The omens were poor.
  Judging from the new single, "Blue Monday", you could be forgiven for 
supposing that New Order are simply the lastest Factory group to cast
off long coats and try for the killer punch of funk and fail; that the
sophistication of their dance-oriented catharsis has been forgotten, 
their electropulse weakened into a ghost of it's former glorious self.
  How wrong. And how uplifting to be reminded that New Order on form 
are simply the finest group in the world. 
  No longer dogged by past associations and inclinations, New Order 
have not only followed the routes signposted by the sublime 
"Everything's Gone Green" and "Temptation", but are fully exploiting 
the vistas that lay beyond, tapping the surges of electricity that were
unleashed by Kraftwerk, Moroder, DAF and Suicide and spitting them out
with an intense self-assurance that borders on a strange sense of
possession. 
  To be present at a New Order gig as fine as this is to submit mind
and body completely, to become lost in labyrinths of seething electric
rhythms, enraptured by a warm glow that seems to emanate from somewhere
unspecified within. Once, the "correct" response was to be over-awed;
now it is to be happy. New Order have changed.
  There's even a recognition of this in the relationship between the
group and the audience. Both used to rely on an almost distasteful 
symbiosis, sucking on each other so hard that they seemed to be willing 
the birth of a kind of pop religiosity. New Order's fans sometimes 
appeared to be the most avidly solemn in history; their stiff attention 
and rigid demeanours indicated their overwhelming earnestness, the very
dourness of their hopes. And the group loved this worship, depended on 
it even; their position was elevated, their long-term success assured.
  Now their audiences have become more used to the changes the group 
have undergone. Though still steeped in an enriching dignity, New 
Order's music no longer relies solely upon sadness, ennui and the 
darker corners of the psyche for it's effect; there is now a deep, 
infectious joy flooding through their veins, a welcome un-
selfconsciousness.
  The audience at the Ace seemed to recognise this; this was less like 
the concerts od old and more like a mutual celebration, both sides 
letting down barriers in an attempt to go higher, the group forgetting
their former time restrictions and playing on and on...
  Listen; go to see New Order and you can reasonably expect to dance 
all night, sweat profusely, feel a little sorrow but even more, bliss.
Their stage record is the most unpredictable in the world, their lows
touching on the mundane, but when they hit highs they don't just fly, 
they soar.
  This group are rare.
LYNDEN BARBER   

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