Bernard Sumner, Tom Chapman, Gillian Gilbert
In my efforts to see bands that I should have seen years ago, this was one that I’ve been wanting to see for many years – since I first heard them in 1983 with the album “Power, Corruption & Lies”.
By 1985, the album “Low-Life” was released and New Order was not only a popular alternative band, but was getting tons of airplay with the song “The Pefect Kiss” “Blue Monday” was a non-album song that was also getting heavy airplay. I became a long time fan and wanted to see them live many times over the years. I never got into Joy Division, the band that New Order evolved from. Not that I didn’t like their music, but just wasted familiar with their songs, with the exception of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. Their short lived career was a heavy influence for many, but it was New Order that really made a serious amount of music over the years.
The Marquee
I don’t travel to shows that often, but this one was a must. My friend Jonny is a big fan and has seen them live a few times. He was going to be in Seattle for this show, so I made the trip happen. Friends Lindsey and Ingrid also were there, so it was awesome to share in my first New Order show with them.
This was also my first show at The Paramount. A grand theater and has years of history. The sound and acoustics were most excellent and even standing at the front of the stage for the entire show, the sound wasn’t muddled or dulled.
Set List
- Elegia
- Crystal
- Regret
- Singularity (new song)
- Ceremony
- Age of Consent
- Your Silent Face
- Californian Grass
- Bizarre Love Triangle
- 5 8 6
- Plastic (new song)
- True Faith
- The Perfect Kiss
- Blue Monday
- Temptation
- Transmission (Joy Division cover)
- Atmosphere (Joy Division cover)
- Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover)
Encore:
The band played just a few mins under 2 hours. As you can see from the set list above, they played a good number of songs, including the 3 Joy Division songs in the shows encore. “The Perfect Kiss” was very good live. Gillian on keyboards was great, even if she didn’t move much behind the Roland. Bernard was all over the stage as the lead singer and front man for the band. He played guitar, keyboards, synth and an melodica – a mouth-driven electronic keyboard. His vocal range was still pretty good, even though he’s approaching 60 years old.
Since I’ve never seen Peter Hook in concert, I didn’t have a chance to compare his bass to Tom Chapman’s bass lines. Tom’s been with the band for several years now, but worked as a guitar tech for the band for many years before. His bass lines were perfect on just about every song.
New songs were performed. “Singularity” and “Plastic” sounded great and the band is obviously synced together on these new songs. I wanted to hear “Love Vigilantes” and “1963” and even “Touched By The Hand of God” would have been cool to hear as well. Or maybe even “Shellshock” could have the packed Paramount Theater crowd of fans cheer loudly for familiar songs. Not this time. No complaints from the songs that were performed, that’s for sure.
So happy to have now seen New Order live and hope they continue to make new music. And one day again, I’ll see them live.