New Order - 316

Starring: New Order

RS: 3of 4 Stars

Now that many of today's hippest new bands emulate New Order's trailblazing post-punk/electro-dance synthesis, this legendary 1981 performance looks more visionary than ever. Never a dynamic live band, New Order resemble a sullen crew of bohemian architects, but early classics such as "Dreams Never End" and "Temptation" achieve a plaintive yet kinetic power. Seventeen years later at the massive Reading Festival, a chunkier band boasts an improved stage presence (and light show), but the mystique is gone.

MICHAEL AZERRAD
(July 31, 2003)