New Order to deconstruct its catalog with a 12-piece synth ensemble at the Manchester International Festival

At this years Manchester International Festival local Mancunian heroes New Order are set to perform five special concerts backed by a 12-member synthesizer ensemble from the Royal College of Northern Music with performances that will feature New Order “deconstructing, rethinking and rebuilding a wealth of material from throughout their career: familiar and obscure, old and new.”

New Order + Liam Gillick: So It Goes… is a collaboration with visual artist Liam Gillick and composer-arranger Joe Duddell. On the visual side of things, Gillick “will be transforming the historic Stage 1 into an immersive environment, creating a stage set that reacts dynamically to the music.”

Bernard Sumner, explained via The Guardian for fans to not expect the hits:

“Can I make it clear it won’t be anything like our normal sets? There will be no Blue Monday, no Love Will Tear Us Apart,” he told the Guardian. “It’s good to do something different at all because that is what we were like when we started, just hopefully not so much chaos.” The songs were undergoing “real, micro deconstruction” he said, “even taking a four-note chord and splitting out those notes to four different players, so each player has a monophonic line”.

The concerts will take place in the old Granada Television studios—where Joy Division appeared on Tony Wilson’s So it Goes. The Dates are June 29th and July 1st, 6th, 13th and 15th, with curation by Dave Haslam & Mark Beasley.

Tickets are available now.

New Order tour dates:

April 7: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai, UAE
April 13: Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
April 16: Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Indio, CA
April 18: Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA
April 21: Great Theater, Berkeley, CA
April 23: Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Indio, CA
June 29: Old Granada Studios, Manchester, UK
July 1: Old Granada Studios, Manchester, UK
July 6: Old Granada Studios, Manchester, UK
July 13: Old Granada Studios, Manchester, UK
July 15: Old Granada Studios, Manchester, UK