It's a wonderful life: New Order Live at O2 Brixton Academy 16 November 2015

New Order has been steeped in controversy for years. They have an unusual and unprecedented following of a unique fan base comprising of fans of Joy Division who love the guitar riffs as well as core New Order fans who loved Hacienda and dance music. It is hard to explain the genre that New Order cover but most would say it’s electronic. It is the division of fans that often still raises the argument questioning if is it really New Order without Hooky? Peter Hook left the band years ago but some say it is not New Order without him. Others argue that Gillian left for years and they still played and recorded as New Order. Whatever your viewpoint on this – it is now irrelevant. New Order have just released a new album, Music Complete, to stunning reviews and are now following it up with a tour to promote it.

The Brixton Academy is not my favourite choice of venue as the security is so tight – however after the horrors of Paris last week I was grateful for the security. Bags were checked and people were patted down. It gave some reassurance. As this venue is an O2 venue, if you are an O2 customer, not only do you get first priority in the queue for you and another three people with you (and at Brixton they do let that queue go in first – unlike Shepherds Bush who let everyone in at the same time), but you also get a free bag if you buy a certain amount of merchandise and you can put your coat in the cloakroom for free. It is worth being an O2 customer and I took full advantage of all of this.

The support came in the form of a DJ and a band. DJ Tin Tin started getting the crowd going with his electronic beats as soon as the doors opened. This was followed up by The Horrors. The Horrors are a band that sound like a cross between Bauhaus and Placebo. Their music was really good but unfortunately the audience could not watch the show as the lighting was absolutely dreadful or should I say horrific? If blinding your audience and having no lights on the performers is what The Horrors were trying to achieve they did a fantastic job but for me and many in the audience I was like a rabbit in the headlights. New Order attract a more mature audience so The Horrors do need to tailor their performance to whom they are playing to if they ever want to make it out of the ‘support act’ category. But in no time it was time for the main event.

New Order came on to the background of a French Flag and Barney’s first words were ‘Viva La France’. This was reciprocated with a huge cheer from the audience. They opened with Singularity, a track from their new album and an instant hit with the crowd. To follow this with Ceremony – a New Order/Joy Division classic set the scene for one of the most enjoyable gigs they have ever performed. Ceremony is always a crowd pleaser and so the mosh pit begins. The set was heavily electronic and included 586, Age of Consent and Your Silent Face. As the tour was to promote the new album it also featured several tracks from Music Complete. There is not a bad track on Music Complete so it didn’t really matter which songs they chose but the choices were excellent, including Tutti Fruitti and People on the High Line featuring Elly Jackson from La Roux. Elle has the perfect voice to compliment Barney’s vocals on this dance number and the crowd were surging like a wave on the sea.

Waiting For The Sirens Call was a special mix that New Order has never played in the UK before. This version of sirens is most definitely dedicated to the electronic dance fans.

If a set list could get any better, they then played True Faith and Temptation. Neither had been expected but was hugely welcomed and the crowd couldn’t be more pleased and showed it the only way a gig crowd can – dancing and singing along.

It was already 10.45 so when Barney said they had time for no more – I believed him as it is normally the time of night most bands do finish for the night. But New Order was not finished – they came back with an encore to end all encores. Barney said ‘We would like to dedicate this part of our set, actually our whole set to the victims of the appalling and senseless violence in France last week.’ and with that launched into Joy Division’s Atmosphere and Love will tear us apart. With moving imagery including photos of Ian Curtis and ‘Forever Joy Division’ written on the screens – this gave the biggest cheer of the night.

And what did they finish on? Well it was a Monday night so how about a bit of Blue Monday?

So was it the best ever New Order gig? Gigs are very personal and each audience member has its own version of an ideal set list but this comes pretty close to pleasing most NO fans. And did we miss Hooky? Not a chance!

Set List

Singularity

Ceremony

Age of Consent

586

Restless

Lonesome tonight

Your silent face

Tutti Fruitti

People on the highline

Bizarre Love Triangle

Waiting for the Siren’s call