GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR
Who
Ultimately my effort and expense was undermined as it was later announced that New Order would be supporting Blur in Hyde Park, and I was left hoping they'd get John Barnes up on stage for an unbelievably exciting romp through World In Motion! That was just never going to happen in Birmingham and it was frustrating to know that I'd forked out to see New Order playing the shitty old Academy - which had reopened and had been laughably renamed as Birmingham Ballroom - when they are a natural outdoor "festival" band. I just hoped that they'd be good enough to make me really want to watch them twice yet I'd seen a few of their setlists and had my doubts that they'd even play a sufficient quota of hits. The other part of my plan had been to sightsee around Birmingham, but as I'd been almost hibernating throughout the winter I'd lost some of my interest in exploring which had been so ferocious the year before, making it harder to motivate myself to visit somewhere relatively dull like Birmingham. Worst of all though we were experiencing the wettest April of all time and the Sunday was forecast to be the worst day of the lot, and in the end it rained literally non-stop and was arguably the most wretched day for weather I'd ever experienced in my life. I'd also been incredibly busy at work and upon seeing the weather forecast and struggling to warm to the idea of a day of indoor activities around Birmingham I let myself be pressured into coming into work in the morning. Ultimately it was hard to say no though as I'd been offered generous expenses to cover the taxi fare and I even managed to arrange a later start on Sunday and even Monday morning to cushion me from the effects of a late night gig.
On Sunday morning it was lovely to be whisked into the office by a taxi - even though it rudely arrived over ten minutes early - and after doing a good few hours of work I made my way to Birmingham in time for hotel check-in. This in fact was vaguely advertised as being at the shockingly late time of 3pm but I confirmed for future reference that the hotel would have had no problem with me arriving early and leaving my bag with them anyway. I'd greatly struggled the day before to figure out a worthwhile plan for Birmingham and eventually decided that now I'd agreed to go into work I'd have no time to do anything anyway, not even that visit to the Thinktank museum I'd contemplated. I therefore downgraded my ambitious plans and decided to venture to Cineworld to watch Avengers Assemble, figuring it would free up an evening later in the week if nothing else. I arrived at the cinema barely in time and was fortunate enough to get a seat for the 2-D showing for perhaps the most rammed screening I'd ever attended in my life, with the exception of The Two Towers back in late 2002. The film in fact was fantastic, reminding me what an amazing superhero Iron Man is, and it was lovely to see it along with a wildly enthusiastic audience without having to endure the gimmick of uncomfortable 3-D glasses. I then headed to Wetherspoons - as per usual because it's cheap and has good European beer - and enjoyed a massive mixed grill along with two pints before being able to head back to the hotel to get changed. This is the lovely thing about having a room booked and was especially welcome as the rain simply never stopped so a change was most definitely needed!
I felt I'd made the most of circumstances where everything had been working against me and not even the fact that McDonald's had managed to run out of ice cream dampened my spirits. I headed towards the show and encountered no hassle at all taking my proper camera in, although I had tried my best to hide it on my person first. Doors had opened at 7pm but I didn't manage to get in until 8pm, by which time it was reasonably busy. I tried to head around the far side but it was still a struggle to get forwards, although at least I managed to get far enough forwards to be away from the balcony area. I'd hoped that I'd never have to return to this horrible venue and nothing had changed at all - it certainly wasn't fit to be called a ballroom at any rate! Apparently its capacity is 300 less than the 3000 capacity of the new Academy and they'd somewhat shot themselves in the foot by sealing off all the best parts of the balcony to make it into a deserted disabled area. The advantage of that was that there could be no tossers above me thinking it amusing to throw beer into the crowd but it was a reminder that the new Academy had at least been wise enough to turn the balcony into a seated area where everyone could see rather than just the front row! Before the show I'd heard through both New Order and Joy Division Greatest Hits a good few times and I was well aware that Peter Hook had left the group, which was a shame as it would be nice to see the original line-up. In fact I was basically paying to see Bad Lieutenant again plus a lady on keyboards, namely Gillian Gilbert, who in fact is married to drummer Stephen Morris and is an original member. I'd heard that Hooky was off playing Joy Division cover versions but I had no interest whatsoever in that - although it would be intriguing to hear him sing - and think it would be much better if he'd simply stop grumping around and rejoined the band he had been with for thirty years!
As soon as I entered the room there was DJ Tintin already on and playing shite far too loudly, yet giving the place the kind of vibe that I'd presume the Hacienda had in its day. I saw a guy in front of me even sent a txt to his friend stating that one of the identikit songs was by The Whip to say it had "made his night" which was quite a claim considering he'd stood there motionless throughout! It was a relief though when support act Jake Evans took to the stage with some shameless advertising by having his name and website address projected on the video screen throughout the duration of his set! I'm much more impressed now I read that he was the one member of Bad Lieutenant who had left the reformed New Order and he could well have been the guy who'd sung a lot of their songs along with Bernard? He certainly wasn't too bad but his set was undermined by a lack of atmosphere, partly due to the cheesiness of playing in front of an advertisement for himself and also because the three guys in the band were standing so far apart from each other and barely interacting. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh as I'm writing this up three weeks later and can't really remember many good bits, but my abiding memory was waiting for him to finish, thinking that it was over and then watching the band playing a full three further songs, outstaying his welcome further by seemingly tacking false endings onto each tune as well! Once Jake had finished then DJ Tintin returned to the stage and in fact got a bit better as he wore on. I'd expected the band to bound onstage at 9pm and everyone was frustrated by the wait, although on the way out I spotted the running order which clearly advertised that they wouldn't be on until 9:15pm anyway. There was a roar of excitement as the DJ waved goodbye and his music faded out then New Order arrived onstage with what my setlist confirms to be Elegia, an instrumental from 1985 which in fact was over 17 minutes long on its original release.
The real first song for me though was Crystal, which was excellent but undermined by the same utterly shit sound quality that the old Academy was so famous for. The mix was too loud and muddy throughout and you could barely hear Bernard singing at times. Visually things were much better thanks to a video screen which was used on quite a lot - but not all - the songs. Bernard commented on the horrible weather and he may also have said that he was ill - not that we could really hear him speak - but he looked better than the scruffy dressed down figure he'd been two and a half years before with Bad Lieutenant. This excellent start continued with Regret before peaking with a glorious take on their debut single Ceremony which was greeted by a roar of approval. Throughout the show I was plagued worse than ever by big heads in front of me and, as I pride myself on being too considerate to hold a camera above eye level to film, the situation was so bad I didn't even attempt to shoot any video, making do with just a few photos. Apart from spotting that the drummer was wearing glasses I didn't get to see as much as I'd like, although the upside was that I was just about far enough forwards that there weren't too many people attempting to push past me. Nevertheless, despite the many factors working against me this evening, I was delighted to hear such a hit-heavy start to the show and this excitement was kept up thanks to Age Of Consent and Love Vigilantes, which despite being two tunes I didn't know they still sounded as good as the hits. The downside of only owning the greatest hits is that I don't know all the album tracks and so forth, but either New Order are a very consistent band or they have a few mighty b-sides to call upon which should have been put on their Best Of. The hits then resumed with Krafty and Round And Round before reaching a crescendo with Bizarre Love Triangle, which proved the visual highlight of the evening thanks to cool use of the video and some awesome lights as well. It had been great last time around but this rendition was just on another level.
The next classic was True Faith and this is the point where I should say that each song sounded like a stone cold anthem yet due to their abstract titles it can prove hard to remember which is which without hearing a snippet to remind myself. One which stood out though was 586 which I recall as being exceptionally electronic and it went down very well indeed. It was crazy to think that New Order had headlined festivals in their heyday and now could barely sell out this shithole venue in a city of a million people but the band had clearly reformed for the right reasons and were determined to give us a top-notch set full of hits rather than fobbing us off with endless songs from a latest album, which as far as I can gather wasn't even on the agenda for the guys. This was definitely a proper full-on show though rather than being an oldies concert in a dull seated venue and if the band continue in this vein even in the current climate it's hard to imagine them not headlining medium-sized arenas again presuming that's what they want to do. Pretty much the only thing that let them down was the terrible Academy sound quality and it would have been nice if all the members were onboard, but I was starting to get rather excited by the proposition of their Hyde Park show by now, which seemingly could only be let down by bad weather or a lame crowd reaction. The amazing revelation was that the band had managed to keep up such an admirable momentum despite saving all the big guns for a grand finale, and the last of the medium-sized hits was delivered with The Perfect Kiss. Now we were into the business end of the show.
The crowd didn't go as apeshite as I'd expected but presumably they were just overcome to hear Blue Monday before the encore and by the fact that the sound quality had even started to improve as well! Bernard sat out the classic introduction by the side of the stage - as presumably he has heard more times than is healthy - but he delivered the song enthusiastically when it could so easily have been cut down to the bone and tossed off grudgingly to the crowd. By now everyone was very much paying attention and Temptation was greeted with a more crazed reaction, which is especially nice considering it's the better song. It was as manic as it could be without a moshpit developing but presumably moshing was taking place further forwards and the band made us wait before doing the "oh you've got green eyes" bit, by which time everyone had screamed it to them several times already. Bad Lieutenant had also played it but to hear it in front of a proper New Order crowd really rammed home just what a classic and well-regarded song this is, and it proved an excellent way to end the main set. I had high hopes for the encore but was right in guessing that they wouldn't do Shellshock or World In Motion, which is tragic as either would go down a storm. Also Jetstream would have been nice but I was especially keen to hear Transmission as I'd already heard The Other Joy Division Tune last time around, although sadly this wish didn't come true. Annoyingly though they'd played Transmission in Manchester two nights before this and in Edinburgh a week later!
I suppose there really was only one way they could end the set and it was with Love Will Tear Us Apart, which was the sole Joy Division cut represented tonight and it was beautifully synthed up so it slotted in rather nicely with the other songs. Also Bernard does an excellent job in singing it and I'll never understand anyone criticising his voice when he has such a clear, classic sound. It was a bit of a blow that they'd finished ten minutes before the 11pm curfew with just a one song encore but the standard of the show had been so high that it would be a bit mean to criticise and everyone was so excited to hear Love Will Tear Us Apart and to sing it back I doubt anybody left unhappy. It took me ages to get up the steps of the venue and outside where there were guys selling dodgy t-shirts, although I do seem to have lost all interest in merchandise in my old age. I headed back to my hotel room and wrote up some notes before going to bed at 11:30pm. It was lovely to not have to make a long journey home and getting to start an hour later on Monday was a nice bonus too, although as it turned out I had an utterly wretched week at work to follow this show. It's shocking that we live in a world where legendary bands such as New Order aren't headlining arenas, but the people of Birmingham have missed out on a top quality reunion tour here and shame on them for it!
Mark: 8.0/10
New Order
Support
Jake Evans
DJ Tintin
Where
Birmingham Ballroom
When
29th April 2012
Price
£35.00
Who with
No-one
Position
In the middle
Comments
I can't even remember when I got into New Order so I can only presume that I just went out and purchased their greatest hits album one day in the confidence that I'd end up liking it, or maybe it was in a 2 for £10 offer. It's the same with Joy Division as I have no recollection of buying their greatest hits either yet somehow I became a fan. Eventually the more I heard the New Order songs the more I liked them and I felt some regret that they had split up and I'd seemingly missed my chance to watch them play live. I thought that watching Bad Lieutenant supporting the Pet Shop Boys would be the closest I'd get and they were a delight as their set was liberally sprinkled with New Order classics topped with the divine cherry that is Love Will Tear Us Apart! In fact I'd barely even noticed that they'd reformed - sneakily just before The Stone Roses did - but as soon as I learned that they were touring there was little doubt that I'd be seeing them. 2012 was certainly proving to be the year of Manchester thanks to The Stone Roses reunion - supported by Beady Eye playing Oasis songs - and also the reformation of Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets! Astonishingly the tickets for both Happy Mondays supported by Inspiral Carpets and the New Order show went on sale within an hour of each other on the same exciting day. Strangely the Birmingham show wasn't advertised properly like the other dates and I'd originally thought I'd need to book time off work to head up to see them playing in Manchester. As it was just before I decided it may be a good idea to be more careful with my money I happily booked a hotel for this show and also for Happy Mondays. My rationale for this was also that I could see a bit more of Birmingham and not have to spend a fortune on taxis to get home from this Sunday night show, and the hotel was rather cheap too, although less so for the Happy Mondays which was on a busier Saturday evening.
Setlist
Elegia
Crystal
Regret
Ceremony
Age Of Consent
Love Vigilantes
Krafty
Round And Round
Bizarre Love Triangle
True Faith
586
The Perfect Kiss
Blue Monday
Temptation
Love Will Tear Us Apart
