Preston 28 February 1980 Review from Bill Steffenberg

In "An Ideal for Living," Mark Johnson writes of the night this recording was made. "A report from a member of the audience that night blames the group's appalling difficulties with the sound system on the beer pump interfering with the PA!" He goes on to say "Ian most uncharacteristically was very talkative on stage primarily to fill in the time while order was restored by the roadies. Despite the problems or because of them, the tape of this concert is probably the most interesting of all the live bootlegs."

In fact, this tape in bootleg form, does make the rounds in the various trading sources to this day. So if you have it already you know exactly what Mark Johnson is getting at above. If you haven't heard it, I would suggest you pick up this Carlton Sandercock re-mastering for the New Millennium Communications LTD (NMC) label. NMC describes itself thus, "NMC are a record label who have been established for a number of years and specialize in releasing archive material." So since Factory went down in 1992 I would say this is not a "Factory" CD as such. I received the following E-Mail from Carlton at NMC, "' Preston ' was the first in what will hopefully become the first of a series of Factory Records related artists material from the archives. The project was constructed between ourselves, Factory, Tony Wilson, the band members (including Ian Curtis family), and the late Rob Gretton who was actively involved in completing this project. As yet we have no idea what the next title will be but the 'Bains-Douche Paris' concert has been discussed as a possible follow up!" Their full mailing address is; NEW MILLENIUM COMMUNICATIONS LTD Clifton Center, 110 Clifton Street, London UK EC2A 4HT. Tel-0171 729 0100, Fax-0171 729 4379. The NMC Website can be found by clicking HERE! "Thanks, Carlton!"

I've read some of the reviews from the UK and there seems to be considerable backlash against Tony Wilson for flogging an old boot wrapped up in new clothing. Whether or not Wilson is the person behind the idea or not remains to be seen. First, if you are a new fan of Joy Division and are unable to get your hands on the old boot version I say go ahead and pick it up and enjoy it! It's a great "snapshot" of Joy Division toward the end of their history. And if the proceeds in some part go to Ian Curtis' widow and daughter, so much the better. They deserve it. So "sod" the negative press and have a listen to this worthwhile CD. Now on to the brief review...

The CD opens with the instrumental "Incubation." It has a very clanky and rough sound to it with Stephen Morris' heavy bass drum pounding underneath. You get the notion that Joy Division live were far from the polished spin of Martin Hannett, and indeed from the many live recordings I've heard this is the case. The band seemed a bit distracted by the technical problems ongoing during the first part of the CD, but pulled it together nicely after about five songs into the gig. "Wilderness" follows with a heavy bass line from Peter Hook and we hear Curtis' vocals at last sounding a bit detached and trance-like.

"Twentyfour Hours" starts off first with a bit of a tune up and Curtis misses his cue and struggles, mixing up some of the lyrics, and the band adjusts the melody and tempo to catch up to him on the chorus. At the finish Ian apologizes for having some "slight problems." "The Eternal" starts with a long bit of synthesizer improvisation by Bernard Sumner and unfortunately the equipment problems with the PA system plague the end of the song.

The beginning of "Heart and Soul" isn't much different equipment wise and Ian states, "I think everything is falling apart!" Sumner adds, "We're playing everything through the base amp!" The band wisely asks the soon to be impatient audience for requests, getting "Shadowplay" as an answer, and as the equipment problems are solved by the scrambling roadies the song begins the rest of the gig's trouble free set list. Indeed, "Shadowplay" and the following "Transmission" are musically tight and Ian begins to nail his vocals and lyrics as well.

"Disorder" begins with Sumner's hard edged guitar as Joy Division seems to forget the recently repaired PA failures and portray themselves at the height of their powers. Next, "Warsaw" taken from their older repertoire sounds tight and evocative of their "Punk" influences from their early days of playing together. "Colony" and "Interzone" are next as the band continues to pick up momentum and Curtis sounds more animated and in control of the situation.

The highlight of the gig for me was "She's Lost Control." The final cut on the CD. After their earlier difficulties Joy Division regroups nicely, and this song is both thrilling to the listener, and probably a relief to the band that all was saved in the end due to their perseverance and they acknowledge that they are indeed not "just another Manchester band." They are Joy Division.

I wouldn't let my comments about the technical difficulties resulting in the first three songs being played through one amp sway you from picking this up. The sound quality is good considering and it gives one an aural window in which to get a sense of what a Joy Division gig must have been like. The liner notes state, "This is not a memento, this is a gig. This is not a souvenir or shifty 'not the best of,' this is just a gig. Just a gig by one of the greatest bands that ever lived and wrote and played." I agree...

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