LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Joy Division: Ian Curtis (vocals); Bernard Sumner (guitar, keyboards); Peter Hook (bass); Stephen Morris (drums). Recorded live at the Warehouse, Preston, England on February 28, 1980. Includes liner notes by Anthony Wilson. The sleeve notes make it plain: This is "just a gig by one of the greatest bands that ever lived and wrote and played." This gig, taped at the Warehouse in Preston, took place during the final round of UK dates Joy Division was to play before jetting off to the US. PRESTON 28 FEBRUARY 1980 is a truly awesome and atmospheric record, and though it's a warts-and-all document, it almost revels in the technical difficulties the band had with the sound system. At one moment, Ian Curtis even declares that "everything's falling apart!" "The Eternal" is a truly electric secular hymn with arching synthesiser chords while "Transmission" and "Warsaw" are frenetic and impassioned punk. The crowd was clearly having a good time and unwittingly witnessing a very special event. During a hiatus, a girl opportunely announces "Anyone from Burnley? The coach is going in five minutes!" Joy Division's very last gig, in May 1980, was also recorded (just two weeks before Ian Curtis' unexpected suicide) and released as the album STILL. This Preston recording though is a more concise and accessible album that fittingly ends brilliantly, and ironically, on "She's Lost Control," a definite high.
This is stunning live material recorded only a few weeks before Ian Curtis committed suicide -- it's the first proper live album released by one of the best live acts in the post-punk world. Includes the songs "Incubation," "Wilderness," "Twenty Four Hours"