NO: 15 AUG 1984 The Mayfair Suite - Sunderland, England
Review (NME, Dave Massey):
BLUE WEDNESDAY IN SUNDERLAND
The foyer of the Mayfair Suite - a large grey box on concrete stilts just a few hundred yards away from two massive half-finished oil tankers on the banks of the Wear - could be that of a Mecca ballroom almost anywhere in Britain.
The Decor is the ultimate in sophisticated tack, bouncers roam the deep read carpets in dinner jackets and ties and the clientele are offered the opportunity to alternate pints of 'heavy' with hamburger supper at the food bar upstairs.
But tonight's crowd are not the kind that would usually frequent such a place. Tonight is the opening night of New Order's most extensive British 'tour' to date; eight concerts already announced with others being added as the Smiths Of Sheffield transit hurtles south towars such rock kernels as Margate, Chippenham and Gloucester.
With over 1,000 tickets sold in advance and a couple of hundred on the dour the venue is comfortably full if not exactly buzzing with tense anticipation. The fans arrive in ones and twos, the dress casual without the capital C. The hardcore element are identified not by black leather or green canvas, but by the portable cassette recorders tucked surreptitiously under the arm.
Debbie, 15, from Hartlepool is there "just to say I've been" and also in the hope that more bands will visit the town if this concert is well supported. Her friend Sharon is less enthusiastic: "I think they're a bunch of miserable bastards, but I'd go and see any band that play in Sunderland on a Wednesday night. We haven't had anyone here since Musical Youth."
The couple in identical Wayfarer shades (in a place _this_ dark?) are more partisan, being committed fans who have travelled up from Teeside. He sees the whole thing as a carry-on from Joy Division. She likes the lyrics and the "depressing" sound: "The whole legend that surrounds them obviously has a lot to do with their appeal, and the death of Ian Curtis just perpetuated the myth. But we've just come for the music."
Joanne, 20, came "because I like seeing new bands and I heard this lot on the radio and they sounded good." Keith 22, thinks that 45-minute, non-encore sets are disrespectful to the audience. His friend John, 19, brings up the supposedly fascist undertones of the band name only to add that he thinks any such allegations are totally unfounded.
Barry, 23, has been following the group since JD days and admits slight disappointment at the music they are making now: "I'm not really that heavily into the dance stuff. They also seem to be more poppy now, but they're still good musicians. They're still one of the few groups worth bothering about. They keep on the outside of things, so you're always wondering what they're really about and the only way to do that is really through the lyrics. They appeal to me for what they do."
Richard, 24 and sporting a mop of unruly blond hair, is more succinct: "They're a heavy metal band who can't play...but they're a good heavy metal band that can't play."
In the event, Richard is wrong. New Order have played some truly leaden, stuttering messes of live sets in their time, but when they are at their best there are few to touch them. They possess a muscularity that is almost awesome but marry it to a textural and emotional range that still cajoles and suprises their audience.
They open with a newish song that should be the next single. Having only heard it once before at the recent Miners' Benefit in London, it could be called 'I Cannot Stand The Very Thought of You' although will probably turn up as 'Obsession' or something equally enigmatic. [of course, the author is referring to 'Face Up']. Whatever, it is simply superb, a perfects sequel to the explosive pop rush of 'Temptation'. This rhythm and dynamism is the closest rock music comes to a racing pulse.
The song sets the tone for the first part of the set, the group rushing through 'Thieves Like Us', a rigorous quartet of tracks from 'Power, Corruption, And Lies' and even 'ICB' of 'Movement'. This music is far from cold or clinical, its raw intensity and drive one of the few remaining live rock noises that is positively uplifting.
One of the slightly more dubious characteristics of a New Order set rears its head as the group move on to unrecorded pieces like 'You Know We Love You'(?), which at the moment consists of little more than the 'title' phrase repeated endlessly over a rather old-fashioned jam. New Order, by virtue of their naturalness, are not perfectionists and have long made a habit of dueting half-formed songs, It's an interesting ploy, but one that doesn't always come off. As singer Barney remarks in one of his limted audience-asides, "We're going to try a new song now, we might get it right..." [This song is 'Sooner Than You Think'].
And the new pieces are liberally splattered towards the end of the set, 'I Thought I Knew You' ['Sunrise'] being powerfully physical with more than a hint of an old JD bassline and 'Have Some Sun' ['The Perfect Kiss'] developing the polyrhythmic dance sensibility of the group's flirtation with New York hip hop.
And what of 'Blue Monday'? As the Mayfair breaks into a massed chorus of 'Howay The Lads' - the North-East's answer to Scotland's 'Here We Go, Here We Go' - Barney returns to the lip of the stange and informs them that the group no longer perform that particular opus.
"We're never going to play that song again. In fact we're sick to death of it!"
By now, the rest of the group are onstage, plugging in their instruments and beginning to tune up again. New Order no longer "don't do encores", of course, and within seconds are into the opening bars of 'Blue Monday'.
The joke was probably on Barney.
The original source for this writeup taken from Dreams Never End site. 128k MP3. Sound is fair to good, this is probably a few generations off the master judging from the amount of tape hiss.
I also have this on cassette, which is likely a dub of the following:
http://www.worldinmotion.net/neworder/discography/bootlegslp&cd/1/15-08-84.htm
This source misses The Village and 5-8-6.
Face Up
BS: "One two." (missing on the KL version)
Impressive bass synth notes on what I presume is the intro tape, right before Face Up starts, with an extended intro. About 1:20 in, the tape dynamics change (like somebody removed some EQ or took off Dolby B) and treble/hiss make their appearance. At 1:45 the bass kicks in.
The improv is like the other developmental versions, but features the couplet:
"Your hair was blue and your eyes were green/ Guess where we never have been"
Any additional help with lyrics transcription would be appreciated.
Nice bass/drum break at 4:15...as well as "for a long time now I have seen your face" downbeat bridge vocal.
Outro bass riff very different than the release version.
Thieves Like Us
BS: "Eddie, some more guitar from the side fill..."
Lots of chanting to the melody. This is a very abbreviated version, Bernard starts in during the opening keyboard riff.
A bit of a right channel drop at around 2:50 on the KL version.
BS: "Thanks very much". A bit of chatter by those around the taper.
Age Of Consent
Bernard is having problems with his mic and vocals...first lines cut off and singing "won't you please let me know..." in entirely too high a register. Classic!
Your Silent Face
There's some loud squeaking that might be a guitar-based noise. The fans chant along to the keyboard riff. Instead of "piss off", Barney says "fuck off".
Sooner Than You Think
We hear a tiny bit of strumming before the Order start in.
BS: "Hello everyone it's good to be here..." (the recorded version has "nice")
There are quite a few other differences with respect to the vocal phrasing in the first stanza.
The chorus is "You know that we love you/Yes we do" instead of "You know what I mean/Yes you do"
ICB
I think Barney says something about the lights, but it's hard to make out.
This song was to be played only two more times after Sunderland.
The Village
BS: "Right lads. We _think_ the sequencer's broke. We think we need the other one."
Cut at 3:13 on the KL source.
5-8-6
Fans call for Procession. Some dropouts at the start of this track on the KL version.
Sunrise
BS: "We're going to try a new song. We might get it right."
Whistles.
The Perfect Kiss
A couple of sequencer blips before the track starts up. Still a bit different than the released version, even if it's mostly been worked out.
Punters chant, "Here we go, Here we go..."
Blue Monday
BS: "We already played Blue Monday. We're never going to play it again! I'm sick to death of that song."
Hooky adds a bass bit he usually does before Confusion...of course the Order go ahead and play it anyway, to great fan delight.
AUD #4 - AAJ. Sony WM-R2 w/built-in mics. Talking at start pretty much establishes this as a unique recording. Unique fingerprint is crowd member near taper yelling "drum" right at the end of "Face Up".
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