Joy Division

28th September 1979: The Factory I (Russell Club), Manchester  Two different tapes of this concert exist
With Teardrop Explodes and Foreign Press 

   
In 2009 a tape surfaced featuring an incomplete mixing desk recording of the first few songs from the concert:

01 - Atmosphere (fades in)
02 - Wilderness
03 - Shadowplay
04 - Insight
05 - Colony
06 - Twenty Four Hours (fades, incomplete)

Appx. duration: 20 mins. Sound quality: 8+


All songs appeared on the following bootlegs:

1979 LP

We Were Strangers LP

Paris - Live Transmission


Songs 1 to 5 appeared on the following bootlegs:

I'm Not Afraid Anymore CD

Warsaw - Middlesbrough 14th September 1977 / Joy Division - Manchester 28th September 1979 LP


According to Paul Barrowford's review Atmosphere was the first song on the night. He also states that the following were performed:

Interzone
She's Lost Control

Transmission (Encore)
Atrocity Exhibition (Encore)


... and he says the entire concert was 45 minutes long, plus the chaotic encore, which suggests we still don't know the entire set list for the night.


In addition the 2009 tape included a non-mixing desk recording of part of the soundcheck:

01 - Twenty Four Hours

Appx. duration: 2 mins. Sound quality: 8


Thanks to Simon Park for the poster scan


800 people squeezed into the Russel Club to watch Joy Division's final gig at the venue before it shut down, for the first time anyway.

Ian had an epileptic seizure just before they went on stage but he carried on and gave an excellent performance despite being badly shaken by the experience.

There was some violence - caused by a group of resident Skinheads who often caused trouble at concerts especially the bigger ones where there were lots of strangers. Peter Hook left the stage during the encore to sort them out ...

   


It appears from this flyer that Joy Division were originally set to play the day after - Saturday 29th

Thanks to Daz for the scan - he has a number of replica flyers for sale

John Nic was there:
"I remember Pete Hook Jumping off the stage wielding his bass like a giant Sledge Hammer, as far as I could tell he didn't actually make
contact with anyone, but his bass did hit the floor snapping the neck of the Rickenbacker in two, not surprisingly it was never seen again.

So any pictures of Hooky with a Rickenbacker Bass would pre-date this concert."

   
This is what Paul Barrowford wrote in a fanzine(?) review at the time: "The lights were dim - Joy Division take to the stage and open with a new song called Atmosphere. The piece is slow, gothic, and features Ian Curtis on guitar. Four or five other songs are played the best being Colony, old favourites like Interzone, Wilderness and especially She's Lost Control get the audience bopping frantically. 45 minutes later and asuperb, controlled set is finished. The band return for Transmission, a false start, try again. At this point an incident occurs which spoils the whole evening. 

Someone must have been having a go at bass player Peter Hook as half thru Transmission he starts attacking this unknown person with his bass. The incident continues with Hook chasing the person thru the audience and ends in a scuffle near the cloakroom. hook returns to the stage and disappears into the dressing room. The band (minus Hook) continue with Step Inside [ie Atrocity Exhibition] and finish.
Attempts to find Paul, who owns the copyright on this article have so far been unsuccessful. Let us know if you can help
   

From the Manchester Evening News