| Here are the young men... |
[05 Sep 2004|05:15pm] |
Bridget and I sat down and watched the New Order 511 DVD last night. It was an interesting experience, being that Bridget is more into New Order than Joy Division, and I'm the exact opposite. The show is relatively recent (2002) and is almost equal part New Order classics as Joy Division.
We both got something out of it: Bridget for songs like "Regret", and for me it was watching Hooky tear up "She's Lost Control". And while Bridget was all teary remembering how much she loves the song, I felt an equally as emotional response watching the band do Joy Division songs (such as the latter).
One one level, New Order are the closest I will ever get to seeing Joy Division, and when they play old tracks like "She's Lost Control", there's still 3/4ths of the Joy Division playing. The only difference is that Ian Curtis isn't there.
Yeah, right!
You just can't say that! "The only difference". People will argue with me on this point, but Ian Curtis was Joy Division. The band fought hard at the time to stop people calling them "Ian Curtis and Joy Division", as they were frequently known. But that's the way it was. Aside from Ian Hooks' unusual and brilliant "lead bass" style, when you listen to Joy Division, you walk away remembering Ian Curtis. His deep, ominous vocals; his poetic, tragic, exposing lyrics; his intensity; his music.
New Order have done really well for themselves, and I'm still a fan of their stuff. I don't want to take anything away from what the rest of the boys have done with themselves, because New Order as a band have more "bankable" hits than Joy Division, and just as many classics. But New Order are really just Ian Curtis' backing band, who stepped from his shadow and made themselves something different. I felt uncomfortable watching them play Ian's old songs.
Which isn't to say New Order shouldn't play Joy Division songs. They're entitled to -- backing back or not, they helped write the songs. And as Barny says himself, Ian would probably want it that way. I certainly don't want the songs forgotten.
As an admirer or Ian Curtis, I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. Listening to someone else sing his words -- especially on a track as intimate as "She's Lost Control", which Ian clearly wrote from personal experience -- perhaps reminds us that Ian's not here to sing the songs himself. It reminds you of his absence, which in itself is a tragedy.
At the end of "She's Lost Control", Barny told the crowd "We haven't played that song for 20 years." Then added, "For obvious reasons."
...Oh, and off all the songs they played -- including all of New Order's hits like Blue Monday, Bizarre Love Triangle, etc., -- the crowd broke into the loudest cheer for Love Will Tear Us Apart.
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| More on New Order |
[05 Sep 2004|09:32pm] |
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...oh, and in the special feature section of the DVD they showed footage of Billy Corgan when we filled in on lead guitar throughout the Japan tour. It was sweet.
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_warsaw