In some ways, the New Order concert was about wish fulfillment: the longing of a band to come to grips with what happened a quarter of a century earlier, or if you want to be more cynical, the wish of a band (with a new, relatively disposable album) to make big bucks off the nostalgia circuit.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy it -- on the contrary, I was jumping up and down like a madman, yelling out the lyrics just like everyone else -- but the setlist seemed so stupidly unimaginative: a big chunk of Substance, a song each from Republic and Get Ready, a liberal helping of relative plodders from Waiting for the Sirens' Call.
But hey, that was what I wished for anyhow; I wanted the hits, dammit. Everyone in our gang got our wishes fulfilled. (I don't know what Barb wished for -- she and her posse were lining up for margaritas and were then swallowed up by the crowd.)
I wanted "Transmission," a song I never thought I'd ever hear live, and then there it was. Lan and Juan wanted "She's Lost Control," and got it on the first try; you can't beat a set that begins with the 1-2-3 punch of "She's Lost Control," "Love Vigilantes" and "Regret" one after the other. (Sean and Eloise really got into that last one; right now it's the New Order song running around in my head for some reason or other.) By the time the concert peaked with a "Bizarre Love Triangle" / "Love Will Tear Us Apart" / "Temptation" combo, you could practically imagine the audience screaming its thanks. (But imagine the jeers if they were never played!) And Tracy finally got her wish in the one-song encore with "Blue Monday," spare instrumentation and robotic glory intact, but with the added cheek of a Kylie Minogue sample (I think this was from a mashup from a couple of years back). Probably the highlight of the show.
(The Chemical Brothers were the opening act, and I was almost embarrassed to mention this to people. There's a reason, I guess, why I really loved Exit Planet Dust and can't bear to listen to it anymore -- or any of the following albums, for that matter -- because I'd outgrown the Chems. The lights and visuals were cool, though, but I don't know how much mileage one can derive from the same tension-and-release dynamic in a DJ set.)
agh sunny you weren't supposed to remind me abt that kylie minogue part. agh!
Posted by: barb on May 3, 2005 02:44 PMOk, so why are you wily?
Posted by: Anonymous Poet on May 4, 2005 08:18 PMThat would be one of my dream lineups - The Chems and NewOrder!
That being said, New Order actually were kinda boring when I saw em while touring Get Ready, and the hits-n-memories thing is probably getting to them, as Bernard actually said how tired he was of singing "THIS SONG", then still proceeded to play Blue Monday. Maybe not in those words, but you get the idea that he's tired of having to regurgitate the goddam thing.
Dream live track: to have em play Confusion, and then watch the audience erupt in a sea of wannabe breakdancers. Oh the hip replacements! :)
The Kylie Minogue bit was probably from the legit mashup "Can't get blue monday out of my head", released on a Kylie single 2-3 yrs ago. I have the single somewhere, but too sleepy to dig around for it.