Respect is due — no, overdue — for New Order. The veteran outfit represents, for millions of fans worldwide, the resonating sound of British electronic pop from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Hits, beats, endurance. Induction into the Rock Hall is in the cards, finally.
New Order was formed from Joy Division in 1980, rebuilt from the shock and trauma left by the sudden death of frontman Ian Curtis. Rather than fold and implode, the surviving members continued. With a deft lineup tweak, Bernard Sumner was pushed up front.
The group didn’t miss a beat.
Records tumbled with 1983’s “Blue Monday”, a stone-cold dance floor classic. The vinyl release, housed in Peter Saville’s floppy disc designed sleeve, is the best-selling 12” of all time. Incredibly, the release still managed to lose money for Tony Wilson’s Factory Records, the Manchester label immortalised in 2002’s 24 Hour Party People. Aside from those bangers and longevity, New Order make for a cracking pub quiz question.
In the UK, New Order has landed two No. 1 albums with 1989’s Technique and 1993’s Republic, and their anthem for England’s 1990 World Cup bid, “World In Motion,” claimed the top chart prize (the England football team, of course, failed).
Next month, New Order returns to Australia with a lineup featuring Sumner, fellow founding members Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, plus bass player Tom Chapman and guitarist Phil Cunningham. Expect a procession of classics, fan favourites and a few thunderbolts.
“There’ll be a couple of surprises with songs that we’ve not played before. So we’re quite excited about that,” Chapman tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ over Zoom. “We worked really hard on the set list. Obviously we have to please the fans with some of the hits, and but there’s 30% left for us in the set list to experiment with a little bit. We will be doing that on this tour.”
The jaunt gets underway March 5th at Perth RAC Arena and wraps with two shows at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, both of which are sold out.
The five-date trek is New Order’s first in these parts since early 2020, a run that was undone by the pandemic. The only surprises this time, hopefully, will be in the setlist.
Conversation moves to new music, and the followup to Music Complete, New Order’s 10th and most recent album — and the first to feature the talents of Chapman.
“Maybe,” he explains. “We don’t make plans, these things happen organically. We might decide to do some writing again, but at the moment we’re just sort of doing these show. We’ll see what happens.”
Next year, Chapman will celebrate his 15th anniversary with New Order. The France-born artist joined the group in 2011, replacing in the lineup founding bass man Peter Hook. Whether he’ll also be celebrating induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame with his bandmates, only time will tell. New Order is long-listed for the Rock Hall class of 2025, a second consecutive nod.
“It’s nice to be nominated but we’ll see what happens,” Chapman comments. “It was mentioned in rehearsals, but the main focus is this tour so we didn’t really spend time talking about it. Obviously, I’d be it’d be a huge honour.”
New Order Australia Tour 2025
Visit teglive.com.au and neworder.com for tickets.
March 5th — Perth RAC Arena
March 8th — Melbourne Sidney Myer Music Bowl
March 11th — Brisbane Riverstage
March 14th — Sydney Opera House Forecourt (Sold Out)
March 15th — Sydney Opera House Forecourt (Sold Out)
