Cuttings

UPDATED To include a better scan of the review, and my photocopy of the original ticket (which I have a feeling was light blue) Another trip out of the South East to see New Order. Like Tiffany's, the Tower Ballroom  is no more, closing in 2017. It had been the location of a  classic New Order gig less than two years previously, and had a few songs in common too. Back in 1984 (Monday March 25 in fact) when I rang to get tickets for New Order, they didn't even take cheques - I had to pay by postal order, which is like something out of Billy Bunter! The door ticket was not a glorious thing, but I held on to it nonetheless.... And this is a copy of my original, secured by postal order... My mates and I drove up from South Essex, and got to the Tower, right next to the Edgbaston reservoir, about 6.30 (ridiculously early).  Waiting outside, we heard both Age of Consent and Love Will Tear Us Apart being soundchecked, and a little later were let in, with the doors promptly...

Tiffany's, no longer around , was at the end of the Merrion Shopping Centre in Leeds city centre. Not a particularly auspicious location, but was the venue for one of my favourite New Order gigs that was also a massive step up from my previous show in Margate. It was a bitterly cold night, with a fair bit of snow around too. Not so good for the 3½ mile walk back to Armley afterwards. In retrospect, I see that Happy Mondays were the support, though I didn't realise that at the time and it seems I wasn't too impressed by them either (" .. a bit derivative "). There's a video of the show, although the one I found on YouTube  is longer than the copy I have (some of the comments say similar). The tape bootleg is of very good quality, which probably adds to being able to listen back to it compared to the afore-mentioned Margate. By now, the songs that had been in experimental stages at earlier shows were now fully formed, but of course the names were still a ...

My second New Order gig was quite a contrast from the first . It formed part of a small tour that was announced in the music press: Ticket below, which was also the basis of the poster I have with all of the tour dates. Support, as they were at RFH, were Life . As I said before, they should have been much bigger! This gig in Margate was the only time New Order have ever played in Kent. It's also the easternmost town they've played in the UK. They didn't grace it with their longest ever set though. The show consisted of only 9 songs: Set and song timings Blue Monday 7:49 Thieves Like Us 3:28 Dreams Never End 3:09 Your Silent Face 5:35 Senses 4:48 Chosen Time 3:50 The Village 4:32 5-8-6 6:12 Temptation 7:20 Blue Monday suffered from a false start that lasted about 15 seconds. Before it recommenced, Barney announced " I'd like to dedicate the next song to Elvis Presley, who I base my entire vocal style on and who I t...

My first New Order gig, and only my third gig ever, was the Music for Miners Benefit on Monday 14 May 1984 at the Royal Festival Hall. In those pre internet times, hearing of gigs was in the music press - I saw the ad in the NME only a few days before on May 3rd, and had to ring the box office to see if tickets were available by post. They duly arrived on the 9th (yes, I kept a diary in those days). Tickets were a princely sum of £5, which according to  https://inflation.iamkate.com/ equates to only just over £17 now. Pretty good value! Although no official New Order merchandise was available at the RFH (times change...), I did manage to get a copy of Rorschach Testing there. I was also given a Music for Miners badge, which I still have (but had all but forgotten). First up were Life . I saw them supporting New Order subsequently to this as well, and seeing as their entire Factory output consisted of fewer than half a dozen songs, I wonder whether tapes exist of any of t...