It has been announced by Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division that they will be performing live in Lewes early next year and that they are bringing The Pink Diamond Revue along with them as well.
It has amazingly been more than 40 years since the release of Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ album, which hit an unsuspecting world on 15th June 1979. The cover artwork was certainly iconic and can still be seen on the high street to this very day. It was the inspiration of artist Peter Saville, who ‘borrowed’ the image of a data plot of signals from a radio pulsar. It was sadly the only Joy Division album released during lead singer Ian Curtis’s lifetime. It’s a classic album!
As was the follow up ‘Closer’ which was released on 18th July 1980. This album too was adorned with a truly memorable cover, especially as Joy Division’s lead singer/songwriter Ian Curtis had passed away two months to the day earlier and the image had already been selected prior to his departure. A strange coincidence!
‘Closer’ is adorned with a photo taken of the Appiani family tomb, as seen in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Italy. The subject matter was sculpted by Demetrio Paernio in 1910. It is a very moving piece indeed and one that has stayed with us via the album cover for nearly 40 years now.
Obviously it is impossible to now see Joy Division playing live, but a very close approximation is the Joy Division tribute band ‘Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division’. I have seen them live and can confirm that although the new players do not strive to look like the originals, they DO sound like them! Read the account of that concert HERE.
Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division will also be performing live at The Con Club in Lewes on Saturday 10th February 2024. Tickets for the performance can be purchased HERE.
Further details on Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division can be found HERE.
The Pink Diamond Revue will provide support on the night but exactly what is it? The way we see it is an electro-amalgam of 1987-89 ‘Music For The Masses’ era Depeche Mode; the electro-psych vibe of TVAM; ‘Peter Gunn’ flavour Art Of Noise; a snippet of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and lashings and lashings of Sheep On Drugs imagery and sounds that the likes of Marc Almond would adore. The way The Pink Diamond Review see it “A world where ‘60s film soundtracks meet sampladelic acid house in a baggy-punk rathole somewhere in Interzone”.
The way they see it ...”Live band fronted by Acid Dol a model from another dimension”. The way we see it is two guys, namely chisel-edged featured ‘Thin White Duke’, London based guitarist and vocalist going by the name of Tim Lane accompanied by Reading based drummer Rob Courtman Stock and fronted by the top half of a female mannequin doll, that they may or may not be obsessed with! See what we mean HERE.
More info on The Pink Diamond Review can be found HERE.
