Joy Division

5th November 1979: Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead
On tour with the Buzzcocks

                

Posters (C) @Psychofish65 and Simon Neil and used here with permission

Songs known to have been performed:

01. Dead Souls
02. Wilderness
03. Twenty Four Hours
04. New Dawn Fades
05. Digital
06. Disorder
07. Interzone (incomplete - fades out on the bootleg tape recording)
(the above were all taped - Appx. duration: 25 mins. Sound quality: 7-8/9)

Another song that is known to have been performed that night is Colony, either near the end of the set, or possibly as en encore.

Colony does not appear on the tape but we know that it was performed - and that the band made a complete mess of it. "About a minute into the song they had to start it again from the top" remembers Jon who was at the concert. He also tells us that Joy Division played an amazing set and blew the Buzzcocks off the stage.

Mark Refoy remembers Transmission too - see his recollections below


* Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead: soundcheck
Songs: 01. New Dawn Fades (4 takes, 3 incomplete)
02. Dead Souls
03. The Only Mistake
04. Love Will Tear Us Apart.
Appx. duration: 19 mins. Sound quality: 7-8/9

The full concert and soundcheck appear on the following bootleg:

Incubation LP

The Only Mistake appears on the following bootleg:

Out Of The room LP




Ticket stub with Buzzcocks autographs (C) @Slipmark and used here with permission


"On Bonfire Night 1979 myself my brother and a few school mates got the train from Northampton to Hemel Hempstead to see Buzzcocks and Joy Division. I was 17 and utterly obsessed with bands and music. When we got in the venue I noticed Genesis P Orridge queueing for a drink about half an hour before Joy Division went onstage. We'd seen Throbbing Gristle at Northampton Guildhall in May and during the gig he'd stubbed out cigarettes on his hands to show the morons in the crowd who were taunting him that nothing could hurt him. Or something like that. I tentatively approached him and said "how's your hand after the Northampton gig?" and he just shrugged and said something like "It was nothing, they can't hurt me".

(When I was in Spiritualized many years later he turned up to see us play in Brighton. I asked again about the scars and he showed me his hand and said "I covered them with tattoos.")

He then proceeded to ask all about me and my friends and he then hung out with us, chatting and answering all our questions about music and what it was like “being in a band.” I asked him if he was here to see The Buzzcocks and he looked at me as if to say “are you mad?!” and he said “no, I'm here for Joy Division.” Over the years I since found out that he'd been in contact with Ian Curtis and there was a mutual respect and admiration between them both.

I'd seen Joy Division on TV on Something Else the previous September, anyone who saw it will never forget it. So when they supported The Buzzcocks it wasn't your usual "let's see if the support band are any good" atmosphere. They were a major draw on their own. Some of my brother’s friends had come down particularly for Joy Division, which really impressed me. The only songs I knew were Transmission and New Dawn Fades that I'd heard on the John Peel show. I also remember them playing Digital and my brother turning round and mouthing the words “this is great” to me. Someone knuckled me on the back of the head because I was showing my appreciation by moving around a bit though not really "dancing" and he said "These lot are shit."

But Joy Division did not give a shit what Hertfordshire folk thought of them, they were totally amazing - which sounds so obvious now because it’s been said a trillion times before but it was the truth. I was totally blown away by the power of the performance and how great the music was. In those days we’d try and meet the bands after the gig so we went to the back of the venue and Hooky came out and gave us loads of massive posters of Fact 10 Unknown Pleasures which was on my bedroom wall for years.

Anyway, The Buzzcocks were the main draw on that tour and contrary to rock mythology they were not blown offstage by Joy Division, they were amazing in their own right although not as otherwordly or futuristic as Joy Division. A big fight broke out in the audience between rival skinhead gangs halfway through the gig (always fights at gigs in those days) and The Buzzcocks walked offstage and the house lights came on. A man came onstage and said the band won’t come back if people are fighting. After about 10 minutes they came back on and finished the gig, it seemed normal back then!

We spoke to Pete Shelley afterwards and he was very friendly and talkative. He said Joy Division were mates of theirs who started around about the same time and I said “why don’t you do Times Up anymore”, and he said “They’re Howard’s lyrics, I can’t remember them.”

Mark Refoy May 2019                   

 

Buzzcocks / Joy Division Autumn Tour 1979 Gig Schedule

"We were regulars at Hemel Pavilion for all the punk shows back in the late 1970s, not being able to afford the higher ticket prices and train/tube fare up to London while in the 6th Form at school. We went over from Harpenden and were searched for fireworks going in to the Pavilion as it was the night of November 5th. Neither band were selling T shirts or badges at this show, which was unusual, so we saved our money. I sat upstairs for the Buzzcocks, as you were always guaranteed a fight on the floor at a Hemel show during the main band, and we'd got tired of the show being disrupted and getting clobbered by a stray boot or fist while trying to see the band. This was normal at most gigs back then, or random violence at some point on the journey to/from a show, so we just took it in our stride. We thought it was a great chance to see 2 Manchester bands together that John Peel always gave a lot of support to, especially as Joy Division were really creating a buzz at that time.

We watched Joy Division from the floor, close to the stage with a handful of others while the 'cool punks' stayed drinking lager at the bar, ignoring them. Tim knew their music better than me, and thought he was the only person in town that liked them. He thought they were more hard and louder than the records. I thought they were okay but the songs all sounded the same, and a bit over-hyped by the NME but they had potential.  The only song I recognised was "Digital". They just came on and played the songs, and didn't say anything to the audience. I wasn't really converted to being a fan of their music by any of this, but needed a lot more listens to their music to really get what the fuss was about.

Buzzcocks were tremendous, and into their 3rd album by now, so the show was well organized and they were on top of their game. I'd seen them on the Love Bites tour here, and this set was just as good. The crowd quickly filled up the floor and leapt around madly to all their songs. NME had described them as cold and mechanical on an earlier tour date, but that would have applied better to Joy Division's set at this point in time. Pete Shelley chatted to the audience as he always did, and their set list was I Don't Mind, Moving Away From the Pulsebeat, Ever Fallen In Love, Sixteen, You Say You Don't Love Me, Mad Mad Judy, I Don't Know What To Do With My Life (interrupted by a fight in the crowd for ten minutes, then resumed), Hollow Inside, I Believe, Noise Annoys, What Do I Get? and Boredom as the encore.

Some naughty chap let off an air bomb firework outside the main exit doors as we left, which made for an interesting ending and was VERY LOUD. On the drive home, Tim and I agreed we were both a bit unsettled by Ian Curtis' dancing and manic appearance on stage, feeling like they were taking advantage of his odd illness-related behaviour to make the band stand out instead of getting him help. How little did we know then......"


Simon Neil October 2024