11 March 2025 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi – pictures by Bec Harbour
Well, after cancellations of just about everything since last Wednesday and a male cyclone named Alfred that took its time deciding if it would make landfall, it was Tuesday almost a week later. The rain had eased and Brisbane decided to come out an celebrate in style with New Order at Riverstage.
It was humid, it looked like there was going to be another storm, the trains were running intermittently, the ferries were cancelled, the carpark was not open due to flooding, roads were closed, parts of the city were still no-go zones with trees down and debris everywhere and it was hard to get to the gig: but with some effort an almost full house of committed New Order fans arrived at Riverstage and decided that some musical relief was needed after a week stuck in cyclone lockdown.
The evening commenced with DJ music and sunset dance tunes from Manchester’s DJ TinTin. He pumped out music incessantly prior to the main act which, depending on your bent, was either a blessing or a curse.
There was another DJ set from Juno Mamba (aka Vinci Javier) a Filipino-Australian musician. It was a very different set and more of audio-visual performance of electronica. The rich and progressive electronic dance music was being created live on stage. He captivated the crowd with his distinctive, emotive and melodic EDM arrangements.
New Order – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
As the lights went down, the fog machines were ramped up. The crowd had a moment to consider the origins of New Order. The Manchester rock band was formed in 1980 by the members of Joy Division, following the death of lead vocalist Ian Curtis. Under a new name, the remaining musicians pioneered a sonic fusion of post-punk, electronic, and dance music, personifying the sounds of the 1980s. It was certainly front and centre within New Order’s 19 song setlist with four songs covered from their former time as Joy Division performed.
The venue was packed and jostled with mainly middle-aged people and their enthusiasm – although there were a quite a few late-teens and 20-somethings in the crowd which made me happy. New Order’s performance started with vision of divers on the LED backscreen in slow motion, backed by the soundtrack of Wagner’s Das Rheingold that signalled the commencement of New Order’s set, as the band (Bernard Sumner, Phil Cunningham, Tom Chapman, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris) strolled onto to stage and launched into the first song – the wonderful ‘Transmission’ by Joy Division.
New Order – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
The band blasted through the next four songs without taking a breath: ‘Crystal’, ‘Ceremony’, the lush and beautiful ‘Age of Consent’ and Joy Division song ‘Isolation’ were delivered in rapid fire. Bernard Sumner addressed the crowd and said he was thankful that “you came out to forget the cyclone for a while”. He also stated that “rain seems to be following us on our tour around Australia” and that “we are glad to be back in Queensland – first time since the 80s. Back then we couldn’t get to our own sound check because we were wearing shorts. I can see the place has changed”.
New Order, then, played an older song from their 1989 album Technique, the song is ‘Love Less’. It has not been performed live since the year of its release. It was great to hear it. Then, ‘Player in the League’, ‘Your Silent Face’ and the fabulous and timely ‘State of the Nation’ were performed. For a song written in the early 1980s – it was very prescient.
Then, a newer song from 2020 ‘Be A Rebel’ gave guitarists Bernard Sumner playing his cherry red Gibson SG and Phil Cunningham playing his red Gibson ES-335 a chance to guitar-duel it out. As this song ended, the beats of ‘Sub-Culture’ from the terrific 1985 album Low Life blasted out.
New Order – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Visually, the concert was smooth and not overdone. The large LED screen above the stage displayed shifting graphics of New Order’s classic digital art infusion of abstractness and geometric waveforms alongside archival footage. Each paid homage and matched the mood of each song. The light show created striking moments with synchronized laser arrays. The appearance of a centrepiece disco ball added to the spectacle, scattering beams of light across Riverstage and delivered the nostalgic dance-floor energy.
At the end of ‘Sub-Culture’, the crowd was almost at boiling point with dancing and singing. Stephen Morris on drums pounded out a solid beat, as Bernard Sumner urged the crowd to clap along while Gillian Gilbert hung on a single note, building the sonic drama before kicking into the iconic ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ that a large part of the crowd had been waiting for and many of them had come to hear.
The crowd were then treated to ‘Vanishing Point’, the fabulous pulsating ‘Plastic’ and then the stars of the set were delivered. The absolutely wonderful ‘True Faith’ and then the opening bassline riff of ‘Blue Monday’ played and the crowd at Riverstage went off and lost their shit! The crowd were dancing and singing along in absolute joy. Then, New Order finished the regulation set with the great song ‘Temptation’. Nostalgia is hinged to these last three tracks for me, which made it an undeniable crescendo to end their set with and had the crowd left baying for more.
New Order – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
The crowd and New Order played adult peek-a-boo as they said: “Goodnight and thanks for coming” as they left the stage. The crowd became indecisive on what chant should happen: “one more song” or “two more songs” and it all ended in confusion. By this point, New Order had come back onto the stage and played an encore of two Joy Division classics ‘Atmosphere’ and the amazing and hymn-like ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ which had everyone in the venue in a state of rapture, and for those of us old enough to remember Ian Curtis and his shocking death, it was tinged with sadness as well. What would he have thought about his music having such an impact after 45 years?
We also need to report to Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark’s (OMD) Andy McCluskey that Bernard Sumner’s dance moves were up to scratch. The challenge was thrown out at the OMD gig a few weeks ago when Andy McCluskey stated: “Let’s see New Order top that!”. I think I can call it a draw!
New Order have been pioneers with electronica but it has always been firmly wedded to organic music making. They have had to deal with many obstacles and personal losses, but they have always demonstrated flexibility and persistence in their creation of unique and now iconic music. It was just wonderful to hear all these amazing songs live. And, the fans left Riverstage happy and full of joy.
New Order are still a remarkable band and a pertinent musical force.
