Joy Division (band)

Joy Division was a rock music band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England. The band dissolved in May 1980 after the suicide of its lead singer Ian Curtis. The remaining members reformed as New Order a couple of months later.

Live performances

The usual scene at a Joy Division gig was Curtis in the middle at the front, Sumner standing to Curtis' right, Hook standing to Curtis' left and Morris and his drum kit behind Curtis. The band usually played with little light, probably due to Curtis' epilepsy, which sometimes inhibited his performances. Ian usually held onto the microphone stand for most of a song, only leaving it to dance.

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Curtis sometimes walked off stage after he had finished his vocals, leaving the rest of the band to finish the song without his presence on stage.

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Also, Curtis very rarely spoke to the audience at gigs apart from the occasional "thank you" at the end of a song. At the Preston Warehouse gig, he was unusually talkative, the reason being to keep the audience informed of the equipment failure the band suffered partway through the set. Ian, apart from his emphatic dancing routines, didn't engage with the audience like many 'frontmen' do. He seemed to prefer to perform a song at the microphone and that was that - almost like he was performing infront of empty seats. There was no stage-diving, looking directly at people in the audience or walking around on the stage during performances.

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