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Paris
La Mutualité 8.12.87
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"La
Mutualite, located in the oldest part of the city, is rarely
used for gigs (more often political meetings!). But the
place was crowded with New Order fans (NO have not played
that often in France and Joy Division just once). The atmosphere was quite electric, everyone wanted to be inside first. Then, NO were on stage, with a loud and mean sound (quite different from their records). They started with BLT, played State Of The Nation, and a fantastic True Faith : you get all what NO is in that performance, all the dance thing and all the rest, the mystery that makes them who they are. As It Is When It Was followed, and then two masterpieces : Paradise with its terrific beat and 586. I was on the first floor, pushing and being pushed, and I could see everyone dancing the pogo like crazy. I have been to many concerts, including Echo and the Bunnymen, U2, The Cure, Midnight Oil, but this was absolute frenzy. If that's NO live, what was JD! Incidentally, I met some lads who were in Les Bains Douches in December '79, lucky fellows. Then they played Face Up and Temptation, and delivered another KO with Age Of Consent. I had always been told that NO played rarely for more than one hour, and feared it would soon be over. But they played The Perfect Kiss, and their stunning Blue Monday. That was the finishing stroke. Except that they came back to play Sister Ray ! All in all, the gig lasted almost 1h25, and then when we were out in the street, all with happy smiles on our face, not aware of the cold, but of the privilege we just had to witness this special moment in time (the concert was sold out for months)". Review by Michel (thanks Michel). |
