I'm still hyped up on New Order since finishing both seasons of the Transmissions podcast, so let's drag out this historic live recording from their headlining set at Reading 1993, the 10th in a series of albums that I haven't heard in well over twenty years, since I started this blog. I started this series in early 2020 as a 20th anniversary feature and absolutely intend to finish with it before the blog's 30th anniversary. You can easily find recordings of this show online, here is one of many links.
When New Order released "Republic" in 1993, Factory had collapsed, the Hacienda was soon to follow, and it was an open secret that the four of them couldn't stand working together anymore. Yet somehow, "Regret" was one of their best ever singles (on many days, I would argue it's their very best), their videos were all over MTV and MuchMusic, they filmed the priceless "Top of the Pops" segment live from the set of "Baywatch", appeared at the Montreux Jazz festival, and released the excellent "Neworderstory" documentary (ignore all complaints about the shoddy voiceover commentary, those opinions are wrong). Free of the flaming dumpster fire of financial ruin called Factory Records, and finally making decent coin on a properly run major label (London Records), in many ways it was a triumphant comeback for New Order.
And yet, they quietly only played fourteen shows in support of "Republic". This was the early 90's, when a band could pump out singles from a well-regarded album for well over a year, make good money from CD album sales (the single was mostly dead), have their videos in daily rotation and thus appear to be everywhere even though they were sitting at home or doing the occasional press tour. Hitting the road for long tours was not a necessity once you reached a certain level, and New Order had reached it. Despite their year-long success, heading into their set at Reading it was widely assumed that the band had reached the end of their rope and even could be breaking up. This time, the rumours were true. Following this show, the band fractured and essentially didn't see or speak to each other for years.
I saw the Toronto show earlier in the year -- the first and still the only time I have seen New Order live -- and it was a wonderful experience even if the show wasn't anything special. I bought a bootleg cassette of that show and enjoyed reliving the memories, as I tended to do with any recording from a show I had been to. Later in the year, I bought a cassette recording of the Reading show. The set list was identical, but the Reading gig was unquestionably different.
New Order were a famously ramshackle band in the 80's. They'd show up on stage trashed and write out the set list fifteen minutes before they went out. They dragged computers, sequencers, synths, and guitars on stage years before anyone knew how to make that setup work reliably day in and day out. Their concerts tended to be octane-filled dance rock parties or mistake-laden drunken embarrassments, there was mostly no inbetween. The Toronto show was actually fine, but a bit rote. By 1993, their concerts were slickly programmed and tough to mess up. Gone were the days of scribbling down the set list based on their mood in the dressing room. They were a professional band on a corporate-run label now. They were real celebrities. The Toronto show was held in a concert theatre in an amusement park. They brought the roller coasters to a standstill that day -- the park staff brought them in to skip the lines and have private rides (not a joke, this is true). They spent the day drinking and touring the park and the gig was fine, even though they didn't seem very invested in it.
Reading was more energetic, more mechanical (in the best sense -- no blips, losses of concentrations, or obvious mistakes) and more magical. One can sense that they knew it was their final gig as New Order and that they were determined to make it one of their best ever. Mostly though, you can sense the lack of tension. They'd been on the road playing the new songs and had worked out the kinks. They knew the setlist -- it was the same every night. They were relieved that the journey was finally over. Listening to this back in 1993, when I heard the pitch perfect harmonies in "World" I knew that I was hearing something special. Finally New Order had gotten their shit together, just in time for the end.
Well, not exactly. Rob Gretton coaxed them back together to play live again in 1998. The results were better than anyone could have expected. They still sounded relevant, necessary, and wholly unique. They started playing Joy Division songs every night, finally embracing that part of their history after publicly distancing themselves from it for the better part of two decades. Other than a few years of uncertainty following Peter Hook's messy departure in 2006, they've been a functioning band ever since. The post-1998 reunion period now spans a longer period than their "imperial" phase. And I don't think it's controversial to say that the post-1998 model, in all its iterations, is a much better live band than any version that came before it. They have a more maximalist, energetic presence now, the re-worked renditions of "Temptation" and "Bizarre Love Triangle" completely slay, post-reunion material like "Crystal" and "When The Sirens Call" come across like peak New Order, "Age Of Consent" and "Regret" are as vital as ever.
"Republic" was an uneven album with a number of down moments, and the live versions were identical to the recorded ones. It was the comedown record after the acid house-infused high of "Technique", it was not an album designed to electrify the world over a six month tour. But for what it is, this set at Reading was the absolute best they could have done it. It's still a fine recording, but it comes across as a bit lumpy and sterile due to the overly familiar programming and arranging that robs the music of any surprise or spontaneity.
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