hanging around in the kitchen....

I heard that at an early NO gig (or maybe it was before New Order began proper) someone asked Barney where their singer was, and, as this was soon after Ian's death, Barney answered something in very bad taste like "He's hanging around in the kitchen." I recall reading that somewhere but I was wondering if people knew some specifics on this.

From An Ideal for Living page 72

The difficulty experienced by the band in playing these first true concerts without Ian can be seen in the humourous attempts to avoid becoming depressed. At Brady's (Liverpool, 4 Sep 1980), an unsuspecting stagehand asked the group where their lead singer was and was told he was "hanging around in the kitchen somewhere". At Scamp's (Blackpool, 5 Sep 1980), when the bass amp blew and the band stopped playing, Rob Gretton, who was standing by the mixing desk, called out "will the rest of the band please carry on ?". Rob was also responsible for "The Curse of the Knotted Tie" (a reference to the sleeve of Iggy Pop's live Metallic K.O. album Ian listened to after watching Stroscek) which insisted that none of the band or crew wear a necktie "because Rob thought it was too much of a risk to take". Humour is often the best medicine.

oh my god...that's horrible. but if it made it easier for them, then i guess the humor was a good thing! :)

It's that sort of "gallows humor" that a lot of people use to deal with tragedy. Sometimes it's easier to laugh through your pain, like commenting on how much free food you get when people keep coming by offering their sympathies with plates of food. :D

They have a different sense of humor in Manchester as well, so I've heard.

I'd heard it was Hooky who made the remark.