Tuesday, 25 May 1982

New Order's live appearances have less the feel of rock concerts (which is, of course, what they are on the most basic level) than grand rituals of momentous importance. That should come as no surprise. Live performances by any mouldy Joe with a scrum of fans contain at least some ritualistic elements, but with New order the meaning is amplified, the social significance elevated to peculiar levels. Forgive the ham sociology - there's not much concrete evidence to support this particular hypothesis - but anybody who has ever walked into one of the group's performances and stayed for more than a couple of minutes must know the feeling. It's in the air... a wisp of expectation... it's THEM. This kind of open-mouthed adulation is never less than dumb, but at least there have been times when New Order's sprays of sound have been so spiritually invigorating that its been at least understandable. The National Ballroom was not one of those occasions. Plagued by a dreadful, muffled sound, New Order played well, played with feeling, played hard, played fast, though never tipped over the flagons of spirit welling around their edges, never truly ignited. New Order, nevertheless, gave a worthwhile breeze through the newest pages of their mystery and showed their ability to develop a new line of thought. No longer an extension of Joy Division's shadow, Order have new sets of vectors to follow. Joy Division used the synthesizer in the Tangerine Dream mould - waves of lapping, quasi-orchestral sound. New Orser follow the Kraftwerk model, thrusting fierce electric rhythm to the centre. After half an hour they walked off stage, returning for an indulgent, directionless "jam" with members of their funk-based support band. It seemed utterly pointless, and like the short playing time and late arrival on stage, came across as nothing less than a kick in the teeth to the faithful hordes in their flock. - LYNDEN BARBER

The High Road down to Kilburn for the next leg in my New Order world in motion. Having been unable to attend a few of the recent shows I was full of anticipation that there would be some more new stuff. Marcel King's warm-up was appreciated, but then it was time for the Order.

There follows a pattern, as the first song was another bleeping shapeless electronic noise (586) that went on for ages, followed by the lively Chosen Time. Ultraviolence was another long and seemingly random sequenced thing, which was followed by a mellow-sounding guitar-led track that eventually surfaced as We All Stand (such a pity their vision of this song led it down the path they chose in the studio rather than the live versions). New single B-side Hurt then surfaced, for me the first time I had seen it live (guess I'd been unlucky before, as it had featured for six months unknown to me), and the set closed with a pugnacious Denial and gorgeous Temptation, only to be followed by a racket involving New Order and 52nd Street that bore little resemblance to anything remotely listenable. Not bad at all, and the new songs left me wanting more.