New Order, October 7 at the Greek

I actually hesitated in getting tickets to see New Order.  One of my favorite bands for half my life but I was burned by that horrible performance at Coachella in 2005.  I knew I couldn't even hope for many cuts deeper than their singles and I'd already seen those, and the versions I heard on CD were better.  I still love the band, maybe even more since I've gotten more into Joy Division over the last years, but I still didn't feel an obligation to see New Order, even if they were playing a relatively small place like the Greek.  It was Zara who got me even thinking about it, since we were communicating about the pre-sale and such, and I made a minor attempt to get tickets.  The seats that came up weren't great (relatively) but I had the opportunity in front of me and I went for it.  The worst that could happen is that we'd have a night out.  Carla wasn't a particular fan but she knew their popular stuff well enough.  We met up with Zara & Bryan before the show and had a picnic of pizza and got toasted on wine and headed in (missing openers Run Run Run).  I had checked the past set-lists and it didn't deviate much from that.  Their big thing at the moment was the release of "Elegia" as an extended single and I thought we'd get the whole 15 minutes of it.  But it was probably shorter than the version on Low-Life and just there to set the mood.  Ending that would have been perfect to drop into "Regret" (one of the few highlights from the Coachella set) but they skipped it, the only blemish on a night that otherwise was splendid, much beyond my expectations.  They leaned more on the '80s stuff, which is understandable, and they even played some deeper cuts, since at least they had the time, not squeezing in a festival set.  "5 8 6" was a surprise (or would have been if I hadn't looked at the set-lists).  Hook's absence was noticeable but not regrettable; they do fine without him, and if he's holding up their doing more stuff, then he can stay away.  They had recently released Lost Sirens but played nothing off of it (though I wasn't as familiar with it at all) but they also avoided everything off Waiting for the Siren's Call.  Anything off Get Ready would have been welcome but I'd seen that at the Moby show anyway.  (They played "Here to Stay" from that era the night before.)  In all, it was the kind of show they should be expected to play.  They're getting on in years but they make the effort.  That they usually tour so infrequently, it seems a cruel trick that we only get to see them in a relative glimpse at a festival.  But to see them play a full show, and maybe even go over their contracted time by 10 minutes, seems a treat.  Maybe they've really just been messing with our expectations all these years and now they're finally bringing it again.  Maybe Hook was holding them up.  Maybe the stars just aligned, there under the sky in the open air of the Greek.  As it turns out, we got a night out as well as getting a pretty great show.  I probably wouldn't have known it from seeing the set-list but, if I'd known how it turned out, that's a show I would have missed with regret. 

New Order's set-list:
"Elegia"
"Crystal"
"Ceremony"
"Age of Consent"
"Isolation" (Joy Division)
"Love Vigilantes"
"Close Range"
"Your Silent Face"
"Bizarre Love Triangle"
"5 8 6"
"True Faith"
"The Perfect Kiss"
"Blue Monday"
"Temptation"

"Atmosphere" (Joy Division)
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division)