Forever New Order, Forever Joy Divison

OK folks, so my rant this time around is about the ever popular NEW ORDER making their final stops for the reunion shows of 2012.  Much anticipation has surrounded their entire tour, selling out stops in many of their European venues and even their one Canadian stop of Toronto.  The event actually sold out so quickly they had to (of course) add a second date for those eager fans who didn't get a chance to grab a ticket for the first one.

Dates set for the first leg of the tour are:

10/5 - San Francisco, CA - Oakland Fox Theatre
10/7 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
10/10 - Denver, CO - Broomfield 1st Bank Center
10/12 - Dallas, TX - Palladium
10/18 - New York City, NY - Roseland
10/21 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
10/23 - Toronto, ON - Sony Center For Performing Arts (Click link for info)



Coming off a hiatus from 2007-2011, the 80's new wave group has always made great efforts both live and on their albums.  Adding classics to their set list such as Blue Monday, True Faith and others, long time fans will have themselves a good ol time listening to classic tracks in such a great venue (Son Centre For
Performing Arts).



So why "Forever New Order, Forever Joy Division"?

Well, as many of you that are familair with New Order know about the past history with previous work Joy Division.  In a nutshell, it goes as follows:

"On the eve of the band's first American tour in May 1980, Curtis committed suicide. Joy Division's posthumously released second album, Closer (1980), and the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" became the band's highest charting releases. After the death of Curtis, the remaining members continued as New Order, achieving critical and commercial success."

I am not 100% sure, but I believe that the atmosphere and energy surroundng the tour is to keep in mind that whether you are fan of Joy Divison and/or New Order, the remaining members are still pumping out great music and will forever have the mentality and energy of both.  It could be something completely different.  All subject to interpretation at this point.

“We’ve been having such a great time together this year, playing shows all over Europe, and we're all really excited to be playing America again. We have so many friends and fans there we can't wait to get back!" -Bernard Sumner

The 2011/2012 edition of New Order consists of:

Bernard Sumner (vocals, guitar) | Stephen Morris (drums) | Gillian Gilbert (keyboard, guitar) | Phil Cunningham (guitar, keyboards) | Tom Chapman (bass)

As you can see, original bassist Peter Hook declined this tour with the rest of the group and such, have filled the vacant spot with Tom Chapman, since Hook and the rest of New Order have been locked in a legal battle since their hiatus in 2007.

("Longtime bass player Peter Hook is not part of the band's current line-up and remains locked in a legal battle with the group over the use of the band's name." -NME).

As much as the die hard fans are all about seeing the original lineup, but once the songs kick in, I'm sure you can all adapt. haha

"Not a day goes by that I don't play something by New Order (not an exaggeration). I always seem to go back to 'Movement' as my favorite album. Obviously also a Joy Division fan here." -J. Cooper (fan)



"Blue Monday...one of my faves, but why that title? Either way an artistic masterpiece! I rocked to you then and still rock to you now. One of my fave bands ever." -M. Serkez (fan)

Truth be told, from what I have read and while doing some digging, New Order have been a longtime coming to the city of Toronto.  They haven't played in Canada alone since 2001 (Vancouver, BC) and have not performed in the GTA since 1993 (Vaughan, ON)! (1989 for Toronto itself).  No wonder the shows have been sold out practically everywhere they are going!



So if any die hard fans grabbed tickets for the show and are looking for an outlet for photos and video, be sure to drop by the page and share them on the site.  Chances are we will add a few to the article here for other fans to get jealous and make sure to see them on their next go around (whenever that is).

Do you have any experiences seeing New Order/ Joy Division in the past?  If so, we would like to hear from you.  Drop some comments of your favourite memories of New Order.  It may not be possible to convince others to get tickets (being they are sold out), but will hopefully gain some momentum for a bigger, longer tour in 2013 when the new material surfaces.

Another great piece that couldn't be better timed was a video I stumbled on featuring designer Peter Saville, the designer of Joy Division's epic album cover "Unknown Pleasures".  Peter discussed inspiration, the initial creation and the impact of the album.  Saville has worked on with other notable artists and albums such as New Order, Peter Gabriel, Pulp, and Wham!


"Bought the tkt, NYC Oct 19th. I've been waiting more than 20 years for that. I learned how to drive with New Order playing on my cassette. Remember the yellow SONY walkman? Yes, New Order was there too." -E. Van Bellen (fan)



New material?!

Yes, new stuff will be in the works shortly folks.  Confirmed by Sumner himself...

"We finish touring at the end of October and then we've got November off. After Christmas, we're going to have a meeting about writing some new stuff.

We've not decided yet, but from what we've seen from traveling around the world is that people want to hear some new stuff. Speaking to journalists and speaking to fans, they seem to really want to hear some new stuff. We won't play live as much next year, maybe half the amount we've done this year, and we'll write some new stuff." -Sumner

Now I'm sure that'll get you all excited to dust off the old vinyl/CD and get ready for (what I hope) will be another great comeback for the English group.

Keep up on New Order from their official site.