Hooky the ritz

Just like to say how good was it to hear thieves like us live. It was a great night with a good atmosphere. Other highlights was pottsy on vocals for sooner than you think, broken promise, love vigilantes, face up, BLT and of course a rousing Temptation at the end.They were a few I can pick out off the top of my head, and it will get better the more they play this era of new order. Like the way they changed it about on stage, without hooky for murder, hooky on his own for elegia, Pottsy taking the vocals as already mentioned. Great night, aching limbs today though! Just wish the bitching over the current new order and bernard would stop now. Saw a lot of people who were at Bernard's book signing also at The Light gig. The fans love both hooky and bernard, bout time they buried the hatchet and just be glad of the great music they made together.

Great t shirts on sale, hooky puts in a lot of thought and energy into everything and The Light is always a top night out.

nice one mate!

Thoroughly enjoyable, very good sound as usual at the Ritz.

Bloody hot in there!

Shepards Bush was very good, with minor changes, being Let's Go instead of Murder, and Shellshock instead of State Of The Nation. Minor comments :

Pottsy should sing more songs and his vocals be louder : Hooks deep registers did not sound right as he sings quite a bit lower than BS on The Perfect Kiss and Thieves Like Us. Pottsy sounded very good on stuff like "Sooner Than You Think", "Perfect Kiss", etc.

The instrumental Let's Go sounded a bit naked after getting used to the two vocal versions (the 1984 demo and the 1994 redo). I know the instrmental is the showcase and the 'official' New Order mix, but,

I noticed two guitar lines in As It Is... is one of them pre-recorded?

Still not used to acoustic drums on BLT.

Shellshock was lacking a bit in guitars and drums - sounded a bit weedy really, considering how big the original track is.

I thinka couple of verses got mixed up, but not a surprise when it's only the third live performance of 20 of the songs.

Overall the sound - guitars, vocals particularly - last night was a little quiet. Cracking gig though.

Some good footage here, got to say he/they have done a great job of replicating the songs and its great to hear them played again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNZxDiHqzsc

markreed wrote: I noticed two guitar lines in As It Is... is one of them pre-recorded?

Nope

Jack wrote:

markreed wrote: I noticed two guitar lines in As It Is... is one of them pre-recorded?

Nope

Has all the sequencing etc been re done from scratch, or did your dad still have the originals Jack?

All done from scratch..... We had some original stuff but they weren't up to scratch. They sound so powerful now. A great job all round.

Good shout getting Pottsy on vocals.

Marks off for not recreating the period look of the times though - shorts/vests, yachting shoes and blond highlights would have done the trick.

Now that every song off Substance has been played... is the next one a "Substance & Technique" tour?

Jack wrote: All done from scratch..... We had some original stuff but they weren't up to scratch. They sound so powerful now. A great job all round.

They sound brilliant - how do you go about recreating something from that long ago.

Cannot wait for the gig in São Paulo on October 31. To me "Sunrise" is the most expected song. Never seen that on stage before with New Order, unfortunately (except in video).

Absolutely BRILLIANT gig - The Light seem to sound better every time I go and see them.

Being in a great venue also helped.. the JD tracks sounded better than ever, and they really nailed Low-life and Brotherhood. Would definitely go and see them perform this set again.

I will wait for the cheque in the post..

markreed wrote: Now that every song off Substance has been played... is the next one a "Substance & Technique" tour?

Yeah, as another forumer said, the album approach kinda falls apart from now on... Who knows? Substance (already played, albeit not in order - in a new order, see what I did there?) and Technique (yay). Peel Sessions (not a Fac release, plus it's been played too) and One True Passion (yuk). BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (another iffy release) and Republic (hmmmmmmmmm). Best Of (essentially a London cash-in, given they weren't even talking to each other, let alone recording together) and Rest Of (eurgh). Video 586? Yawn. Point is, the Light have yet to do a duff gig, so I'm curious to see their next move...

so...

"Substance & Technique" might shift a few tickets. "One True Passion & Republic" might struggle... Shame, as I'd love to see anything off OTP performed live, and the vocals will sound more accurate. When it gets to "Music For Pleasure & Monaco", willthe band call themselves Monaco?

Substance followed by technique would be a great night. I don't think it matters all the substance tracks have already been played. Let's face it the tracks are more than good enough to hear hooky do them again. Republic and technique would not work together as you would have the sublime technique followed by republic which would be a bit of a come down. Republic would be better followed by Get Ready. The Technique album needs to end the night.... I can't see the sense in me leaving all I need is your love to believe in

The Shadow wrote: Republic and technique would not work together as you would have the sublime technique followed by republic which would be a bit of a come down. Republic would be better followed by Get Ready. The Technique album needs to end the night....

Well it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to start with Republic and then do Technique would it? Would anyone really complain if they were played the 'wrong' way round in one gig?

I can't see too many comments about the Shepherds Bush Empire gig, although I imagine some of you must have been at it. My thoughts: Great to hear the two albums played live in full (natch), though looking around there seemed to be a few 'casuals' there who weren't familiar with all the tracks.

I didn't catch the JD set as I was rushing back from a united game at Old Trafford, so can only comment on the NO stuff.

It may be easier to mostly mention the bits I think could have been better rather than all the stuff I liked - that might take too long. So I'd like to stress before the critical comments come that I did enjoy this gig overall. My first issue was the sound which seemed a bit wishy washy in places. Having seen the Light at Islington Academy, Koko and the Coronet previously, I thought the overall sound was inferior to those gigs.

So I don't know if it was down to the venue or the band/mixing guy, but I thought the synths on Thieves Like Us didn't surge through me as much as I would have liked. Mind you I have had the same issue before re: Your Silent Face with both NO and Hooky: the sequenced bits sound fine but the big 'organ' chords don't surge through you like they do on the record.

Elegia could have been longer, but I guess there's the concern that the crowd will start talking or get restless... Face Up is worth a mention as it was a particular 'album' highlight that I hadn't witnessed live before. Great to hear the crowd singing along to this one. I've never been crazy about the way it ends on the record, with Barney's voice going particularly out of tune as it fades out; I prefer the live ending. I'm not a big fan of fade-outs in general anyway.

From Brotherhood, Angel Dust sounded particularly good, though I can't help thinking that the band must have sampled a little bit of the record to get those unique vocal sounds at the start. Perhaps Jack will refute this though... BLT: hmm, well we had Pottsy there and I think he should have been used for the verses on this. Hooky's voice really struggled here, and maybe he could have just come in on the chorus. Also I thought the melodic synth line wasn't loud enough during the verses. All Day Long is a particular favourite of mine so I was thrilled to hear it live. However the "Wagner strings" part didn't shine enough for me.

During the encores we got Shellshock where Manchester had State of The Nation. Which is fine by me. It didn't overstay it's welcome and the chorus is of course immensely singable. Confusion by contrast was danceable, and I think if the volume had just been a little louder there would have been even more dancing. True Faith was...True Faith, and then Hooky cheated a bit by throwing in Temptation for a rousing finale. By the end of this one, even the cloakroom girl was jumping.

Debaser wrote:

The Shadow wrote: Republic and technique would not work together as you would have the sublime technique followed by republic which would be a bit of a come down. Republic would be better followed by Get Ready. The Technique album needs to end the night....

Well it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to start with Republic and then do Technique would it? Would anyone really complain if they were played the 'wrong' way round in one gig?

Not sure if the night would turn into day again if this happens. It could seriously upset the balance of life. But maybe and it's only a maybe it may just work.