For my birthday, my lovely wife got us tickets to see New Order when they played in Tokyo 2025-02-27. We had a few months to prepare, so the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, while we met up at Ariake Arena after work. The walk was about 20 minutes from Shinonome station; if I go there again I’ll walk from Kokusai Tenjijo since it is about the same distance, but a much nicer walk. From Shinonome you are walking along large roads in a largely industrial area. Ariake Area looked very nice though as I approached:

We had nice seats towards the back of the floor. The upper level seating – the first row anyway – would have been nice too, but I thought out seats were fine.

The opening act was Denki Groove, who I know of, but don’t know well. They play pretty house / club / EDM type stuff. It was nice. I liked their graphics that accompanied the show.

I was there for New Order though.

I should note that before we sat down we checked the merchandise, but the T-shirts were sold out, and while they had some nice stuff (leather jackets! ties! dress shoes!) they were pretty expensive, so we passed.

The music was great – there were a few songs I didn’t know, but for the most part it really brought me back to a high school headspace. I was worried that there wouldn’t be an encore, since they ended on True Faith, Blue Monday, and Temptation. What is left? Of course, I forgot about Joy Division.

They came back and played Atmosphere, and Love Will Tear Us Apart. Very fun set! After the show we went to Ariake Garden and got in at 10:00pm, fifteen minutes before last order. We had a dinner, and got out by 11pm when they close, and home by 11:30pm. It was a fun night!

The setlist (based on my notes and something I found online) was:

1. Transmission (Joy Division cover)
2. Crystal
3. Ceremony
4. Age of Consent
5. Isolation (Joy Division cover)
6. Krafty (Japanese version)
7. Your Silent Face
8. State of the Nation
9. Be a Rebel
10. Sub-Culture
11. Bizarre Love Triangle
12. Vanishing Point
13. Plastic
14. True Faith
15. Blue Monday
16. Temptation
17. (Encore) Atmosphere (Joy Division cover)
18. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover)