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Review of Adelaide AU Concert Friday, Feb 01 2002|
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Webmaster Heavyweight |
This is a review i got from Brad Edwards via Ceremony List
************************************************* This being the second to last gig on New Order's OZ tour, the road crew seemed to be in a particularly jovial mood. As silverchair frogstomped through their set on the adjacent stage, the crew were fooling around, laughing, kicking each other in the arse, taking photos of each other: these guys obviously enjoy their work. That guy who looks eerily like Hooky circa 1985 seems to like standing front of stage strumming Barney's guitar (more on that later) to the point where you wonder what is going on inside his mind exactly. While the tatooed Hulk Hogan like figure (is his nickname Sarge?) lurks around stage, hands-in-pocket, doing bugger-all except look faintly menacing. But best of all was seeing Gillian, with female friend and 2 kiddies, who came out from the back to sneak a peak. She waved to us which was very cool - she looked so young I couldn't believe it. I took some snaps - she probably thought I was some weird stalker - which I will post when they are developed (and if they worked out). With one major exception, the set was pretty much surprise-free. A huge, enthusiastic crowd went ballistic as the boys graced the stage. Barney said how happy he was to be back in Australia, and especially Adelaide. When the Crystal did its job, Transmission was stunning. Regret was solid with only a couple of bum notes from Hooky, who seemed to be battling to control his instrument (ooh err!) due to the sweat caused by the balmy conditions. No Love Vigilantes tonight. Instead we got Ceremony (!), which I did not expect but fully appreciated. Never thought I'd hear that live and they did a great job, despite Barney warning us that he may have forgotten how to play it. With 2 lyrics monitors in front of him, he would have no excuses for messing up the lyrics. Mind you if they broke down, he could always look at the front row! 60 MPH, a bit flatter than in Sydney, followed and then came Atmosphere, which reversed the dire version played in Sydney . This time out Hooky was spot on, Barney kept the whooping to a minimum, leading to a genuinely moving (as it should be) experience, especially for all the lads around me with Joy Division shirts on. Is there not a more splendid site than a balding 18 stone gorilla who looks as if he would rip your head off and shit in your neck without a moment's notice, openly weeping and blubbing like a baby? I thought not. Close Range was ugly, the intro a muddy mess, taking about 2 minutes to become recognisable. For mine, this is not one of New Order's stongest and I don't know why they persist. It's not as if I mind them playing stuff off their new record either - in fact, I'd like to hear a lot more - but when you consider their catalogue, surely there are better options. Maybe it sounded shit because Barney was having problems with his guitars. It seemed like he had either been given the wrong one or it had been set up incorrectly because it was around about now I saw a side of Barney I didn't Remember in my Sydney review I wrote that Barney got stuck into the new fella for messing around with the sequencer? Well, that was nothing ompared to the tongue-lashing the guitar tech got for making some mistake that Barney obviously didn't appreciate. He told him to come and take this guitar and put it back(expletives added) in its case. But to make him Barney talked about growing older, saying "I've become a bit of a creep really", before adding, "Still, I guess that's better than being a lot of a creep!" On with the show. Next came BLT. The programmed drums still sounded cod-ordinary but it was still an impressive take. Whereas True Faith seemed tired and lacklustre in Sydney, tonight it was blistering, even though Hooky Ok, you know what comes next. Temptation (a cracker!), LWTUA (soaring!) and Blue Monday (actually half decent for once - even Barney seemed to be enjoying it). No big surprises, but giving the crowd what they wanted. This being my second NO show, it was great to be able to watch them closely and appreciate how they work, rather than simply gape in awe. I even made a point of watching the new guy (yes, I know he has a name!) who was really getting into it and it has to be said, actually improves their sound. So if anyone from the band is reading this, thanks for making a great new album, thanks for coming to Australia (and especially little old Adelaide!) - hopefully not for the last time -and may you never become the flawless, note perfect, slickly professional commodity that so many 'reunion' bands seem to become. |
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5th Man Board
5th Man Board
Fan Reviews
Review of Adelaide AU Concert Friday, Feb 01 2002
