David Rowlands

For fifteen years, it's been one of my major ambitions in life to see New Order play live and after despairing of just missing that opportunity on a recent jaunt to Europe, I write this note 24 hours shy of realising that dream. Tomorrow, the Hodern Pavlova (as us Sydneysiders call it) awaits...I used to think that the day would never come.

New Order's music is a gift from the heavens....indeed touched by the hand of god. They are the most inspirational and dynamic force in pop music history. No one else has fused the different elements of music together like they have, and furthermore, done it in a way that preserves their ideals, without resorting to gimmicks and hard-sells. The music speaks for itself and there is a song for every mood, from shambolic dance to teeth-gritting rock and sublime, seamless pop...songs like 'True Faith' that you wish would never end. Since 'Substance' hit me like a bolt from the blue in 1987, I have been a very privileged member of 'the Brotherhood'. Quite simply, the music of New Order is the soundtrack of my life- from when I was a very small boy, 'til the day I die.