WORST New Order gig you ever attended ...

Most of the awful NO gigs I witnessed took place in Foreign lands between 1985 and 1989, however on UK soil one gig does spring to mind (this may not surprise the old school such as Tim) ... Brixton Academy, on a December day in 1983.

Earlier that year the band had delivered one of their FINEST shows in the history of NO when they played at the BRIXTON ACE. It was what NO were ALL about ... The atmosphere in that place was AMAZING ..

Just 8 songs ... abuse the audience ... walk off ...

Between then and December they put in some similar mighty performances (The Hacienda, The Tower Ballroom (WHY were the gigs there ALWAYS so damn good ?) and any of the Scotland dates (The memory of seeing Barney running for cover under a hail of bottles delivered so accurately by a gang of Scottish skinheads will live with me forever ...)

However, after a four month sabbatical the band returned and a date was secured for the Brixton Academy. There was a proper buzz but it seemed from the moment they opened with 'Confusion' they just did not seem interested. 'Temptation' which always used to get everyone going, sounded sterile, and the 'Love Reaction/Blue Monday' mix was a tragedy. Am I remembering things correctly believing SLIM was on stage singing at the end of the gig?

A truly AWFUL gig, but all was forgiven the next evening as we headed to the south coast and they played a blinder in Bournemouth.

A LONG time has passed since all of this so please feel free to pick me up on any element I may not have remembered correctly !

DM

:)

Yes that was a bad 'un, something to do with Gillian being off her face!!!

Worst one would probably be fairly recent, Finsbury Park 02 or Hyde Park 05? Back in the good old days even the shit ones had something redeeming about them. Hacienda 87 was crap, so was Hacienda 86, so was the Royal Albert Hall 86. I can honestly say I have never walked out thinking why the fuck do I bother though.

Newcastle 86 Reading 87 Finsbury 02

Hacienda was just a shit venue.

I only ever went to a handful of gigs, but heard quite a few bootlegs....

Have to say that Finsbury was the dogs bollocks, one of the best I've heard and been to, not the worst!!!

Hyde Park was fairly awful... although the lyrical remix prompted by the broken autocue was quite entertaining!

Duesseldorf, Philipshalle 6.12.1987

Fuji Rock 2005

the only crap one i can remember was either cheltenham or chippenham in 84,, sound was crap,, they were ,,loose,, still enjoyed it. enjoyed the hac 87gig, as it was part of me stag weekend

ive lived my life on pills,

DigitalWaters wrote:

Have to say that Finsbury was the dogs bollocks, one of the best I've heard and been to, not the worst!!!

Say no more squire......

if this means new order doing new order stuff then i'd say the worst ive been to is M.E.N 2006

:\ohwell:

Manchester Apollo October 2001.Can't remember if it was the first or second night, actually i think it was the first but it was cack. Maybe that's because we were in the seats. Thought the sound , particurlaly on YSF, was awful.

M.E.N Arena December 1998 wasn't all that great either.Funny how the 2 worst gigs have been in Manchester.

Dublin '93 was pretty dire.

Brixton 2001 - can't remember which night - the set was dull and they fucked up True Faith and BLT big style - it was just noise. A big wall of bass-ey noise.

The played Ruined in a Day in the encore - which sounds shit live, and after that the night was complete.

I actually enjoyed Finsbury Park immensely - right down the front going mental - the only bad thing was leaving the park and narrowly missing a punch thrown at someone else - which connected triggering a small brawl, which was fairly unpleasant. I then copped off with some girl I shared a taxi with back to Hackney. So, a happy ending.

ShugZV wrote: Only good thing about that night was getting to the aftershow. Cheers JT & Lucy

That was the gig where for the aftershow, the security guard at the Apollo made us all line up against the wall. it was like being back in school, or prison. The most interesting thing about the gig was me tearing ankle ligaments and being helped out by Colin, and then five minutes later being helped back in after the alcohol kicked in. I have never been on so much pain as I was the next morning though...

You're right about the gig though. It wasnt a patch on Brixton the week before. I never understood why they just didnt do it on the Saturday instead of the Monday...

As for worst. Liverpool takes some beating, but some may suggest that was down to the security and the venue, but thats a bit of a cop out from what I considered a performance to be generally substandard.

Electric Picnic was a lifeless and phenomenally weak performance. So much so that the cynic in me says that some effort went into putting a performance together that would just be so dull.

Apollo 2005: the one where I decided to neck a load of Stellas (Jabez Clegg?) on an empty stomach before the gig, and consequently couldn't really have said whether it was a good gig or not!

(If memory serves me correctly, I believe that I'd been up the previous night and necked a whole load that time as well - something to do with an Urbis art gallery launch and Massey dj'ing?)

All I remember is that before the encore, I had to rush to the toilets at the back, honk up in the sink (to the disgust of the other people around me), come straight out again and drink some more beer...

Never made it to the aftershow, however...

confusion wrote: Duesseldorf, Philipshalle 6.12.1987

Great gig that one nobby!

1st time abroad!

One Brain wrote: You must have drank a lot, Nick. You don't even remember the name of the pub. It was Joshua Brooks, not Jabez Clegg.

That about sums the afternoon/evening up - I was trollied (as you can probably see in the above pic)!

coachella '05

One Brain wrote:

Nick King wrote: Apollo 2005: the one where I decided to neck a load of Stellas (Jabez Clegg?) on an empty stomach before the gig, and consequently couldn't really have said whether it was a good gig or not!

You must have drank a lot, Nick. You don't even remember the name of the pub. It was Joshua Brooks, not Jabez Clegg.

I never get tired of posting this classic picture!

you must have been pissed nick. you got off with this bird later....

Facsimile wrote:

One Brain wrote:

Nick King wrote: Apollo 2005: the one where I decided to neck a load of Stellas (Jabez Clegg?) on an empty stomach before the gig, and consequently couldn't really have said whether it was a good gig or not!

You must have drank a lot, Nick. You don't even remember the name of the pub. It was Joshua Brooks, not Jabez Clegg.

I never get tired of posting this classic picture!

you must have been pissed nick. you got off with this bird later....

PETER COATES'S BELATED REDEMPTION wrote:

Facsimile wrote:

One Brain wrote:

Nick King wrote: Apollo 2005: the one where I decided to neck a load of Stellas (Jabez Clegg?) on an empty stomach before the gig, and consequently couldn't really have said whether it was a good gig or not!

You must have drank a lot, Nick. You don't even remember the name of the pub. It was Joshua Brooks, not Jabez Clegg.

I never get tired of posting this classic picture!

you must have been pissed nick. you got off with this bird later....

fradders has a monobrow!!!

Hollywood Bowl, USA 1993. The set list was horrible with the exception of As It Is When It Was. The band looked and sounded horrible and the sound system wasn't great either.

Dodjem wrote: fradders has a monobrow!!!

No shit, Sherlock!! I would like to point out that this clinched the deal with Nick that night: he ran his fingers through the brow all night long......

And then came on my face, natch.

Apollo Manchester 2005(?) ...sound was bad from up the back of the top deck.....

And then came on my face, natch.

I still have the pics :)

The Perfect Shed wrote:

And then came on my face, natch.

I still have the pics :)

There's video footage somewhere. Forget Pamela Anderson; Paris Hilton is so passe....download some hot Nick & Fradders action on yer laptop.

Yes that was a bad 'un, something to do with Gillian being off her face!!!

My goodness and there's me thinking she was a model of propriety on-stage! I can't recall a single gig that was truly abysmal all the way through with no redeeming features at all and I was also at the Royal Albert Hall gig in 86. Certainly they had the ability to be brilliant and terrible during the same gig. It's one of the reasons we loved them sfter all...

PETER COATES'S BELATED REDEMPTION wrote:

The Perfect Shed wrote:

And then came on my face, natch.

I still have the pics :)

There's video footage somewhere. Forget Pamela Anderson; Paris Hilton is so passe....download some hot Nick & Fradders action on yer laptop.

Bloomin' heck, it exists?

LIVERpool.............BASTARDS-and i MISSED the PERFECT KISSoff. :D

Dance Dance Dance to the yer way outside

2nd night of Brixton 2001 where they did "Ruined In A Day". Not very inspired... nor helped by the setlist printed up on the doors as everyone walked in.

There isn't one. When I've seen NO play live (from 89 onwards)its always been an event. So we always get wasted have a good time so no such thing as a bad gig. In recent years they only play a few dates so its usually been a stop over etc, make a real event of it so they are always good nights. There the only band who have that good mix of seeing a band in concert but instead of just standing around you can dance as well..... ahh,,memories

Lansdowne Road 2002. They didin't headline so most of the crow wasn't theirs.

Gerhard wrote: Lansdowne Road 2002. They didin't headline so most of the crow wasn't theirs.

Didn't the Red Hot Chili Peppers headline that one? The most awful band in the history of music so no wonder it was shite

I'm with the Author on this one

Brixton Ace 83 was utterly FAB however Brixton Academy a few months later was abysmal beyond belief. Don't know about Gillian being off her head but Bernard was totally fucked - drugs or drink - maybe both. Massive dissapointment after their previous epic at Hacienda 4 months earlier. I wonder whether that was the reason , a few months away from performing live (maybe to record 'Low-Life'?) and they became lethrgic and rusty.

Edit: I am a fcukwit- (maybe to record 'Low-Life'?) wrong year!

come on,surely a new order gig without hearing a true new order song( manchester news arena ) wins

Gerhard wrote: Lansdowne Road 2002. They didin't headline so most of the crow wasn't theirs.

Well theres some fucking insight for you

banshee wrote: come on,surely a new order gig without hearing a true new order song( manchester news arena ) wins

Good point... I was there and was gutted there was no New Order stuff. It was still good there.

I can honestly say that every NO gig I have been to I have never left thinking what a waste of money...... I have enjoyed my self every time.

Ally Pally 98', Finsbury Park 02', Hyde Park 05, Brixton 05, MEN 06', Wembely 06'.

I know there is only a handful of gigs there, and I suppose the more you go to, the more chance you have of getting a duff one.

Maybe my next one will say Portsmouth Guildhall 2010.... maybe not :\ohwell:

Totaly by accident. Was supposed to be visiting my nan and ended up at my first ever gig. Womad 85. The band were late on, Bernard seemed to be off his face, the sound was shite and everything seemed to be out of sequence. Loved every minute - wish I had a copy. Worst and best I suppose!

noe merCy wrote: Totaly by accident. Was supposed to be visiting my nan and ended up at my first ever gig. Womad 85. The band were late on, Bernard seemed to be off his face, the sound was shite and everything seemed to be out of sequence. Loved every minute - wish I had a copy. Worst and best I suppose!

Came on to Elegia if I remember and a lightning storm out at sea.............I think I have a cassette bootleg of this gig somewhere bought next day from some stall on site, still have the WOMAD flyer with line up details.

Do you guys remember how cold it was at WOMAD? Typically, Barney went against the grain and was sporting tight shorts and tee-shirt but Gillian was wearing her overcoat. I was shivering whilst attempting to film the event.

womad,,, there was some good shit knocking around that night

had to hassle a lift of the site at 4A.M from the only mini bus in town,,, the order were fine,,,,,,, on drums steve morris.

sunrise......

I've treasured all my gigs, but if I had to choose one then Playhoos Edinburgh 1986 was a pretty pedestrian affair...mainly down to lack of audience participation..me, I didn't help, sat in the seats with the then missus.

james williams wrote: Hollywood Bowl, USA 1993. The set list was horrible with the exception of As It Is When It Was. The band looked and sounded horrible and the sound system wasn't great either.

I'll agree with you here. I'd only seen them 4 times before, but this was depressing.

I had just been to the Shoreline Amphitheatre gig 2 days earlier but scored free box seat tickets (direct from Tom Atencio) through the music store I worked at. Unfortunately, they slogged through a carbon copy set with such little enthusiasm that I was certain this would be the end of the band. Hooky was the only one that seemed to be trying to enjoy himself but he was sloppy drunk by the time they grinded out Blue Monday. Perhaps being in the capital of the US record company industry made this infamous tour even more torturous.

Oddly enough, much of the audience seemed pleased with the show, including my date. Most of her compliments were for the light show, however. Just like Stephen Morris is fond of saying: "You may think you've just played the worst set in your life, but afterwards someone will come up to you and say BEST GIG EVER".

On a sad note, at the Shoreline gig I got a smile out of Rob Gretton (hanging around the soundboard) by thanking him for doing a great job. After the Hollywood Bowl gig, when he walked by me towards the stage, I couldn't think of anything positive to say. I just watched him disappear into the crowd.

GLasto 2005. Saw them in 87 when they were pure majestry with the green lasers. In 2005 we literally had to fight through me and Jarvo spearheading the push like a roman snatch squad through to the front, which is still a long way away mind. Only About 10 of us vikings in the green welly boots, I can remember that during love vigilantes all these youg people who were only there for coldpaly looked round in daggers as they were getting splashed. In the end even we were just standing there waiting for the impending trench foot to set in.

we were the only ten interested it seems out of the whole crowd. I can remeber telling people chatting to shut the F up.

Then got pissed up badly and sparained me ankle in the mud searching for our lost tent. Barcelona is a much better festival set up never again to Glasto. Once you turn 40 the whole mud thing is wasted on you.

Forgot that one was bad too. i remember hearing Stevew Butler wulfram got chucked out and was asking the secuity guard how much an hour he was on in a mocking tone, £5.50 he was boastfully told.

I can remember being told to calm down, Alex got us front row tickets but I was not on Hooky's side so had a real sense of unbalance. it was only towards the end of the gig that enough people had come to the front to be able to move from your allotted spot and migrate to the correct Hooky side, when the gig immediatley improved. Nice to see you in Barca mate

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