What is the most important rock concert ever? You'd have to give strong consideration like Woodstock or Live Aid. Bod Dylan going electric at Newport in 1965 would have its supporters. A whole host of Beatles concerts, such as their last concert on the Apple Studios rooftop would have strong claims.
Of all of the possible contenders, the concert with the smallest audience would almost certainly be the Sex Pistols concert Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall on 4 June 1976. So why is this concert, that only about 35-40 people attended, so important? Well it was about how many attended but who attended. The concert was organised by Pete Shelley & Howard Devoto from the Buzzcocks. Mark E Smith who formed the Fall was there. Martin Hannet (the great producer) and Tony Wilson (the founder of Factory Records) claimed to be there, although the journalist Paul Morley who was definitely there, states that Wilson definitely wasn't; Mick Hucknall (probably not helping the cause too much); Steven Morrissey who of course went onto to be in the Smiths and then have a great solo career; and the young men who would go on to form Warsaw who would evolve into Joy Division who would later form the basis of New Order were there.
The effect that these people on music was immense. And they helped turn Manchester into rock music powerhouse. Apart from the people already mentioned, Manchester went onto produce the Chemical Brothers, John Cooper Clarke, the Happy Mondays, the Inspiral Carpets, James, Oasis, the Stone Roses and the Verve among others. What a list of talent.
Last year for Vivid, the main musical act who came out was Morrissey. This year it was New Order. Two great acts from Manchester (I'm going to avoid the whole Manchester vs Greater Manchester debate). Both who were at the famous Sex Pistols concert. And two acts who are different in so many ways.
You have the great wordsmith in Morrissey. The man who became the beacon for so many unhappy adolescents. The man who so easily mixed poignancy and humour.
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
I went to London and I
I booked myself in at the Y... W.C.A. I said: "I like it here - can I stay?
I like it here - can I stay?
And do you have a vacancy For a back-scrubber?"
(Half A Person - The Smiths)
Beware, I bear more grudges than lonely high court judges
(The More you Ignore me the Closer I Get - Morrissey)
Where Hector was the first of the gang
With a gun in his hand
And the first to do time
The first of the gang to die
Such a silly boy
And the first to do time
The first of the gang to die
Such a silly boy
(First of the Gang to Die - Morrissey)
There's no doubt that Ian Curtis created some beautifully poignant songs for Joy Division. Listening to them now they seem like a cry for help, that was tragically ignored. Indeed we now know that the rest of the band didn't what Ian was singing about.
Mother I tried please believe me,
I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through,
I'm ashamed of the person I am
(Isolation - Joy Division)
When New Order were formed from the ashes of Joy Division, Bernard Sumner ended up taking up the song writing duties. And it always seemed such a struggle for him. I read an interview years ago with him, where he said that the songs came from vibes he got from New Order fans. However despite the lead lead song writer seeming to find the task of creating lyrics very difficult, they have created some beautiful songs like Temptation, Perfect Kiss, Love Vigilantes etc.
Their sounds were very different. Morrissey shot to fame with the Smiths, where his great lyrics were matched with the music crafted by Johnny Marr. The songs were driven by Marr's great guitar work. On the other hand that great sound that New Order so often created either came from electronics or from Peter Hook's bass (apparently Bernard once complained about how Hookie's bass solos where ruining his songs, when for a lot of New Order fans it was Hookie's presence that gave the songs that something special). Blue Monday is probably the best example of this (the 1988 version, because I love the film clip).
Morrissey famously wanted to be a writer for NME and loved interviews. On the other hand New Order were, in their early years at least, a notoriously difficult band to interview as they said so little.
And while New Order embraced dance music and it was their success that fueled the money that allowed Factory Records to open up the Hacienda, the great Manchester nightclub, it was a night at the Hacienda that convinced Morrissey not to sign with Factory.
Anyway I'm big fan of both. I'd rate New Order as my favourite band (ahead of the Beatles, the Kinks and The The). And Morrissey (I'll include his Smiths stuff in that) would rate only behind David Bowie as my favourite solo act. I was really looking forward to both concerts. However the Morrissey concert was awful.
New Order on the other hand were fantastic. Whereas the Morrissey setlist was dreadful, the New Order setlist was tremendous. There was an understandable bias to their new album (7 of their 18 songs were from last years Music Complete). However it was a pretty good album with one standout track in Tutti Frutti (if you click on just one link in this, make it this one). Also the album was a very dance orientated and with the rest of the setlist it made for a great night. For at least half of the concert, almost everybody was out of their chair and was dancing away. It wasn't quite a night at the Hacienda, but it was still something quite special.
And it was a great mix of old and new .Of the other 11 songs , 6 came from 1980-1984; 3 from 1985-1989; and 2 from the 2000's.
The band also played around with the songs a bit. The versions of Temptation and True Faith were tremendous, whereas 1963, unfortunately, didn't quite come off (but that was a very minor complaint in what was a great night).
We got great high energy set that mixed new with some classic old songs. Maybe not the greatest concert ever, but a great night from a great band.
