One of the free cable channels showed a New Order documentary on Saturday night followed by a gig from 2006 at Glasgow Barrowlands. The gig was pretty good, the band playing a fairly frenetic, guitar-led set (Hooky was still on the bass and Gillian yet to rejoin). Hooky's bass runs through Regret were standing out and Bernard was on good form. In the middle they played These Days, a song Bernard said afterwards they'd only played live a few times.
It's become a bit of a cliche to say that groups in the 1970s and 80s had B-sides that were as good as A-sides. There are bands I can think of from the recent past who have released multiple albums and headlined festivals who have never got anywhere near some of those B-sides. These Days is one of those B-sides, the flipside to Love Will Tear Us Apart, 3 minutes and 24 seconds of post-punk urgency and anxiety. From the choppy opening and Stephen's busy drumming to Ian's existential dread, everything processed and syncopated by Hannett. New Order's move to the dancefloor is glimpsed in These Days and in Ian's lyrics so is the end of Joy Division.
These Days
Spot on x
ReplyDeleteCertainly no argument from me! I consider the single a double A side, in the same way I think of NO's Ceremony/In A Lonely Place.
ReplyDeleteWell said, my good man.
ReplyDeletei could be wrong....but I'm sure the gig was from the Carling Academy and not the Barrowlands. I certainly remember seeing them at the former in 2006 and it being filmed over two successive nights.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right JC.
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