I watched New Order at Wythenshawe Park- and it was a Manchester homecoming to remember

Following the cancellation of their performance in Cardiff on Thursday due to bad weather, Saturday’s gig marked the band’s first show since November and their return to Manchester for the first time in three years. 

Needless to say, it felt like a homecoming to remember. Not just for New Order, Johnny Marr was born in Manchester and Róisín Murphy lived in Manchester, making it a day of nostalgia and the day for hometown heroes to return home and thus an even more memorable day for those involved and those in attendance. 

However, before we dive into New Order’s set can I just say Johnny Marr… take a bow. Having been gutted about missing out on his tour this spring, getting the opportunity to see the legendary guitarist was one that I couldn’t pass up on and he didn’t disappoint.

Marr performed a number of classics from The Smiths catalogue including hits such as ‘This Charming Man’ and ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’, which got an electric reaction from the audience. The legendary guitarist also sprinkled in tracks from his days in Electronic and his own material to give a perfect balance of the past and present. 

Serenaded by chants of “Johnny Johnny Marr”, Marr spoke about his love and his memories of Wythenshawe before bringing out a local hero in The Cult’s Billy Duffy to join him for a riveting rendition of ‘How Soon is Now’ that saw 30,000 sing in unison to create an atmospheric feeling that reverberated around Wythenshawe Park. 

Following Marr’s red-hot set, New Order took to the stage and kicked things off with a bang as they performed ‘Academic’ and ‘Crystal’ before following it up with ‘Age of Consent’,‘Regret’ and ‘Ceremony’ to get the audience singing and dancing and the energy never dipped from there. 

Throughout the last four decades, New Order have remained prominent figures of Manchester’s ever evolving music scene, which has seen bands such as The Stone Roses, Oasis, The 1975, Take That and The Smiths to name a few emerge throughout the years. The fact New Order remains relevant and at the top of their game four decades in is a testament to their ability. 

Among the highlights from the evening was a riveting performance of ‘Your Silent Face’ that was accompanied by a video montage of a trip across the United States, a upbeat rendition of their biggest hit in ‘Blue Monday’ that brought a moment of pure ecstasy and the psychedelic-sounding ‘Sub-Culture’ was great to hear live. Regardless, New Order’s set was full of a number of memorable moments and songs that gave us a trip down memory lane. 

For me personally though, the biggest highlight was the encore where the five-piece paid tribute to Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis with performances of ‘Atmosphere’, ‘Transmission’ and ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ to close out the evening on an emotional note.