if it was Irvine or Santa Monica) that I regret missing. He said at one point, a guy jumped on stage and was dancing around with his arms in the air triumphantly. Hooky promptly came up behind him and gave him a boot square in the back, sending him back into the crowd.
Priceless.
Rocket Mick wrote:
bansheeman wrote: i remember there was a big punch up in the crowd at blackburn king george's hall in 1985 during tpk
BLACKBURN YOUTH
yea,and when you add a coach load of drunken lads from from manc and another from preston into the 80's mix!!!!
i of course stayed out of it 
Always gonna happen. Mid to late 80's New Order were followed by lads. Gangs of lads. Shove 'em all tight into a nightclub with lots of drink to hand and throw lots of big bouncy music at them. What's gonna happen? Every punchy teenager and his dog is gonna want to know. Didn't just happen at New Order, it seemed to kick off every time I went out in the 80's. Er, but perhaps that's just me?!
Thankfully we're all older and calmer now. 
Let me see. 80s gigs.
Off the top of my head, there were "incidents" at:
Leicester 84 Gloucester 84 Portsmouth 84 Blackburn 85 Birmingham 85 Macclesfield 85 Tokyo 85 (encore riot on PFD night when they came back out for Sister Ray!) Preston 85 (the first half of the set!) CLP 85 (smaller scale) Warrington 86 Oxford 86
and probably many more! As Al says, almost every gig was a combination of small venue, large crowd, alcohol/whatever and the predominantly male audience. They were all likely to go off in some way or other!
the smiths at preston guild hall around 84(ish)was so packed with drunken lads that you could feel something was going to explode.when they finally came on it went mental.they only got 1 minute into opening track(queen is dead)and walked back off.SO THAT WAS END OF CONCERT
Always found the significance of a few fights a bit overstated when considering the 'mass brawls' that were normal crowd interaction at NMA/Spear of Destiny/King Kurt/JAMC/Cramps/Pogues/.... gigs during the mid eighties. Gigs I've been to over the last ten years are far tamer affairs and as I think Al was alluding to, following a football team in the eighties was something else.
Good point JT, i remember getting clipped in face @ a Spear of Destiny gig in Newcastle (& there was even fooking seats there)
However - do vividly remember aggro b4 The Order @ Glasgow 89'. Some Rangers fans started berating the Fenian Man. Utd reds which also wound up the Celtic boys. Result= a class scrap, i even had to move back a little to accomodate these funsters.
Would I be out of place in pointing out that anyone attending a Spear of Destiny gig DESERVES a punch in the chops???
Andrew Sayer wrote: Good point JT, i remember getting clipped in face @ a Spear of Destiny gig in Newcastle (& there was even fooking seats there) However - do vividly remember aggro b4 The Order @ Glasgow 89'. Some Rangers fans started berating the Fenian Man. Utd reds which also wound up the Celtic boys. Result= a class scrap, i even had to move back a little to accomodate these funsters.
Glasgwegians for you, Pogues@Newcastle Mayfair 1987-ish. Rangers fans who liked the music but wouldn't dare be seen in the Barrowlands take a trip to the nearest venue. Still kicks off.
