Despite being one of the main writers for a music blog (this one), it has been a very long time since I’ve been to a concert. I think the last one I went to was Peter Hook and the Light in 2015, which is fitting as it is basically an official Joy Division cover band, and New Order is made up of the rest of the surviving members.
Having been too lazy to go to a concert in a decade (or any that I recall, anyway), I was pretty peeved to find out that New Order was playing at the Sidney Meyer Music Bowl for their Melbourne venue. One of my most despised music venues. I dislike being outside at the best of times. I definitely don’t want to pay for the privilege. Luckily, though, my friend Mat was able to get tickets for us in a seated area, and the seats were actually really good. So good job Mat!
Our first mission was the merch stand. I got a hoodie. Unfortunately, Mat double-booked and was away for the weekend with family, so another friend came instead (she’s in the back with a New Order cap).
New Order March Melbourne 2025
I feel like New Order really knows their target demographic when they are selling $25 teatowels at a concert.
Sidney Meyer Music Bowl 2025 Drink Prices
As expected, drink prices were pretty bad. Though I’m sure in another decade I’ll look back at these prices with rose-tinted glasses.
Venue
I’m so glad the weather was good for the event. I really don’t like the Sidney Meyer Music Bowl. It is annoying to get to. A lot of it is in the open, which is terrible if it rains. It is an amphitheatre on a hill with the band playing at one base. The one good thing about the hill is that a lot of people can stand up and watch the band play without tall people blocking everyone, which would be the experience for some at typical outdoor festivals.
Support Acts
The support acts were DJ TinTin and Juno Mamba (who is unfortunately miscredited as “Juno Mambo” on the Arts Centre’s website). I didn’t watch the opening acts in particular, but they were great background music for the event.
New Order Setlist Melbourne 2025
I did not take note of the setlist on the night, knowing that Setlist.FM – The Setlist Wiki would have me covered there. It is interesting to see that Love Less was played for the first time since 1989, I don’t recall that being mentioned or not by the band, but that’s something cool to have experienced, without knowing it.
- Transmission (1981 Joy Division cover)
- Crystal (2001)
- Ceremony (1981)
- Age of Consent (1983)
- Isolation (1980 Joy Division cover)
- Love Less (1989, first time played live since that year)
- Player in the League (2002)
- Your Silent Face (1983)
- State of the Nation (1986)
- Be a Rebel (2021)
- Sub-Culture (1985)
- Bizarre Love Triangle (1986)
- Vanishing Point (1989)
- Plastic (2015)
- True Faith (1987)
- Blue Monday (1983)
- Temptation (1981)
It is also worth noting that Player in the League (2002) had only ever been played live once before and that was a few nights earlier at their Perth concert.
Encore
- Atmosphere (1980 Joy Division cover)
- Love Will Tear Us Apart (1980 Joy Division cover)
Performance
The first two songs, Transmission and Crystal sounded absolutely awful. There was a terrible crackle on the speaker through both songs. At first, I wasn’t sure if this was an intentional ironic intro effect since the first song was “Transmission”, but by the time Crystal came on, it was still happening and everyone got seriously pissed off.
I have to say I was genuinely confused and unsure if it was some sort of joke, as it reminded me of the intro track “More Seratonin Please” by Apoptygma Berzerk, from the album “The Harmonizer” which starts of all wonky and out of sync before “harmonizing” as it fades into the 2nd track “Suffer in Silence”. This band came to mind as they’ve recorded covers of both New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle and Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, and are heavily inspired by this band.
But no, the sound was just awful and there was a lot of booing and signalling to the band that something was wrong. It was hard to tell if the band could hear the problems themselves, as they seemed unaware until a sound tech started running back and forth to say things to guitarist Phil Cunningham.
Around song 5 or 6, the audio got up to standard, which was great timing as it was the first time that Love Less was played live since it debuted in 1989. So I’m sure a few people got some good bootlegs of that historical performance that sound OK.
The visuals throughout the concert were very nice, and the band sounded great. However, as performers (and I know they are getting quite old in age) they are not the most interesting band to watch. My boss had warned me that they don’t really move around on stage much, and he considered them boring. I still had a great time and would definitely go see New Order again.
