New Order are a British musical institution.
You will know their music. It’s more than likely that you’ll be a fan of it, too; after all, they are responsible for some of the most indisputably brilliant indie-pop songs of the synth-pop era. So, when we heard that they’d be hitting Bristol‘s Harbourside for a special outdoor performance, it’s safe to say that we were rather hyped.
Now, dear reader, we’re not going to say that it was a wholly unenjoyable experience.
The evening, as a whole, had numerous redeeming features. But, as far as their live performance goes… Well, we’re not ones to focus on the negatives, so we’re just going to list everything we liked about New Order‘s performance on that fateful Bristolian night.
The venue was just lovely.
We mean, look at it. Isn’t it beautiful? There are boats and everything. Marvellous.
The instrumentation was top-notch.
The guitars, keyboards, synths and drum kits/pads/assorted percussion bits were all perfectly in tune and entirely in time with each other. How lovely.
The light show was stellar.
Okay, so this was seriously cool. The band’s live show was accompanied by a plethora of lasers, flashing lights, and video screens displaying tastefully grainy footage of foreign lands, celestial bodies, and Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis at various points as the night wore on. As the night grew darker, the overall effect got more impressive; and, by the end of the show, we were able to consider ourselves fully-fledged fans of whoever’s in charge of putting together a New Order light show.
The set-list was unparalleled.
All of #TheHits, a handful of their admittedly brilliant new songs, and a smattering of Joy Division classics thrown in for good measure? Absolutely no Regret(s) here.