Concert: Sunday 2002-05-26 12:00:00 AM, Paris, France - New Order Online

I went to this show with my brother. Very random for us because we are from Santa Monica, California, and were in Paris for a holiday, and while wandering around in Virgin Records or FNAC (can't remember), we saw that New Order were going to be playing that very night.

The show was wonderful. The mosh pit was, erm, very moshy. But we chose to be seated instead, and unlike in America, the seated attendees are all very polite about not standing up at all during the entire concert!

The Doves' set was sublime. I knew they were Sub Sub before, but didn't know what to expect from their new incarnation. My brother slept through their entire set!

Alan Wise did the bellicous intro, and suddenly out came the "four lads from Manchester, England". (Actually Phil C. is not from Manchester, but no matter). Bernard spoke a little French here and there, mentioning how he loves the Eiffel Tower, and pointed out how limited his French is: "Je parlez vous francais un petit," he said (not grammatically correct, but the crowd got it nontheless).

Transmission, Ceremony and Digital each brought a tremendous reaction because most people weren't expecting them to be played. Bernard made it a point to tell the crowd how Pernod is the best drink for doing vocals, and again the mosh pit crowd went nuts about that. Barney was in fine form.

Rock the Shack was almost together, but you could tell that New Order had not been tight on the song at all, and Barney laughed about that, telling the crowd how many times they have attempted to play it during the past few weeks and having the song all fall to pieces. Funny. After that raucous, Barney said, "Enough of this raging guitar music, it's now time for some synthesizer bliss" and the band launched into Blue Monday and finished with Your Silent Face/KW1.

For me, this was the perfect way to cap off my vacation.