If anyone out there noticed an unusual sogginess in the midtown area this morning, we can explain. A little lingering dampness often tends to be the inevitable result of a thousand squealing hipsters simultaneously wetting themselves when New Order decides to play “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Yes, they played it, and it was awesome.
We have to say that we loved last night’s concert at Hammerstein, but bear in mind we’ve been rocking back and forth under our desks all week whispering “They’re coming, They’re Coming!” and therefore are far from objective. We’ve even forgiven them for once willingly using the lyrics "Here comes love/ It's like honey/ You can’t buy/ It with money." 'Nough Said.
The place was filled to capacity with a fairly diverse crowd, varying from 18 year old to 40 year old fans carrying confused offspring far younger than "Republic." It wasn’t quite as ridiculously great as last year’s Summerstage mix of black clad Yeah Yeah Yeah fans and elderly potato-waving Devo followers, but it was still a pretty good mix. More importantly, everyone was clearly very excited and not afraid to show it.
The band also more than matched the audience for energy, which is pretty damn good for a band currently marking the 25th anniversary of the end of its first incarnation as Joy Division. They also managed to strike a good balance in their playlist between songs off their newest CD (which we’re a little "meh" on ourselves) and the older classics the audience was pushing to hear.
In the end they played probably about 3 or 4 of their newest songs, including “Jetstream” which guest starred the insanely fierce Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters, as well as our favorites “Regret,” “Bizarre Love Triangle,” “True Faith,” and “Temptation” which even came with green, blue, and grey lights to match the lyrics.
They also performed a few more Joy Division songs, including “Radio Transmission” and “She’s Lost Control,” as a tribute to the original vocalist Ian Curtis, who killed himself 25 years ago.
By the time they finally played their biggest hit, “Blue Monday,” as the last encore, we were already whipped into a giddy teenage frenzy. Then when they somehow managed to mix in some of Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” something broke inside our little over-excited brains. We’re not sure yet if it was a good break or a bad break, but it we’ve definitely changed inside.
Overall, it was all we were hoping it would be and we really hope this turns into a full-fledged tour. Our only complaint was that the sound balance seemed off, so the instrumentals often overwhelmed the vocals. Oh, and if Ana Matronic is going to be singing a song entitled “Jetstream” she needs to be wearing a stewardess costume. It's just the way it is.
Was anyone else there? Did anyone make it to the after party at Hiro? Do you think we have worse music taste than your average 13 year old girl? Comment!
[Photos from last night can be seen at: flickr/neworder, and read more at One Louder]
