A lot of our friends from the College Radio scene are hitting NYC this week for the annual CMJ Marathon and are kindly sending us some excellent reviews of what’s happening on the ground for this week’s Required Listening. CMJ is always a look into the future of music so hop into the DeLorean which in this post is literally going back to a band from the past.
By Morgan Luther, KUOM Radio K Promotions Manager and Clashed Attitudes co-host from Minneapolis, MN.
Despite there being hundreds of shows for CMJ occurring – both official and unofficial (and many free)– I decided to skip to the World’s Greatest Ballroom, the Roseland on W. 52nd to see one of the most influential British bands of all time, New Order. The band recently reunited (replacing bassist Peter Hook who left in 2007 with Tom Chapman), and just played their fifth out of eight stops on their 2012 North American tour – the first time they have been to stateside in seven years.
New Order (consisting of Bernard Sumner on guitar and vocals, Stephen Morris on drums, Gillian Gilbert on guitar and keys, Phil Cunningham also on keys and guitar, and Tom Chapman on bass) started out with “Elegia,” and gradually picked up the tempo with tracks such as “Age of Consent” and “Bizarre Love Triangle” to a more dance-able show (to which the audience seemed to respond best to) and reaching the apex with “Blue Monday” and “Temptation.” The band marched back for an encore, and Bernard Sumner stated, “it would be discourteous to end the set without playing a Joy Division song.” Thus, they ended with Joy Division (semi-?) covers of “Atmosphere” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” It was a very emotional night; many crowd members were literally in tears in the midst of a frantic light show. Overall, Tom Chapman played a wonderful bass – however some of the more stylistic riffs of Peter Hook, such as on “Age of Consent,” seemed a bit more clouded than one may have hoped.
New Order has three more stops on this tour, tonight again at the Roseland Ballroom, the 21st at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, and the 23rd at Toronto’s Sony Centre. Face value tickets for these shows are all long sold-out, but if you are a fan and happen to come by an opportunity to see them – do it. They may not be back for some time.
Setlist:
1. Elegia
2. Crystal
3. Ceremony
4. Age of Consent
5. Love Vigilantes
6. Here to Stay
7. Your Silent Face
8. 1963
9. Close Range
10. Bizarre Love Triangle
11. 5 8 6
12. True Faith
13. The Perfect Kiss
14. Blue Monday
15. Temptation
Encore:
1. Atmosphere (Joy Division)
2. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
