Your best festival venues for NewOrder — Forum Archive

4 Aug 2002, 10:51

I know a lot of you preferred the smaller intimate venues to see the Order play, and who can blame you as you can get lost in a sea of people at festivals and not get as near the band, suffer poor sound quality etc.. however as their just too damn popular to play small club venues they have taken to some of the largest stages in the music world over the years....

And so having played at some of the largest outdoor venues in the world which one do you think suits them best and how do the crowd, stage and band compare around the world?

Personally i have only seen them at two festivals (Reading and Finsbury Park, well MOVE as well i guess that was a festival of sorts :) )

Thought the crowd atmosphere at Reading was terrific and was a much larger more poweful stage for them than Finsbury. Unfortunatly i couldnt see them at Glastonbury although i have heard that this is better than Reading Festival, any thoughts?

I would love to have seen them abroad as well.. especially in Australia and in the States alas i couldnt, but how do they compare at festivals overseas for anyone thats been round&round the world to see them and have their festival performances improved over the years?

4 Aug 2002, 17:44

My favourite venue seeing the ORDER was OLD TRAFFORD,open air but intimate when you are at the FRONT.:D

4 Aug 2002, 19:14

You're right ID, I do prefer to see them in small & tight intimate venues. On the whole, just think it makes the atmos that bit better & brings everyone closer to the band. U agree? E.g., Liverpool Olympia last July. A partisan audience who didn't care if they walked out with their clothes a bit creased, who hadn't seen them for 3 years and a small-ish venue was a cocktail for a great gig.

But you have specifically asked about Festivals....

The venue is one important ingredient for a good show, but the enthusiasm of the fans makes for an even bigger impact, IMHO.

Over the last year I've been lucky enough to see the Order play 5 Festivals in Oz, 4 in America/Canada, 4 in Europe (excl Blighty) and 2 at home. And they've all been slightly different in their own little way.

For amazing venues, it's gotta be the States. They have their shows in open-air Ampitheatres, carved out of a hill side, generally in the middle of nowhere & we were fortunate enough to find 'em bathed in glorious sunshine. Slight contrast to the Glasgee Barras then ;). The Gorge, Washington had to be seen to be believed, set right next to the massive River Columbia, with mountains all around it & god knows how far to the nearest town. Still managed to find a Man Yoo fan from Wigan there, mind :mad: . Headline acts were Moby & Outkast at these gigs so didn't see that many Order fans around which meant the atmos didn't really get going when our boys took to the stage. But biggup to Geaux Hagen who we met at this gig & to some college kid who started asking us questions about NO/JD to check out our credentials....'so you think you're fans huh?...'. Cheeky fucker.

Oz-was more traditional style Stadium affairs. Big stage in a sports ground with some folks in seats miles from the action if that's what they wanted. This was also our first intro to the latest security/crowd management techniques employed at Festivals. Barriers set up 50 yards from the stage which are closed off once 'full' & effectively means you have to turn up in good time to ensure entry into the front area. Jim Reilly has written a book on this if you want more info ;). More fans of the Order around for these gigs including DepthCharge & CTB but that didn't stop one lad in Melbourne from being lobbed out by Security at the insistence of fans stood near the front. His crime?, playing air-bass & occassionally brushing the person stood either side of him. As they say, strewth. The audiences in both USA & Oz, tend to like to watch their gigs in peace & on the whole are a bit more studious than their ramshackle UK counterparts. But for weather & setting, they tend to piss all over us.

Europe is the nearest to the UK experience. Germans are mad for crowd surfing like nowhere I've ever seen before. Even when English lads are removing their shoes as they 'fly' overhead they still seem to come back for more.

But overall ID you've got the best Festival gigs under your belt mate. For crowd atmos - & I'm sure this must rub off on the band - you can't beat the UK shows.

Be interested to learn the views of Al, 4.45 & Jeff W on this. DC, you do Reading 98'?

4 Aug 2002, 22:05

Watching New Order play as the sun set over the Columbia River was perhaps the most beautiful moment of my life. The Gorge was a beautiful venue for NewOrder as Johnny Giles stated. A local rap station just held it's Summer Jam 2002 festival there and ended up with several gang rapes and a murder. The last time a rap show gets to happen in that lovely part of the world. There shold be some photo's of the venue at the Tours and Concerts section of this site including my personal fav of JGiles and AJarvis holding the Ceremony flag and a young chap holding up a Request for Face-Up.

5 Aug 2002, 03:28

Best festival for me was Reading '93 - woke up at 8am, flat on my back, head sticking out of tent door, surrounded by empty bottles and a smoke hanging out of my mouth. Suddenly, someone started soundchecking 'Regret'. Great way to start the day - seemed intimate, even though another 60,000 people probably heard the same thing...

5 Aug 2002, 06:02

Yes, and the concorde flew over the area.

6 Aug 2002, 13:37

well...I'm not too sure what I can add here...the shows (that I can recall!!!) have all been outdoors...did Brixton on Friday last year, but was as pissed that night as I was at the Chandos!!!! did a show in Houston, 2 in Dallas, and one in San Francisco, but all at the outdoor amphitheaters...

The prettiest setting I had was Mountain View for the Area One deal...

best crowd...Finsbury...completely different from what I experienced here in the states...you bastards are completely mad!!!!!!!!! and I loved it!!!! and hanging with the Shugster, and his manservant, was interesting indeed!!! hope we all get to hook up one more time...I swear, I'll leave my passport and credit cards back at the hotel this time :p

best sound was also at Mountain View, because I was about five seats away from the mixing board...tried to get down closer, but the security folks would have none of it...

still kicking myself for passing up the chance to see them with PiL and the Sugarcubes in New York/New Jersey, and the show they did at the Forum in (I think) 1987...

best show overall, Finsbury...because you guys were there, it was on their home turf...

and wish I could have made it to Mancland!!!

6 Aug 2002, 15:23

seen em outdoors 3 times at reading and once at finsbury... i,ve been to reading festival 14 times its always been a favourite of mine and i think reading 98 was THE gig!!!!!!

7 Aug 2002, 05:50

Originally posted by HOOKYS WALLET seen em outdoors 3 times at reading and once at finsbury... i,ve been to reading festival 14 times its always been a favourite of mine and i think reading 98 was THE gig!!!!!!

I would agree 'Reading' is a great gig venue (as its 10-mins on a train for me) but 89' was 'the' gig for me....awesome night.

7 Aug 2002, 06:29

Agree with all JG's comments. Been to some lovely festival sites (the Gorge wins by a landslide), but am not a lover of festivals per se. Give me a roof over me head any time. The likes of Reading are okay, cos you can walk in / walk out easily enough, but I'd hate it if the Order were to play Glastonbury now. 100+ notes for a ticket, and in the middle of bloody nowhere. Not on.

9 Aug 2002, 03:05

Festivals are generally PUS, Reading 98 was amazing but, what a come back gig, a balmy summers evening in the dust, the crowd were the best ever, unlike the big Day out in Perth, where the security actually sat down at the front and looked as if they were gonna fall asleep. I think everyone bar , 20 poms and a couple of colonials, went to see prodigy. Shame that could and should have been a Grand Finale. Next time they should skip Perth and play an extra gig in NSW. Stuff those Boguns out west.

9 Aug 2002, 10:55

Originally posted by murv Festivals are generally PUS, Reading 98 was amazing but, what a come back gig, a balmy summers evening in the dust, the crowd were the best ever, unlike the big Day out in Perth, where the security actually sat down at the front and looked as if they were gonna fall asleep. I think everyone bar , 20 poms and a couple of colonials, went to see prodigy. Shame that could and should have been a Grand Finale. Next time they should skip Perth and play an extra gig in NSW. Stuff those Boguns out west.

Thought the Perth BDO was the best I attended out there. At one point, I think I nearly got pushed in the back. Whoah, steady there. But that was probably just DepthCharge trying to inject some English spirit into proceedings with a few tricks he picked up at Reading.

At the Melbourne BDO - as JG states above - we saw one fella chucked out for, basically, (a) calling out for songs between tracks and (b) playing air-bass (badly). It was like a Witch Hunt down the front to get him evicted. Comical.

9 Aug 2002, 15:04

Have to say I thought Liverpool Olympia was sufuckingperb, just a pity that myself, John and Lorraine were up on the balcony....nothing like getting murdered down the front....although access to the bar was great :evil4: Personally I prefer the inside venues, Reading is great - but when ye've got other numbnuts supporting other acts jumping all over you (stand up Dinasoaur Jr fans) it's a pain in the fookin arse! MENA and Ally Pally were great gigs - at the MENA we were in the seats ground level straight across from the stage - fantastic view - although John and myself dived into the crowd after the first song :lol: Ally Pally was great....except fer queing up fer near enough 2 hours :nonono: But at least we were stood right at the front for the whole performance:D I'd love to see the bands own coverage of these concerts, as we were definitely on film! Apollo and Brixton were great nights as well :nod: These are the types of places I'd love to see the band play again! Maybe it was just the atmosphere at Liverpool that makes it stand out, but I'd have to say that's been my favourite venue where I've witnessed the band:D