New Order @ Carling Academy

New Order have an extraordinary back-catalogue of songs. From the biggest selling seven-inch of all time, Blue Monday, to the spacious experimentation of Perfect Kiss or the perfect drug-pop melody of True Faith, their material is, by all kinds of different criteria, great music. They also have a loyal fan-base who will cheer and dance and make revelatory gestures wherever they play. And they are highly professional and competent musicians. Does this mean New Order can never play a bad gig? No. But also, to a considerable degree, yes. No because, at times, even this devoted fan was genuinely bored by Peter Hook's needy posturing and Bernard Sumner's lack of vocal commitment. Yes, because a song, as sung by the original songwriter, touches a profound place in our sense of our own creative existence. When that song is powerfully beautiful, even a flat performance is one to watch. [RJ Thomson]