Joy Division concert

19th April 1980: Ajanta Theatre, Derby
Supported by Section 25 and XL5

These photos from the concert were supplied by Steven Pares and Gary Wood. They were taken by Charlie Kenny - who owns the copyright. They are reproduced here with his permission.

Copyright Charlie Kenny

 Copyright Charlie Kenny


Songs performed:
01. Dead Souls
02. Wilderness
03. Digital
04. Insight
05. Passover
06. Heart And Soul
07. Isolation
08. These Days
09. Transmission
10. She's Lost Control
11. Colony
12. Girls Don't Count/jam with SECTION 25


Two recordings of this concert exist:

1) Appx. duration. 50 mins. Sound quality 8+/9
Girls Don't Count is incomplete on this tape

2) Appx. duration 45 minutes. Sound quality 7+/9
This tape does not have Colony or Girls Don't Count


Poster image courtesy of Darrell Buxton and Mark Gale


All 12 songs appear on the following bootlegs:

Beginning Of The End LP

That'll Be The End LP

A Journey That Leads To The Sun 2CD

Live at Ajanta Theatre Derby U.K. 19.4.1980

Ajanta Cinema, Derby,.. LP

A Cry For Help CD

My Heart And Soul - Live April 1980 LP

Dance To The Radio: Ajanta Theatre, Derby... LP

Ajanta Theatre Derby,.. Cassette


Songs 01-11 appear on the following bootleg:

Waiting For Our Sight LP


Songs 01-10 appear on the following bootleg:


Dead Souls LP


Some songs appear on the following bootlegs:

Le Terme LP

Le Terme *Part II* LP

Rough Trade Deutschland 7"EP

Out Of The room LP



Thanks to Tim for the ticket scan




(C) Copyright The Sam Winfield Collection






Pirate Poster:

Some time around 2012  "high quality reproduction concert posters" started appearing on eBay.

While well designed, and featuring a photo of Ian Curtis from Lanteran Rotterdam 16 January 1980 by Rob Verhorst, these posters have been designed from scratch and are not reproductions of the original.




Steven Pares who lived in the area gives this account of the venue:

For your interest I might just mention that I've always seen this gig referred to as the Ajanta Theatre, but back then we all knew it as the Ajanta Cinema. The name is an Indian name because it used to show Indian films, because Derby had (and has) quite a large Indian and Pakistani community.
The cinema itself was just outside the town centre and at that time pretty much stood on its own, as I remember.
That remoteness - and the fact that it was a bit run down and seedy - made it ideal for holding punk gigs. I saw quite a few
bands there between1978-80, including ATV, Stiff Little Fingers, The Lurkers, Manicured Noise, The Pop Group, The Slits, The Mekons.
I'd say Joy Division were the biggest name band that played there (especially as it was so late in their history)


This gig was reviewed by George R Ross in 'Bias' - the Nottingham University Students' Union newspaper published May 7th 1980:
It was to the Ajanta Cinema in Derby on Saturday night that two of Factory Records' bands, Joy Division and Section 25, came.

The cinema still has most of its tatty seats fixed firmly in their rows, but some at the front have been removed to allow dancing.

The first on were XL5, a local band, who warmed up the audience with their 1977 thrash-punk style, which only impressed on the first song and didn't get an encore.

Section 25 were next on stage. They are a three-piece band, utilising some complex electronic equipment, as well as drums and guitars, to produce some fine songs similar to the Pop Group, The Human League and Scritti Politti in their jagged, cutting way. Titles like "Cambodia" set the mood for the evening in its apocalyptical fashion, incorporating jungle drumming and flickering, machine-gun bursts of wailing guitars as a background to the monotone vocals.

Joy Division came on stage to resounding applause, and kicked off with "Dead Souls". The magnificent, deep voice of Ian Curtis, deadpan and ultimately spine-chilling, contrasted sharply with his manic dancing during instrumental interludes.
The bass guitar quietly set the beat, the drummer varied it, and the lead guitarist viciously attacked it in a way that seemed the songs would destroy themselves before they finished. The set progressed, and I mean progressed, and peaked with their rendition of "Transmission", their bitter attack upon the stagnation of live radio, in which Curtis repeatedly urges the listener to "Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio"; and "She's Lost Control", a track from their album "Unknown Pleasures".

They came back for two encores, but it wasn't enough. There were so many songs, like "24 Hours", or the future single, "Love will tear us apart" (a masterpiece indeed), which they didn't play, that the audience was left unsatisfied, still tense and expectant.

Perhaps this is what the group wanted to achieve, a desire to see the band again. I certainly will return to see them for a fourth time, when they come round this area again, and I strongly recommend you to do the same.

Joy Division are a reminder that we are now in the eighties, and they are setting the pace for them.


(C) George R Ross and reproduced here with his permission
   
In 2004 George has the following recollections to add to the above: The main thing that I remember about the JD gig, aside from the fact that I had been desparate to see them, was Ian Cutis' dancing on stage. On the previous occasions I had seen the band he had been fairly lively and eye-catching, but this time he was almost maniacal (as mentioned in the review). I had previously spent some time working with autistic and mentally-handicapped children and I could not help but (subconciously perhaps) liken his movements to some of them. I know that some of the audience, less used to the band perhaps, were amused and maybe even a little embarrassed. From what I remember the main spotlight (white) was on him leaving the rest of the band in almost total darkness.