Sounds 12/10/1983
review of 12/01/1983 Brixton Academy gig
"I think this kind of misunderstanding always happens when someone's work becomes public. The most vivid and profound part of a thought can bring the most good and also, if it is undertstood in the wrong way, the most harm." - Jean-Paul Satre
The most harm was clearly visible down Brixton way last Thursay night. Five thousand bodies bunged into a room. (Niceable!) Thugs on the door; uniformed men with mean-looking Alsations patrolling around the building outside, suspicious and dangerous. Three inches of urine in the bogs; drinks doubled in price; nearly impossible to get a view of the band(s) on stage; Albrecht lookalikes that weren't JUST lookalikes, they were in most cases exact clone jobs
- it was reminiscent of the fastidiousness of Bowie 'freaks', and this in itself is a sign to us of How Huge New Order Are Nowadays. The fault, if there is any blame to be attached, of course lay with New Order themselves. It is more than just tempting to think that, respectable Mancunians that they are, and ever so slightly trendy, they consider Brixton to be a fab, credible, exciting place to perform in. It isn't. I want to complain in this review about how isolated bands become within themselves. They should care more about the few decent writers that follow them; they should care more about their audience in a much more DEFINITE way, and not let token considerations such as the credibility ratings of the gigs they play in sway them from the much more concrete matters. Such as; the vague insult it is to string two excellent bands such as the Wake and James on a bill with them, which is merely boring list- making you wouldn't normally associate with Factory. Like three Weetabix, three Factoryites is beyond even Botham. Given the lavatorial facilities, you'd need a pair of flippers to endure all three. What I'm saying is: the New Order mode of 'caring' shown at Brixton is merely them fooling themselves that they are caring; much more solid, active effort and thought is required here. I'm not at all WORRIED about New Order 'live'. They can play at the over indulgent disco trash they played at Brixton until the cows come home if they want to. It is TERRIBLE rubbish, again a vague insult to the blacks who do it so much better - but all I'm concerned about is whether it shall affect the quality of their next LP or single. And I think there's a goodish chance it will. There is a wearing down process in rock'n'roll, little talked about, that shows up the lie of the Isolated Rock Group, enmeshed in their own lovely creativity, 'gorgeously on their own', 'creatively SINGULAR'. All excuses, every single one. I think the half-decent groups around should call a meeting between themselves to discuss the Problem Of Gigs. Certainly, they look ridiculous up there on their high horses, fooling themselves that they are each Doing Their Bit. They ain't. It is this same insularity that directly affects the music New Order trade on 'live'. They mustn't realise it is a shadow of the recorded works - over-CLUMPY, too bassy, too self-consciously Black. The parts where Bernard's guitar should climax with the rest just don't happen. It is all a bit of a let-down (how CAN'T 'Your Silent Face' become majestic and rich?) and it soon gets tedious. The audience were entertaining though! A lot of them lads from Sarf London, the atmosphere was weirdly machismo for New Order. "Wotcha mate, what's that bird doing up on stage, she don't seem to be doing much. Not very FANCIABLE either, is she, har har!" Clearly, the complexities of New Order to them are just The Selling Point. Again, like Bowie, New Order are in danger of marketing A Mystery whose chief selling point is that you don't have to be bothered to unravel it/them. History shows that this is too much of a luxury for New Order, for their own good, to afford. It is most harming. DAVE McCULLOUGH __________________________________________________________
Fascinating read. Was this really what it was like?, with the 'Bernard clones'? that must have been a sight. I take it he wasn't a fan of factory in general.
Discuss.
