New Order - Vector Arena, Auckland, N.Z. 27/02/2012

Just attended the New Order gig at Vector Arena in Auckland. Same setlist as Troxy except they dropped 1963 and introduced Round & Round. Barney was in good spirits and the crowd seemed into it.

Dianne Barton was on the sound desk so I introduced myself again. Unfortunately unlike when Hooky visited 18 months ago, I was unable to blag my way backstage (no charge smart arses!).

It's not every day New Order make it down this way. I've managed 4 of the last 5 visits since 1982 (or whenever the first gig in NZ was). I enjoyed the gig - especially the reworked 586.

Would recommend for those thinking of going who aren't too caught up in the crossfire and still enjoy the bloody music!

Hooky Bass Monster wrote: Just attended the New Order gig at Vector Arena in Auckland. Same setlist as Troxy except they dropped 1963 and introduced Round & Round.

Cheers!

Nice choice indeed!

Hooky Bass Monster wrote: Just attended the New Order gig at Vector Arena in Auckland. Same setlist as Troxy except they dropped 1963 and introduced Round & Round. Barney was in good spirits and the crowd seemed into it.

Dianne Barton was on the sound desk so I introduced myself again. Unfortunately unlike when Hooky visited 18 months ago, I was unable to blag my way backstage (no charge smart arses!).

It's not every day New Order make it down this way. I've managed 4 of the last 5 visits since 1982 (or whenever the first gig in NZ was). I enjoyed the gig - especially the reworked 586.

Would recommend for those thinking of going who aren't too caught up in the crossfire and still enjoy the bloody music!

I second all that! Stood in the first row, hehehe. Enjoyed it a lots. Was my first NEWorder gig ever, can you believe it! And my wife bought me a t-shirt. Can you ask for more?

If the band performs like this today then you all can really look forward to some fantastic gigs!

Cheers,

|cv|

El Jarvo wrote: Was Elegia still there?

That live blog linked in the Ceremony forum said Crystal was the opener?

Elegia was still there. My iPod touch 4G did a good job. ;)

Cheers,

|cv|

http://cheeseontoast.co.nz/2012/02/28/photos-of-new-order-at-vector-arena-auckland-monday-27-feb/ Photos of NEW ORDER at Vector Arena, Auckland – Monday 27 Feb

Nice one, Gillian :D

Never noticed that blue guitar. Always too drunk to remember.

Hooky Bass Monster wrote: Just attended the New Order gig at Vector Arena in Auckland. Same setlist as Troxy

Same shirt for mr. Sumner as well i see...

Now, where's the bermuda's?

Glad you enjoyed it m8, thought they could stretch the set list a bit, Round and round eh.

if you mess with me ill get rid of you.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10788532 Music review: New Order, Vector Arena

79 order wrote: Glad you enjoyed it m8, thought they could stretch the set list a bit, Round and round eh.

if you mess with me ill get rid of you.

I guess as someone said when we were moaning about the lack of variety in the shows at the end of 2011, the vast majority of the audience each time they play a new venue/city hasn't been following them around watching each and every gig they play, so keeping the 'best of' set makes sense from that point of view... Hopefully a bit of variety will start seeping in with R&R kicking things off... I love 1963, but it didn't work for me at the Troxy, so don't mind seeing it dropped...

Snorri xxx

Snorrimon wrote:

79 order wrote: Glad you enjoyed it m8, thought they could stretch the set list a bit, Round and round eh.

if you mess with me ill get rid of you.

I guess as someone said when we were moaning about the lack of variety in the shows at the end of 2011, the vast majority of the audience each time they play a new venue/city hasn't been following them around watching each and every gig they play, so keeping the 'best of' set makes sense from that point of view... Hopefully a bit of variety will start seeping in with R&R kicking things off... I love 1963, but it didn't work for me at the Troxy, so don't mind seeing it dropped...

Snorri xxx

Totally agree. 1963 is a great track which doesn't come off live. Would've preferred an older track or KW1 instead of R&R though.

I was going to boycott this gig due to the kindergartenesque public slanging match between Hook & Sumner that has rather tainted the New Order legacy for me. All rather sad and pathetic for a couple of 50+ year olds. However, I'm glad my wife talked me into going because it turned out to be a pretty good show, well attended by a bunch of 50+ year olds (myself included) plus the odd family group and a smattering of the young hip generation. As an aside, my 14 year old daughter is taking history at school this year and they're studying… the 1980s. She didn't seem very interested to hear my story of New Order's first Auckland show in 1982 though.

Anyway, the group was tight and "Peter Hook's replacement", as he was introduced by Barney, did a creditable job of replicating those well known upper register bass lines. I sorta expected the bass to be downplayed a bit in the arrangements and mix, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I guess the bass melodies are so fundamental to most of the hits that made up the set that they couldn't be relegated. The extra person on stage made for a much fuller sound - during Ceremony there were 3 guitars going, although Barney's lead lines were a bit lost in the mix. I'm not convinced that a Gibson SG should be ever be plugged into a Vox AC30, but that's just my personal bias.

The sound mix was excellent, Dian Barton on the desk, and the lighting and video projections were perfect. A couple of songs didn't have video - I guess they're still waiting for Peter Saville to deliver those ones...

The set opened with a short Elegia, segueing into an in-your-face rendition of Crystal. Most of the set was made up of the 80s singles - Crystal, Krafty & Regret being the only later material. An unexpected pleasure was the song 586 from Power Corruption & Lies, which had a tasty modern arrangement. BLT and True Faith got storming reworked versions, True Faith accompanied by clips from the brilliant original video.

I wonder if Round & Round was in the set especially so Bernard could venomously deliver the lyrics "If you mess with me, I'll get rid of you"???

The main set ended with an incredible, upbeat Temptation, with intro and outro being the cello riff from Lou Reed's Street Hassle. That brought a smile!

And after Bernard announced early on that they were ditching Blue Monday and Love Will Tear Us Apart, those songs were of course the encore. Nice to see Bernard playing a Rickenbacker 360 for Love - now that's what should be played through an AC30!

Great review - Cheers

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/new-order/2012/vector-arena-auckland-new-zealand-3def10b.html setlist.fm

Round & Round - nice! Maybe they're hearnig our sentiments about wanting more Technique live again.

Replace Round & Round with Dream Attack or Paradise when they come to Sydney and I'll be in... paradise.

Junica, the support act http://soundcloud.com/junica were suprisingly excellent and very New Ordery sounding. They even have a dark haired fair skinned maiden tinkling on the ivories. Very nice. After Junica it seemed to take forever for them to set up the stage for New Order and there was much too and froing and some debate amongst the stage guys as to what was going where. Weirdly one of the stagehands looked like an 80's version of Hooky. I thought I had been translocated into a very bizarre episode of time travelling Dr Who strangeness for a moment or two.

Anyway, things finally got going, with Barney warning us that he may not get time to play the obligatory BM and LWTUA encore. I hoped he was wrong.

Some very interesting reworkings of old classics, especially including many of the intros. I'm sure they played one of the Control songs as an intro to um... True Faith I think it was... Not sure now... Barney did make a reference to not having time to play the soundtrack to the whole film.

It was a huge highlight to hear Round and Round; I had to keep pinching myself to believe it was happening. Tom was also amazing on the bass and wasn't afraid to put his own inflections across some of Hooky's basslines. I got the sense that he was trying ever so slightly, to pull the melodies down the octave scale. His Perfect Kiss was note and timing perfect - That was his highlight for me. Interesting that he tended not to move too far up the front of the stage though (only one feeble glass (plastic) was thrown). Bit strange to hear Barney asking for the snare rather than the bass to be turned down!

Barney was muddling his lyrics as we've all come to expect, probably not helped by the intermittent slurping of fine New Zealand wine, which he kind of assured us was "Not Australian" (-heh-)

Some more stagehand stuff ups when Barney's guitar got took away a track early and when he got it back at another point the strap was up by his chin; "Is this sized for a baby?" he retorted.

I experienced probably the longest wait ever for a New Order encore; I wondered if they were arguing back stage about running out of time? Anyway, after about 10 mins of agitating they did return to do the ritual BM and LWTUA. Everyone was going crazy and the moshpit was dancetastic - odd to see some people sat on chairs further back in the arena - guess some of us are at that age where arthritis might be getting the best of us.

What a night and great to see Gillian back on stage (bit of a shame that Steve was set so far back). Seeing New Order on both sides of the world is now a big tick off my personal bucket list (P.S. I'll also be going to see Hooky when he comes to underland).

NU ORDAH!!!!!

P.S. THANKS AGAIN FOR COMING TO NZ!

P.P.S. Don't expect to hear "World" - someone requested it from the audience to which Barney smiled "No Chance Mate".

Good recollections! I also noticed Hooky's spitting image helping to set up. The guy next to me even commented too. There was another fella there too who also looked like an older version of Hook - that was bizarre.

You're right about how long the encore took and Barney barely made it to the michrophone for the beginning of the vocal. He was either enjoying the wine or having a bloody good crap!

It was 'World In Motion' he said 'no chance too' rather than 'World' (sorry - not trying to be picky).

Good to read the reviews, guys

Now anticipation runs high....for Aussie fans, 2 more days :)

Funny though I really can't recall much of the 2002 Sydney Hordern gig myself. I really hate the venue - just a hollow box with shitty seating.

I remember lots of other stuffs - the great time having brief chat with Steve & Hooky at Sydney Hum Record Store Signing...cutting out every bits of reviews or articles on the order in Aussie's paper..plus 'souvenir'ing some power pole posters :D

http://www.youtube.com/results?uploaded=w&search_query=%22new+order%22+auckland&search_type=videos&uni=3

Round & Round didn't sound too rusty. I expected to see Bernard's eyes glued to the teleprompter for that one.

Thanks (arigato) for the links.

http://13thfloor.co.nz/reviews/concert-reviews/new-order-vector-arena-auckland-february-27-2012/ Concert Review and photos: New Order – Vector Arena

Round And Round sounds quite good. Be nice to hear it on the UK dates.

Vanishing Point will surely make an entrance?

Hooky Bass Monster wrote:

You're right about how long the encore took and Barney barely made it to the michrophone for the beginning of the vocal. He was either enjoying the wine or having a bloody good crap!

It was 'World In Motion' he said 'no chance too' rather than 'World' (sorry - not trying to be picky).

Hahahahahaha i wish this was true. and Round and Round!! Fuck me. Waiting nearly a decade for this and they bust out this track...

March 1st = Life = Peaking...

RobbieAmbrose wrote:

Hooky Bass Monster wrote:

You're right about how long the encore took and Barney barely made it to the michrophone for the beginning of the vocal. He was either enjoying the wine or having a bloody good crap!

It was 'World In Motion' he said 'no chance too' rather than 'World' (sorry - not trying to be picky).

Hahahahahaha i wish this was true. and Round and Round!! *** me. Waiting nearly a decade for this and they bust out this track...

March 1st = Life = Peaking...

Enjoy the show tonight! Treat it as the last opportunity you will have to see them. That's the approach I've taken since 1985 and it's been a bonus ever since. Have a good one!

Didn't realise it was such a big show - 7000 punters!

Tokoloshe Man wrote: http://13thfloor.co.nz/reviews/concert-reviews/new-order-vector-arena-auckland-february-27-2012/ Concert Review and photos: New Order – Vector Arena

El Jarvo wrote: Ah, I thought Round & Round was a straight swap in for 1963?

Just seen the setlist though and they slotted it in before Krafty?

Crazy!

Should imagine it'll be the exact same setlist in Melbourne then?

Wonder what will get cut for the festivals though? Bit like Sau Paulo and cut the majority of the geetar stuff out? Shame really, cos I thing Barney looks a lot more composed with something strapped to his front. Doesn't give him licence to [ahem] 'dance'.

Or a licence to wear a strap on.

Surface wrote: Didn't realise it was such a big show - 7000 punters!

Tokoloshe Man wrote: http://13thfloor.co.nz/reviews/concert-reviews/new-order-vector-arena-auckland-february-27-2012/ Concert Review and photos: New Order – Vector Arena

I was surprised at the number too. I honestly thought many people hadn't come from my spot at stage front. Must have been an illusion cause Vector is a decent sized indoor arena. I reckon only 1/4 to 1/3 of the venue was used and the upper seating was closed too.

The venue was at least 25% empty. At least that gave me enough space to bop about on the front row.

Conway wrote:

I wonder if Round & Round was in the set especially so Bernard could venomously deliver the lyrics "If you mess with me, I'll get rid of you"???

From the footage I have seen this line has been omitted and replaced with the later line "what is it you need that makes your heart bleed" though whether he just fluffed the lyrics I don't know.

A big fan of Round & Round nice one.

Would like to see World getting thrown in aswell

A belated and mixed review...

New Zealand Herald Review 07 March 2012

LetItGo wrote: A belated and mixed review...

New Zealand Herald Review 07 March 2012

I fucking hate whiny, pretentious reviews like this. No surprises? I guess playing Round and Round for the first time in 20 years doesn't count?

This part especially pissed me off:

"The show reminded me of Kraftwerk's performance in 2008, where the band was anonymous and the visuals became a seamless part of the whole package. This was especially noticeable during 586. That visual anonymity added to my feeling that there was something missing. Tom Chapman has to fill a big pair of badass motorbike boots."

Hooky hasn't worn motorboots onstage in 20 years and the band are def not anonymous onstage.

Also, his comparison of Bernard to Ralf Hutter was idiotic.

Future Order

El Jarvo wrote:

Zachery Starkey wrote: This part especially pissed me off:

"The show reminded me of Kraftwerk's performance in 2008, where the band was anonymous and the visuals became a seamless part of the whole package. This was especially noticeable during 586. That visual anonymity added to my feeling that there was something missing. Tom Chapman has to fill a big pair of badass motorbike boots."

In fairness, I thought he actually had a valid point.

Those visuals do definitely detract from the band (a la KW), and 5-8-6 is particularly Kraftwerk'ish, right down to the Germanic-sounding vocoder.

And it's not beyond the realms of reason that New Order might well be Barney plus a newer New Order in 10 years time, all playing their laptops a la Hutter & Co. Who knew five years ago that the band could continue without Hooky at its helm?

I don't think the visuals detract from the band at all, I like them and think they add to the atmosphere. Having seen NIN and Depeche Mode several times, I always liked the visual projections that added on to the live show. I think it works well for New Order's music and they are just as animate onstage as ever.

The Ralf Hutter comparison is not apt.

Bernard is the Florian Schneider of New Order. :)

El Jarvo wrote:

Zachery Starkey wrote: This part especially pissed me off:

"The show reminded me of Kraftwerk's performance in 2008, where the band was anonymous and the visuals became a seamless part of the whole package. This was especially noticeable during 586. That visual anonymity added to my feeling that there was something missing. Tom Chapman has to fill a big pair of badass motorbike boots."

In fairness, I thought he actually had a valid point.

Those visuals do definitely detract from the band (a la KW), and 5-8-6 is particularly Kraftwerk'ish, right down to the Germanic-sounding vocoder.

And it's not beyond the realms of reason that New Order might well be Barney plus a newer New Order in 10 years time, all playing their laptops a la Hutter & Co. Who knew five years ago that the band could continue without Hooky at its helm?

Now if only they would cover "We Are the Robots"!

El Jarvo wrote:

Zachery Starkey wrote: I don't think the visuals detract from the band at all, I like them and think they add to the atmosphere.

What are you basing your opinion on though?

Go to a gig and watch Barney in the shadow of a 60ft Jane Horrocks towering over him.

And the Hutter thing - picture an aged Barney in black, lacquering his hair down - they could almost be brothers.

The 586 visuals looks like the 'numbers' visuals by the Kraftwerkers