New Order @ Apollo14/11/05 - Lawrence Poole für
manchesteronline.co.uk THERE are good weeks and there are great ones. For one of Manchester’s most esteemed outfits, this definitely falls into the latter category.
On top of this triumphant first homecoming show in over three years; the group will join heavyweight luminaries such as Pink Floyd, The Who and The Kinks into the UK Music Hall Of Fame on Wednesday.
And on last night’s evidence, New Order can punch their weight in any company.
Timed to coincide with their new Singles compilation, a fervent sold out crowd got exactly what they clamoured for - a greatest hits set, which spanned their near 30-year career as both New Order and trailblazing Joy Division.
Joy Division composition Ceremony got proceedings underway. Delivered with crackling intensity and Barney's trademark deadpan vocal, it acted as a perfect marker for what was to come.
With bassist Peter Hook putting in a signature tour-de-force display - despite looking he would be more at home propping up a bar in an Alice Springs hostelry - and full-time axeman Phil Cunningham beefing up the guitar parts, it proved an assault on the senses that would have made Motörhead’s ears ring.
Krafty The utterly infectious trio of Crystal, Regret and recent single Krafty whipped the masses into a euphoric state, which didn’t subside until Hooky took a well-earned breather during a relaxed rendition of the new album’s title track, Waiting For The Sirens’ Call.
Taking it down a peg or two proved to be a wise decision as well, bearing in mind the visceral onslaught that was to follow.
With Stephen Morris setting a dynamic pace on drums, the layered build up to True Faith was one any superstar DJ would have been proud of as the crowd were again stirred for a sublime take on Temptation - made all the more effective thanks to searing ice white flashes and blades of red strobe lights.
Sumner himself soon shed his inhibitions too, abandoning his position centre stage to give us his trademark rendition of a drunken uncle at a wedding.
Anthem And while the newer tracks didn’t hit home as hard as the celebrated classics, by the time the city’s unofficial anthem Love Will Tear Us Apart and the incessant electro standard Blue Monday were unleashed, a lot of the crowd seemed understandably spent so a lower key Joy Division medley proved a wise encore.
At the start of the set Sumner has demanded the Manchester public must outdo a recent Brixton Academy gathering, I think he got his wish.
And while they may not seek the fame they are being bestowed with, they certainly deserve it.
