1998 Comeback

I was reflecting the other day on how excited I was back in early 1998 to read that the band was getting back together for something called Pheonix Festival or something. I couldn't believe it at the time, since I truly thought the band was done.

Then July rolled around and even though I couldn't personally go to the gig at the Apollo, this was early in the internet days and I recall excitedly reading the posts from fans that did attend. The fact that they played so many JD songs that night made me very excited for the future gigs and tours.

But something happened along the way, with Rob passing away, side projects being the focus, and Get Ready being delayed until late '01 and then being good rather than great. There were no proper tours anymore and the setlists became stagnant. The comeback didn't quite live up to expectations for me.

Anyone else have any thoughts about this topic? Any memories of those comeback gigs?

Aye the Phoenix festival was not far from me, Long Marston , Stratford Upon Avon.It ran for a few years and we went a couple of times but 1997 turned out to be the last one of its short history.Was well chuffed when it was announced in early 98 that New Order were going to headline that year's festival.Of course , as it turned out the festival was cancelled.Poor ticket sales ,lack of interest i suppose.The setting isn't the most exciting of places.Long Marston is an old airfield .Eddie Kidd sustained serious injuries in one of his bike stunt accidents there in the late 90s.

So New Order played Reading that year instead and we were able to use our Phoenix tickets for the Sunday to see them.Was an exciting build up aye , as they hadn't played since 93.

As for the Apollo gig i didn't even know they had played it til i saw the review in NME the week after! Was so busy with other stuff in those days i missed the announcement entirely.

I did find it frustrating that they didn't bring a new album out around 98/99.Or even just a single to coincide with the 98 gigs.All we got was Brutal in early 99.It was a long long wait til Get Ready came out

97 and some of 98 I was in Boot Camp and training schools, so i was pretty cut off from the world at that time. Didn't even realize it at the time. Actually didn't realize NO came back together until one day I was walking through a record store and saw Get Ready on the shelves... my wife was a bit embarrased as I was jumping up and down yelling "They have a new album, they have a new album!" and couldn't stop ranting about it to everyone in the store....

The Apollo comeback show was the best gig I have ever seen out of some 700 or so. I wrote a review at the time : http://www.thefinalword.co.uk/content/view/19/

I agree. There was magic there initially that got diluted along the way. I found the Manchester Evening News Arena concert to be quite disappointing compared to the Manchester Apollo predecessor.

Then there was this. I actually saw this live on the telly. To me it was a huge surprise.

I almost expected them to actually do something for the games as well.

Anyway this was the first I knew of them being back together. Imagine my disappointment of waiting all those years to actually getting some new material and seeing them live.

great shot of alex taking piccies at 3 mins 35

mark reed wrote: The Apollo comeback show was the best gig I have ever seen out of some 700 or so. I wrote a review at the time : http://www.thefinalword.co.uk/content/view/19/

Great review - really makes me wish I was there.

Must look for a copy of this gig from someone . . . . anyone?

CuanaD - D-plus wrote:

mark reed wrote: The Apollo comeback show was the best gig I have ever seen out of some 700 or so. I wrote a review at the time : http://www.thefinalword.co.uk/content/view/19/

Great review - really makes me wish I was there.

Must look for a copy of this gig from someone . . . . anyone?

I think i have seen this gig on DimeaDozen..i will give it a try in downloading it tonight. When succesfull i'll drop u message

I've got a copy somewhere on a battered tape...

EdelBrock wrote: 97 and some of 98 I was in Boot Camp and training schools, so i was pretty cut off from the world at that time. Didn't even realize it at the time. Actually didn't realize NO came back together until one day I was walking through a record store and saw Get Ready on the shelves... my wife was a bit embarrased as I was jumping up and down yelling "They have a new album, they have a new album!" and couldn't stop ranting about it to everyone in the store....

Guess you had to be there to appreciate that one...........:D

We also had the disappointment of the "Recycle" singles set, which was supposed to include all singles, all b-sides, all remixes (if that is even possible) and most importantly, all the original artwork. This was Rob's baby and unfortunately, the band decided to go the ill-fated Retro route instead.

About Recycle: There were official t-shirts available that had "Recycle" with the logo on it. It all looked like reality until someone pulled the plug based on costs. I wonder if Depeche Mode's 3 boxes of cd-singles that came out in the early 90s was a profit or loss.

About Mark Reed's review: I was still in grad school when I read Mark's review, and was really jealous about it all happening and not being able to go. I was definitely looking forward to a possible American tour, but didn't get to see them play again until August 2001 with Moby's festival in Southern California and Get Ready was out. That is a long time between 1998 and 2001. A lot happened.

For music, the summer of 2001 was a great year. Went to see many shows that summer and all the outlook was good, until September came along.

NOOLigan wrote: Then there was this. I actually saw this live on the telly. To me it was a huge surprise.

I almost expected them to actually do something for the games as well.

Anyway this was the first I knew of them being back together. Imagine my disappointment of waiting all those years to actually getting some new material and seeing them live.

This was probably the last time we saw Sumner still as the youthful guy he was, before his slide into fat, old bastard middle-age decline...

Martijn de Blaauw wrote:

CuanaD - D-plus wrote:

mark reed wrote: The Apollo comeback show was the best gig I have ever seen out of some 700 or so. I wrote a review at the time : http://www.thefinalword.co.uk/content/view/19/

Great review - really makes me wish I was there.

Must look for a copy of this gig from someone . . . . anyone?

I think i have seen this gig on DimeaDozen..i will give it a try in downloading it tonight. When succesfull i'll drop u message

Still waiting for this fucking download to finish...DimeaDoze is so slow...only 1 seeder for this gig