It is comforting to know that if Melbourne ever experiences the kind of meteorological phenomena that Europe was recently gripped with and there are people freezing on the street, we can always put them inside the West Melbourne venue, because as usual, Festival Hall is a sauna. Despite Melbourne being a mild 24 degrees on the first day of Autumn, there is a lot of perspiration going on inside the former boxing venue and as New Order arrive on stage a casual 25 minutes late, the roar of the Mancunians in the crowd is deafening and one could be forgiven for mistaking Festival Hall for Old Trafford as they launch into their instrumental elegy to Ian Curtis, “Elegia.”
What might seem like a strange choice in song to open the concert actually works perfectly, as it stages as an extended prelude to their anthemic 2001 single, “Crystal”. With the synth keyboard notes slowly drifting into the instrumental, teasing the audience as backing vocals get lowered in, the drums kick-start the song and the Mancs are off, with the floor becoming a jumping castle for every 40 year old who had just found the knackered pair of trainers they wore to The Haçienda.
There is an overwhelming sense of celebration about this tour, the band is in their third decade and is on our shores for the first time in ten years to headline Future Music Festival, presiding over a festival for a scene they have so definitively influenced. It seems now more than ever you can hear the collision of synths and guitars that they pioneered in the sound of The Rapture, Friendly Fires and Holy Ghost! But they are here with no new material and touring nostalgia is always a safe game for a band of New Order’s age, the people know they are going to hear the hits and because the band have just reformed after a five year hiatus, they don’t mind playing them.
“Crystal” is followed by “Regret”, which is followed by “Ceremony”. A trifecta that places the crowd firmly in the palm of Bernard Sumner’s hand, he asks for more cheering, he gets it, of course he’s going to get it after opening the gig in such triumphant fashion. There is daggy dancing, yes, daggy, and there are a lot of unshaven Brits who have had their fair share of lagers, it is clear everyone is positively elated at the chance to relive their glory days and take a trip down memory lane.
Though you would expect a band with as many gigs under their belt as New Order to have the whole crowd interaction/stage banter thing down pat, you would be wrong. Bernard is particularly cringe-worthy in his attempts to connect with his audience, at one stage asking how many guitarists were in the audience before proceeding to give the advice, “if your guitar is ever out of tune, just pluck the G-string” and then making that awful clicking noise with his mouth whilst winking to the crowd. *Shudder*
Not even Ryan Gosling could get away with something so sleazy so I do not know why a 56-year-old Manc thought he could, but awkward comments and dad-jokes aside, you could tell the man was enjoying himself, bouncing off the crowds’ energy whenever the dance party really kicked off. The opening notes of “Bizarre Love Triangle” were greeted with roars and cheers usually reserved for convincing a band to come onstage for a second encore and the bass was heavy enough to make sure not one person in the venue was stood still.
A lull in energy hits the gig when the band unleashes a track co-written by The Chemical Brothers for the 24 Hour Party People soundtrack, “Here To Stay” and backs it up with the 2005 single, “Krafty” off their mediocre album, Waiting For The Siren’s Call. It is clear that the 1980s New Order fans have not familiarised themselves with the more recent additions to the catalogue and it is the perfect time for many to txt msg the babysitter.
Thankfully the atmosphere immediately livens up as “1963”, “The Perfect Kiss” and “True Faith” are given exceptional renditions, though unfortunately, the sound mixing was less than exceptional, the vocals were at times buried in the mix and the percussion was simply not loud enough. I wanted to feel that snare in my ribcage. It didn’t help that Bernard, god bless him, insistently interjected his lyrics with yelps or howls, a noise that sounded like a wounded hyena that more often than not broke the rhythm of the track.
Finishing with the epic, 8-minute drug-ode “Temptation”, the band got heavier and deeper, pushing their sonic layers on top of each other and jamming out the end of the set in impressive fashion, especially Stephen Morris who came close to destroying his Roland 808. Returning on stage for a predictable and predictably world-stopping “Blue Monday”, the crowd was rapturous, dancing crazily to the Madchester classic that has not aged a day in class or relevance.
There is not much one can say when a gig finishes with a song as timeless as “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. So much has been written and said about the Joy Division single but hearing it live was something else. It is a song that means many things to many people and the crowd were a strange mix of shocked and grateful; an arm-in-arm moment that seemed a fitting end to it all.
– Chris Lewis
