Montpellier The Zenith 20.1.89

"New Order were to play in Paris, but the date was cancelled (I'll never know why). So I checked if they were to play somewhere else, and found out they would be in Montpellier. I had no other choice than to take the plane (I wouldn't do that for many people), and count on my luck to find the venue and a hotel for the night, as I had never been there before. I browsed Montpellier streets for hours (quite pleasant), had to take a bus, as the Zenith is out of town, and while waiting made friends with a couple and some other guys.
Then it was show time, and New Order began with Touched By The Hand Of God which is one of my favourites, with Hooky's bass great sound and his peculiar way of playing. They played an incredible Ceremony, and then a gorgeous True Faith just when there was a power failure. One could fear they would have problems being back quickly, but they were, and they played Sub-culture, and a new song from Technique : Dream Attack (my favourite song from one of my favourites NO CDs).
The instruments and the voice were perfectly in balance, the song brilliant. They kept on playing full speed, with 1963 and another new song, Vanishing Point, brilliant too. Once again, the sound of NO live has little to do with their records, they are one of the very few bands who can venture to do so. They were more than excellent, and BLT was just another proof.
They finished with Temptation and The Perfect Kiss which was ... perfect. They were back on stage for an encore with two more songs, True Faith again (no technical problem this time) and Fine Time. A good conclusion to the evening. The couple I met kindly drove me back to Montpellier, where I found a hotel, slept tight and had beautiful dreams. I might have flown back to Paris without needing a plane"
Review by Michel (thanks Michel).