New Order Head Up A Huge Bank Holiday Homecoming Show At Wythenshawe Park Manchester UK 24th August 2024

August 27, 2024
UK Concert Reviews
by Michael Bond Photographer/Writer

WORDS AND IMAGES MICHAEL BOND

The much-anticipated return of New Order sees the band hosting a huge outdoor concert, marking a return to the stage with their first full live show in Manchester since 2021. With the gig kick starting a big Bank Holiday weekend of music and following the last-minute cancellation of their Cardiff show on Thursday night due to a weather warning, the anticipation around here is high. Today’s show at Wythenshawe Park sees the band following in the footsteps of Noel Gallagher who performed here last year, in what is looking to be a new permanent fixture in the city’s summer gig calendar.

First to take to the stage is singer songwriter Nadine Shah. Someone I have listened to before but never seen live and she didn’t disappoint with her distinctive voice and unique take on social issues. She will hopefully have earned some new fans off the back of her performance today.

Next up is Roisin Murphy and having seen her recently I have been looking forward to her performance. With a full range of costume changes from Eskimo to top hat & tails and elbow length gloves, she always looks like a true performer. Mix this with her set, and it all comes together like a piece of performance art as she brings us her special blend of eccentric house inspired tunes. From ‘Pure Pleasure Seeker’, to ‘The Time Is Now’ and ‘Bring It Back’, you can see Roisin is looking to keep things fresh, with many of her earlier work having been re-orchestrated. In parts the show feels like a live DJ set, with songs cleverly mixed into each other by the 5-piece band accompanying her, helping create a flow to the performance, which is starting to set the scene for the sun-soaked Manchester evening.

Manchester legend Johnny Marr is next to take to the stage, with what is a bumper hour of hits spanning his solo work, The Smiths and Electronic. Growing up only a stone’s throw away from the park, Marr addresses the crowd “Saturday night in Wythenshawe Park, where have I heard that before”! As he reminisces about his time spent here skipping school, and what a privilege it is to be playing here tonight.

With over half his set consisting of tracks from The Smiths back catalogue, the crowd are in fine voice as they all sing their way through classics like ‘Panic’, ‘This Charming Man’ ‘how Soon Is Now’ and ‘Easy Money’ as Marr brings his time to a close with ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’, which feels like a shared moment I will remember for a while to come.

With no other gigs played in 2024 to use as a reference point, speculation is high on what songs will make up tonight’s set list, but the crowd won’t have to wait much longer to find out. As the lights drop and Bernard, Stephen, Gillian, Phil & Tom make their way to the stage the crowd begin to erupt. Opening with ‘Academic’, the set weaves its way though a top-quality back catalogue sparking memories of mis-spent youths. Key high points are ‘Age of Consent’, ‘Ceremony’ and ‘Bizarre Love Triangle which are broken up with the first live performance of ‘Nothing but a Fool’ taken from their 2015 album Music Complete.

You can sense a vulnerability in Sumner as he comments on the lack of live performances and asks the crowd to bear with them. A side from this comment, there isn’t any clear signs of nerves from the band, as they work their way through ‘True Faith’ and ‘Blue Monday’, rounding off the set with ‘Temptation’,. After a brief pause, the encore is underway which is dedicated solely to Joy Division, closing what has been a great night, with ‘Atmosphere’, and ‘Transmission’ and finishing off perfectly with their all time classic ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’.

Although we haven’t seen any new music from the band in 9 years, they still prove to be as popular as ever and will always have a place in the heart of this fine city.