New Order 'Temptation' Live 1981

As a companion to today's earlier post marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Ian Curtis, here's a track that shows New Order beginning to emerge from the shadow, and the direction they were heading in. Temptation, arguably their greatest song, in an stunning early live version with different lyrics played at the Ukrainian National Home in New York on the 19th of November 1981. You can get the whole gig on DVD (Taras Shevchenko), featuring the exact moment when rock met dance and dance won (Everything's Gone Green). The above photo is from the gig. The DVD comes with their 1998 Reading Festival appearence and the two gigs couldn't be more different- in New York they seem to be playing for themselves, barely acknowledging the audience or each other, grappling with technology and sound, and the aftermath of Joy Division. 1998 is a virtual greatest hits set, on a sunny day in front of a massive festival audience, the band clearly having a great time. Bernard screams 'Rock the fuckin' house' in the middle of one song. Both performances are great, but very different.

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