NME Report on the recent school gig (better late than never!)

Bit late, but here's the NME report on the recent school gig:

New Order go back to School

Secret gig in a primary school for Hooky and the boys

New Order finished their recebt mini-tour with a special performance at Oakwood High School in Eccles, Salford (November 18).

Playing in front of 200 children who weren't even born when the band began, the gig came about after an associate of the group mistakenly rang up the school and got talking to the Deputy Head.

Frontman Bernard Sumner then visited the school, which specialises in art and technology for children with complex learning difficulties, and promptly promised to play a gig in the assembly hall for a special art class.

"I had a bad experience at school," Sumner told NME.COM, "and it's nice to see that the education authorities have changed their attitude towards creativity. We don't make things in Manchester anymore since the big industries closed down, but it's a very creative place. Just look at the bands. It's just really nice to see the education authorities, after what I was told, investing in creativity instead of putting it on the back burner."

Playing for little under an hour before the 3 o'clock bell, the band tore through hits old and new, with Sumner quipping; "I'd heard our audiences were getting younger! Where's the music teacher? We can't read music you know, it's all up here."

But the show was not without its share of rock'n'roll behaviour. Before dedicating 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' to head teacher Janis Triska, bassist Peter Hook said: "I promised I wouldn't swear... but FUCK OFF!" and promptly brought the pre-pubescent house down.

New Order played:

'Crystal' 'Regret' 'Krafty' 'Turn' 'Transmission' 'Your Silent Face' 'Waiting For The Sirens' Call' 'True Faith' 'Bizarre Love Triangle' 'Love Will Tear Up Apart' 'Blue Monday' 'Temptation'

Nick King wrote:

"I had a bad experience at school," Sumner told NME.COM,

What a nerve!

I'd say about half the lads in our year had a bad experience at school courtesy of Bernard and his merry band of psychos!

a very small boy wrote:

Nick King wrote:

"I had a bad experience at school," Sumner told NME.COM,

What a nerve!

I'd say about half the lads in our year had a bad experience at school courtesy of Bernard and his merry band of psychos!

what do you mean?

He was one of the school bullyboys and not someone you would cross. I never had any trouble with him though.

a very small boy wrote: He was one of the school bullyboys and not someone you would cross. I never had any trouble with him though.

did he drink pernod and chat girls up ?

When you say bully,do you mean he took dinner money by force type of bully?or jack the lad mouthy jester type clever dick no harm done cocksure laddy type..what was the Hookmeister like?

As someone with not a great deal of interest in academia he was happier messing about and picking on people who were weak. His great advantage was that he was friends with a lad who was the schools genuine hardman and so he was a second in command who got to do all the dirty work but he knew he was untouchable as he had great patronage. He was the schools first skinhead. Look at the photo! He was a good laugh at times because with not being on the receiving end of torment it was fun, in those unenlightened times, to watch someone else have the piss extracted. Yeah, we all joined in! Poor Cyril Sparrow, with a name like that, what chance did he have? Hooky was part of the same gang but not a trouble maker and followed Barney around. A rumour, which was most likely true, went round that Barney had lost his virginity when he was about 13 or 14 so he was held in great esteem as one of the first to cross the threshold into the scary adult world. But, we have all passed a lot of water since then.

nice one Chris, good little read that