LocAlchella #2
And 48 hours after a cracking Franz Ferdinand / Palma Violets gig I'm in the welcoming confines of the Santa Barbara Bowl in the presence of both a certifiable godlike musical genius, as well as arguably one of the most important and influential post-punk bands that Manchester has ever produced, both warming up for the weekend's second Coachella festival.
Now I love the Santa Barbara Bowl, it's one of my favourite venues, has the most amazing acoustics and overlooks the downtown Santa Barbara and the Pacific ocean... albeit as dusk makes way to night, the shimmering lights in the distance are most likely those from the off-shore natural gas platforms, but hey you can't quite have everything...
Actually my gripe concerning the Bowl is the ridiculously earlier start. The well-healed, in their multi-million dollar homes above the bowl are apparently put off by the noise, resulting in a 10 pm curfew. (Duh? Buy a house next to a concert venue and then complain that it's noisy??? It's a bit like the locals in the Ditton Fields and Elfleda Road area of Cambridge bitchin' whenever the Mighty U's were playing at the Wembley of the Fens. "See those? They're floodlights..." Although the U's have done their bit to appease the locals... by getting themselves relegated to the relative obscurity of the Conference).
So having fought my way up the 101, I'm there just in time for the aforementioned genius, Mr Johnny Marr, to open at a ludicrous 7 pm (actually I'm still being frisked by the wannabe TSA that makes up gig security as the first chords strike up), so I get into the amphitheatre only as Johnny strikes up a stirring rendition of the Smiths' "Stop me if you think you've heard this one before".
Now it's probably fair to say that unless you're a diehard Smiths - of which, if T-Shirts are a badge of allegiance, a fair few are here - (or for that matter Morrissey or Marr), you're probably a little like me, I kind of like some of Mozza's solo work and similarly from what I've heard of Johnny Marr's post-Smiths' output (notably Electronic, formed with Bernard Sumner), but there is just something, which I'm struggling to convey - that is actually best explained by a fellow admirer - how the guitar seems to plays Johnny Marr. Every generation deserves a guitar virtuoso and I'm fortunate enough to have seen mine...
To be fair I'd given the new album,"The Messenger" a few spins (and thanks to Spotify, the $0.001 royalties check is in the post), and it's pretty good, so the workout it received, especially "The messenger" and "New town velocity" (the stand out track), were most welcome to these ears.
Ultimately though it was probably inevitable that the biggest roar came with the closer in an all too brief set and a reworking of The Smiths' "How soon is now?" (The third and final Smiths' number of the evening, the other being "There is a light that never goes out."
Tonight's headliners, have no such worries about promoting a new album. In announcing "I'll stay with you" as a new song, a typically self-deprecating Bernard Sumner, adds that it was actually written some seven-odd years ago...
And so to Ennio Morricone's atmospheric "The ecstasy of gold" (from Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), New Order take to the stage and proceed to run through both theirs and Joy Division's back catalogue. It's hard to express how great this band sound live - as if the energy from their recording work has been amped-up about a hundred times (and sorry Hooky, much as you're a talismatic bass player and will forever be associated with Joy Division and New Order - in tonight's show and the one that I caught at the Greek last year - you truthfully aren't missed).
The band open with the haunting "Elegia" and "Crystal" (trivia time fans. The Killers are named after the band in the song's video). The earlier works are as always eagerly anticipated ("Ceremony", "Temptation" and "586" - no "Procession" - wibble...) and "World" gets an incredibly rare outing.
One of the great things about a New Order show is the fact that the band have a video of several songs projected onto a back screen. The significant other, particularly likes this when it comes to "True Faith" (not quite a nice video, shame about the song moment, but I'm sure you get the gist) - so it's worth stumping up a little bit more to ensure a good view.
The Band as always, pay their respects to Joy Division and the late Ian Curtis. "Isolation" is performed during the main set, and for the well deserved encore, we're treated to "Atmosphere" and the set's closer, the iconic "Love will tear us apart"...
I'm sure Peter Hook would refer to the gig as that by a New Order Tribute act (Bitter? Moi?). In which case, a fine tribute.
Now I love the Santa Barbara Bowl, it's one of my favourite venues, has the most amazing acoustics and overlooks the downtown Santa Barbara and the Pacific ocean... albeit as dusk makes way to night, the shimmering lights in the distance are most likely those from the off-shore natural gas platforms, but hey you can't quite have everything...
Actually my gripe concerning the Bowl is the ridiculously earlier start. The well-healed, in their multi-million dollar homes above the bowl are apparently put off by the noise, resulting in a 10 pm curfew. (Duh? Buy a house next to a concert venue and then complain that it's noisy??? It's a bit like the locals in the Ditton Fields and Elfleda Road area of Cambridge bitchin' whenever the Mighty U's were playing at the Wembley of the Fens. "See those? They're floodlights..." Although the U's have done their bit to appease the locals... by getting themselves relegated to the relative obscurity of the Conference).
So having fought my way up the 101, I'm there just in time for the aforementioned genius, Mr Johnny Marr, to open at a ludicrous 7 pm (actually I'm still being frisked by the wannabe TSA that makes up gig security as the first chords strike up), so I get into the amphitheatre only as Johnny strikes up a stirring rendition of the Smiths' "Stop me if you think you've heard this one before".
Now it's probably fair to say that unless you're a diehard Smiths - of which, if T-Shirts are a badge of allegiance, a fair few are here - (or for that matter Morrissey or Marr), you're probably a little like me, I kind of like some of Mozza's solo work and similarly from what I've heard of Johnny Marr's post-Smiths' output (notably Electronic, formed with Bernard Sumner), but there is just something, which I'm struggling to convey - that is actually best explained by a fellow admirer - how the guitar seems to plays Johnny Marr. Every generation deserves a guitar virtuoso and I'm fortunate enough to have seen mine...
To be fair I'd given the new album,"The Messenger" a few spins (and thanks to Spotify, the $0.001 royalties check is in the post), and it's pretty good, so the workout it received, especially "The messenger" and "New town velocity" (the stand out track), were most welcome to these ears.
Ultimately though it was probably inevitable that the biggest roar came with the closer in an all too brief set and a reworking of The Smiths' "How soon is now?" (The third and final Smiths' number of the evening, the other being "There is a light that never goes out."
Tonight's headliners, have no such worries about promoting a new album. In announcing "I'll stay with you" as a new song, a typically self-deprecating Bernard Sumner, adds that it was actually written some seven-odd years ago...
And so to Ennio Morricone's atmospheric "The ecstasy of gold" (from Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), New Order take to the stage and proceed to run through both theirs and Joy Division's back catalogue. It's hard to express how great this band sound live - as if the energy from their recording work has been amped-up about a hundred times (and sorry Hooky, much as you're a talismatic bass player and will forever be associated with Joy Division and New Order - in tonight's show and the one that I caught at the Greek last year - you truthfully aren't missed).
The band open with the haunting "Elegia" and "Crystal" (trivia time fans. The Killers are named after the band in the song's video). The earlier works are as always eagerly anticipated ("Ceremony", "Temptation" and "586" - no "Procession" - wibble...) and "World" gets an incredibly rare outing.
One of the great things about a New Order show is the fact that the band have a video of several songs projected onto a back screen. The significant other, particularly likes this when it comes to "True Faith" (not quite a nice video, shame about the song moment, but I'm sure you get the gist) - so it's worth stumping up a little bit more to ensure a good view.
The Band as always, pay their respects to Joy Division and the late Ian Curtis. "Isolation" is performed during the main set, and for the well deserved encore, we're treated to "Atmosphere" and the set's closer, the iconic "Love will tear us apart"...
I'm sure Peter Hook would refer to the gig as that by a New Order Tribute act (Bitter? Moi?). In which case, a fine tribute.
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