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ajames

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Hi

I was the Entertainemnts Officer at ULU back in 1980. We used to co-promote concerts with Final Solution. So it was that we did the Joy Divison show there.

I only saw bits of the set as I was doing promoter things but I was struck by how completely unique their look and presence was. The seemed ultra modern to me. I was an unconfirmed fan until I saw the power emanating off the stage. Then I was smitten. They were a friendly bunch and seemed quite laid back.

I wrote about my time there in the Big Chill book "Crossfade" but only mentioned this show in passing - needed a whole chapter really.

Later on I promoted New Order at the Mersea Island WOMAD after getting to know Rob Gretton a bit through Rough Trade Agency. Rob once saved me from a beating when NF skins attacked a Smiths gig at the GLC.

If anyone knows of where I could find a photograph of the ULU gig please let me know.

I would love to have one.

All best

aj
PhilC

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 

As far as I know the only picture that's ever surfaced from the ULU gig is this one

 

http://www.homestead.com/joydivision/pic42.html

 
TheRealJon

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Who was the photographer? If he took one, he must have taken more.
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PhilC

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 

The Ideal for Living book credits it to one Santo Bastone...
Marko

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 

Hi Aj

 

We're always looking for more information and images for the gig listings on the Joy Division central site.

 

I phoned the ULU about a year ago asking if they had any records of the gig at all but, like all the other venues I have approached, they didn't. I don't suppose you have anything do you? Advert in a student union mag or something?

 

Marko
ajames

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Hey thanks everyone. What a friendly board this is.

I'll have a look in my files. I definitely have a copy of Paul Morley's NME review but you probably have that already. Not sure whether I have any of Colin Faver's fliers or tickets left. The funny thing was we rarely advertised these gigs as they tended to sell well on word of mouth. Final Solution were good at getting the print out to all the right places. Incidentally the fliers were the first examples of colour xeroxing that I saw used. Before that it was Gestetner machines, b+w photocopies or off set litho.

I definitely have an A4 leaflet (done like the artwork for Ceremony) for New Order's first London gig at the Forum but I guess that's for another board.

Thanks

aj
davis

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 

I was at the ULU gig with Ian and Andy,fellow Millwall,and Paul,Charlton,maybe a couple of others.We threw alot of beer at each other.I totally remember Dead Souls,despite substances and consumption on monumental scales.I saw Mr Morley.On our way home we trashed everthing in sight on our way to Goodge St.Thanks JD,great gig.
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davis
Candy

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
This was the best London gig Joy Division did - they really concentrated. The version of "Passover" is unsurpassed. What made it different from the Lyceum gig a few weeks later was the singularity of the event and the band rising (somewhat modestly) to the occasion - reaching towards the 'Closer' material that nobody had heard. Ian was still fit but incredibly nervous as well. Lyceum doesn't have the same edge, exactly, and by the time of the Rainbow/Moonlight gigs things were elsewhere. ULU is/was a quintessential moment.
TheRealJon

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
That version of Passover remains my best live moment and I was lucky to be there.
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Still

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 

Agreed, the ULU gig is one of my favourite ones also. The band sounds very tight and there are some good versions of some of the tracks.
Brett

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 

Jon, agreed.  I've just listened to Passover from this gig, and having never really given it much attention before, I now have to say that it's one of the finest moments in the live JD canon.  Ian's cold delivery combined with Barney's controlled feedback squalls are out of this world.  And Barney's soling at the end!  He could be a real Hendrix at times that boy Sumner.
davis

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 

Ok,look I know Im a late arrival but you know,for fuck sake ,where is all you others who where at ULU.I mean I remember some of it,but where is the rest of yous.The best comments so far was from Candy,but that was after I had a go.I remember the bar,at the back a bit stage left,from audience persective,er fuck...Me and my mates where sitting backs against a wall on stools or benches,we drank alot and slung alot of beer everywhere,about 6 to 7 meters from the bar,we saw Paul Morley,and yelled abuse at him.They came on,no Ian,they started Dead Souls,Ian wandered out,and sang.I remember some of the lights...the Lyceum was worse cause the bouncers threw me out just before they came on,but I was there,almost.I mean,is this a thing for people who listern to bootleg casettes,or was you there?
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davis
TheRealJon

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
I bunked school to travel to ULU and get the tickets for me and my mates. I bought 4 but got given 5 and sold the spare one for a fiver - a real result for a callow 16 year old.
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davis

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 

Now weve got ajames,TheRealJon,and me Davis in the gang,er Candy I cant figure out,youve written the best stuff about this night,youve actually inspired me to follow this up,but you havent said if you was there.Lets get more people in the gang.
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davis
Candy

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
I was there as it happens, sat at the front of the balcony, watching forever...

Not sure I want to be in any gang, however - Nor am I one for smashing things up on the way home - I experienced ULU more as a revelation, had seen them on every available TV appearance and live only previously in the more narrow confines of the Buzzcocks tour.

Paul Morley drifted across the downstairs main auditorium looking windswept and noticeable, 5 mins after the band had played 'The Eternal' and 'Digital' as an encore. It was quite an intense evening, the mood of events was high and this was following the seminal John Peel session of the Closer tracks.

It's not being part of a gang, it's more a question of having been touched on a level beyond words and so any response is valid, the tension between the personal and the universal.

Even so I can't do with people who shout to their mates all the way through a concert. I can understand why they do it (more often than not they're pissed). When I was recording the gigs btwn 81/85 it was always a snake manoeuvre to avoid the audience bawling one foot away from the microphone. But it's the way things go. It seems to have got worse recently.

Joy Division's music expresses really well the sense of compassion and in a weird way, that's what the version of Passover expressed that evening. I also remember being totally mystified on first hearing The Eternal. WTF was that? A prototype version of In a Lonely Place...

davis

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 

Alright Candy you dont have to join a gang.It was good to read more of your description of that night.I mean, you understood what was happening at a point where I couldnt stand up.I can see that you dont like a couple of my comments,and youre right I was a fuckin idiot at that point.That night was magic Im dragged back to it all the time,Id like to hear your recording.
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davis
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