New Order Conjures up the Classics at Santa Barbara Bowl

Joseph Baura

After an amazing first weekend at the Coachella Music Festival, New Order kept their bearings greased with a performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl in between the desert festival’s two weekends. Manchester’s poster boys for new wave have been rocking the genre since their inception in 1980. As one of the most influential bands of the golden age of the new wave, New Order has maintained a sense of longevity, despite several bumps in the road along the way. Despite breaking ties with their bassist Peter Hook in 2007, New Order has gone on to release two more albums since his departure with “Lost Sirens” and “Music Complete.” With weekend one of Coachella in the books, the Santa Barbara show was a great way to keep things rolling before heading back to the desert for a second effort.

As the so-called veterans of the Coachella lineup, New Order proved during the first weekend that their drive is a fresh as ever with a nostalgic journey through their discography. At the Santa Barbara Bowl, the band was able to give a similar experience. However, with all the attention focused on them, it was evident that Bernard Sumner and the rest of the band wanted to revel in the elevated level of intimacy. As the band walked onto the Bowl’s stage, they were greeted by a diverse age range of fans – from their die hards to those who were getting their first taste through their parents’ interest. New Order started the show off with one of their more contemporary singles, “Singularity,” from their album “Music Complete” before taking it back to their origins with the single, “Ceremony.”

While the music was completely sharp the entire set, what contributed to the fan experience throughout the entire performance was its amazing visual aspect. With the screen playing visuals that were just short of a psychedelic trip, and a constant struggle between strobe lights and lasers, New Order ensured that the visual experience was just as solid as the sonic.

With a discography that spans nearly four decades, New Order had a lot of ground to cover throughout their set, and yet still found a way to give fans a balanced mixture of the classic hits and some of their more contemporary tries. As veterans of the genre, New Order made sure to give the fans their biggest hits including “Bizarre Love Triangle,” “Blue Monday” and “The Perfect Kiss.”

After leaving the stage for what seemed to be the end of the show, New Order returned to perform a couple of special and unexpected songs. In homage to their Joy Division roots, the group played their renditions of “Decades” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart” which garnered the biggest response from the crowd and was clearly the best way to end the show.

New Order played Santa Barbara Bowl on April 18.