Introduction

For the Manchester International Festival, 2017 New Order took over Stage 1 of Manchester’s iconic Old Granada Studios for this special series of intimate shows, created in collaboration with two close associates: artist Liam Gillick and composer-arranger Joe Duddell, a fellow son of Manchester and a frequent collaborator with the band.

For New Order + Liam Gillick: So it goes.., the group deconstructed, rethought and rebuilt a wealth of material from throughout their career: familiar and obscure, old and new. Performing it live, they were joined by a 12-strong synthesiser ensemble from the Royal Northern College of Music, with Joe Duddell providing the orchestrations.

Inspired by this reinvention of the band’s catalogue, Liam Gillick transformed the historic Stage 1 into an immersive environment, creating a stage set that reacted dynamically to the music.

A pre-show soundscape entitled Breathless was created and recorded for MIF17 by the Option (Paris), in collaboration with Dave Haslam.

Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, OGR and Wiener Festwochen. Produced by Manchester International Festival.

Click here to watch the performance, followed by a conversation between Dave Haslam, Liam Gillick and Peter Saville