New Order – Ceremony (Live 1981)

In 2019, Manchester band New Order decided to share on Youtube this live video of Ceremony, recorded at Manchester’s CoManCHE Student Union on the 6th February 1981. This previously unreleased footage, which would feature on the upcoming Movement Deluxe box set, which was released on the 5th April 2019.

This video was recorded less than a year after the death of Joy Division singer, Ian Curtis. The band had decided to continue in music, changing their name to New Order, adding the girlfriend of drummer Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, to the band on synths and guitar. Guitarist Bernard Sumner taking over the vocal duties!!! He was still struggling with his new job, as you can hear from the video.

Ceremony was released as New Order’s debut single in 1981. The song and its B-side, In a Lonely Place, were written and recorded as Joy Division prior to the death of Ian Curtis, so the lyrics on both songs were written by Ian. Both were re-recorded and then released as the first material by New Order. The single was released twice, firstly in January 1981 and secondly in September 1981.

I did witness one of the early live performances by the newly formed New Order, on the 24th January 1981, at the Rock Garden in Middlesbrough. Joy Division had also played the same venue way back in 1977, while they were still known as Warsaw. They were the support band to Scottish headliners The Rezillos, along with Teesside band Lice. There is a 30 minute bootleg of the performance which was given to bassist Peter Hook by Bob Last the owner of the Rock Garden.

New Order – Ceremony – Lyrics

This is why events unnerve me,
They find it all, a different story,
Notice whom for wheels are turning,
Turn again and turn towards this time,
All she ask’s the strength to hold me,
Then again the same old story,
World will travel, oh so quickly,
Travel first and lean towards this time.

Oh, I’ll break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, it’s got to be this time,
Watching her, these things she said,
The times she cried,
Too frail to wake this time.

Oh I’ll break them down, no mercy shown
Heaven knows, it’s got to be this time,
Avenues all lined with trees,
Picture me and then you start watching,
Watching forever, forever,
Watching love grow, forever,
Letting me know, forever.