New Order, Wolverhampton Civic
The Coolest Band In The World(TM) swanned into the Civic last night as if they owned the place. Within 20 minutes, they did. Epic opener Crystal gave way to four minutes of pop perfection in Regret, followed quickly by Ceremony.
Pictured right: lead singer Bernard Sumner on stage last night at the Civic Hall.
Moments later their Joy Division classic Transmission elevated the capacity crowd into musical heaven.
Ordinary bands would have been in severe danger of peaking too early. These blokes, though, are extraordinary. Breaking ground since the late 1970s, which other group can claim to have influenced indie, dance, rock and, yup, pop?
To do it without losing an ounce of credibility shows what a 24-hour party pack of Mancunian attitude can do.
Not that they look the part; Bernard Sumner, now 50, dances like Peter Kay at a wedding, while Mrs Merton’s ex Peter Hook looks like Alan Rickman mugging his way through an indie Spinal Tap film.
The sound wasn’t great all night, although mixing the trademark bass guitar, synths and Sumner’s dulcet (ie. flat) vocals can never be easy. Not that any of this matters when your material is of such high quality.
Set closer Blue Monday is one of the most instantly recognisable tracks of the past 30 years.
Topping it with Love Will Tear Us Apart as an encore was just showing off.
By Keith Harrison
Share this article:
What are these?