Live Transmission
WORDS: Ryan Heeger (Editor)
The case for and against tribute acts can be slugged out elsewhere, but for my part I've been a Joy Division fan for a long time and was looking forward to enjoying a sliver of that which shall never be again.
Transmission?tout themselves as 'the sound of Joy Division',?but hopes for a plate-eyed, gangly frontman in a brown shirt and slacks throwing otherwordly shapes were dashed as the instrumentalist four-piece opened their set with Shadowplay.??
The space left by absent punters in Barfly was soon utilised by squiffy fortysomethings impersonating?JD frontman Ian Curtis, while his vocal duties were shared by guitarist Simon Tong and bassist Youth (living up to his one-word moniker by looking like he'd be better placed?in a Stone Roses tribute).
The classics were all ticked, with?Love Will Tear Us?Apart being an obvious highlight, while Atmosphere will always be a soundtrack for Curtis' final act, and morbid reflection in general.?
Musically faultless and vocally faithful to Curtis' deep tones, Transmission came pretty damn close to recreating what I imagine an early?JD gig would have been like. The scuzziness of the venue also helped.??
Set closer and?my favourite JD?track Disorder?left?us satisfied?(in sound?at least), and although I wouldn't rush to see them again,?they are worth closing your eyes to for a tiny piece of something long gone.????
