INCREDIBLE Bonkers Live Version of Blue Monday.....

....from New Order's headlining set at the 1989 Reading Festival. Their big UK gig for the Technique tour, correct?

Someone uploaded the whole set here...outstanding! 7 songs from Technique plus a smattering of other classic New Order tunes. Band's playing sounds fantastic.

But this live version of Blue Monday is insane. It's like the Acid House version of Blue Monday, replete with tons of extra improvised synth playing and some really bonkers House piano over the intro and break downs...

Who so you suppose is playing the House Piano parts and Orchestra Hit parts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuOnjYnm1LM

I wish New Order jammed out in Blue Monday live like this these days...they did on the 2005-2006 tours I wonder why they don't now.....

They played it similarly at Pine Knob, Michigan, in July of 1989. I've a SBD recording of it that is of better quality than your link.

Does anyone have a better recording of this version of Blue Monday? Like ZAS, I love the house piano parts, they're brilliant!

Those orchestra hits are terrible!!!

Nice. I used to have this on bootie cassette (them was the days) and it struck me how much stronger and more focussed it was than the usual NO live recording. I guess 89 was when they stopped dicking around on stage and turned into a cofident crowd-pleaser, which paradoxically some like less!

Does anyone know what Sumner says to the crowd toward the end of the show??

He says something like "This is the first concert I've been to where the band is more ???? than the audience.

He says it at 55:41. It sounds clear at first but he slurs a key word all of a sudden.

Interesting additions to 'Mr Disco' too.

uberpsycho wrote: He says something like "This is the first concert I've been to where the band is more ???? than the audience.

"This is the first festival I've ever played where the band's been more out of their heads than the audience."

50 Pound Note wrote:

uberpsycho wrote: He says something like "This is the first concert I've been to where the band is more ???? than the audience.

"This is the first festival I've ever played where the band's been more out of their heads than the audience."

Wow, thanks.

I guess they had a bum crowd

They do play really tightly and focused for the whole gig. Every song sounds great.

Who do you suppose is playing the House piano bits on BM? Barney or Steve?

uberpsycho wrote: I guess they had a bum crowd

No, I think he's saying they were more drunk and/or stoned than a typical festival crowd - i.e. VERY!

The 1989 tour, as I remember, was odd because midtour a lot of equipment went down and the band had to allegedly quickly recreate the sequencer parts, hence the relatively static setlists : I compared the studio and live versions of Mr Disco - the middle eight is completely new and reworked. The earlier versions of BM in 1989 were odd and mildly bonkers, Reading 1989 is full gonzo batshit - not least because the band themselves knew that Barney was going to make a record with Johnny Marr and NewOrder might not play again.

That is a great show, that's for pointing it out. So much energy, makes the current live style seem sterile in comparison. The band does seem to be sort of on the boundary between indie band and stadium rock, and it works here.

As for fans saying that the Technique songs were not that great live, maybe the change in venues with bigger crowds made a difference... maybe the band could afford more expensive drugs at that point and that made a difference?

Bernard sneezing after every song?

I'd say Bernard played those bits.

uberpsycho wrote:

50 Pound Note wrote:

uberpsycho wrote: He says something like "This is the first concert I've been to where the band is more ???? than the audience.

"This is the first festival I've ever played where the band's been more out of their heads than the audience."

Wow, thanks.

I guess they had a bum crowd

Maybe Bernard meant that the audience was paying attention, instead of standing around "out of their heads" stoned or on acid? I'm just guessing...

On Pitchfork, the writer made a comment that basically said that New Order was one of first cool or indie bands to play the festivals. In the 80s it was before the rave culture and the alternative bands went big, 1989 may have been the first year of that type of festival scene. Maybe before 1989 festivals just had stoner bands or classic rock bands, and it was a different type of scene from the 90s festivals that had rave, rap, and alternative rock.

Bernard also makes a remark about people "dressed in black picking their noses"... I assume he is talking about goths and that the band The Mission was on before them? Correct?

Another great live version of Blue Monday in 1989 with more piano tinkering from Bernard.

youtube.com/watch?v=zYI2DLVTEuM

0_o wrote: Maybe Bernard meant that the audience was paying attention, instead of standing around "out of their heads" stoned or on acid? I'm just guessing...

On Pitchfork, the writer made a comment that basically said that New Order was one of first cool or indie bands to play the festivals. In the 80s it was before the rave culture and the alternative bands went big, 1989 may have been the first year of that type of festival scene. Maybe before 1989 festivals just had stoner bands or classic rock bands, and it was a different type of scene from the 90s festivals that had rave, rap, and alternative rock.

Bernard also makes a remark about people "dressed in black picking their noses"... I assume he is talking about goths and that the band The Mission was on before them? Correct?

Reading was originally a rock festival, I think, in its early years, but had struggled with an identity before 1989 and had a 'rock' night, an 'indie' night following, etc.

In 89 they had New Order (Friday), the Pogues (Sat) and the Mission (Sun) headlining ... so pretty much went full-on 'indie' (if that's the right word?) overnight. That was probably the year that the Mean Fiddler took running over the festival?

And it was a typical New Order audience from what I remember ... though perhaps a little bit watered down compared to their own gigs, but still a big enough ruck down the front. Certainly wasn't a 'bum crowd' (whatever that means?)