A couple of months ago, with much anticipation, we made our way up to Ryde Theatre for the Transmission gig.
Being ardent fans of Joy Division, we’d been really looking forward to seeing Transmission re-create the sound of Joy Division live on the Island and they certainly delivered the goods.
We caught up with the band before the gig to find out what inspired them to come together.
Apart from keyboard player Josh, the rest of the band, Chris, Paul and Colin are clearly all of an age where they probably saw Joy Division play live in the late 70s/early 80s.
Having known each other since childhood and all been in other bands making music independently, they finally decided to join forces to recreate the sound of one of their favourite bands – Joy Division.
Whilst chatting to the lads, they made it very clear that they don’t like to be considered a ‘tribute band’. Their aim is just to recreate the sound and atmosphere of the Joy Division, so don’t expect to see an Ian Curtis lookalike body popping on the stage during their performances.
Interestingly, a couple of people in the audience both commented to us that they thought the band looked more like a Clash tribute, but once the first few chords of Shadowplay started it was clear who this band were paying tribute to.
The Venue had taken the decision to close off the back section of the theatre, a wise idea unless you’ve got a sold out gig, sadly many punters were still lingering near the back of the theatre as the second track, Ceremony, started.
As any musician will agree, much of the performance comes from audience feedback and having people standing at the back of the theatre chatting can, in some circumstances, make a band feel uncomfortable. Luckily these lads from Manchester weren’t put off by this and gave a stellar performance regardless.
By the time they played Digital, the atmosphere had evolved, not only from the music, but with the front section of the theatre filling out well with appreciative music fans.
If you were in the audience and wondering why lead guitarist Paul, who also does vocals on many of the tracks looked like he was a left handed guitarist playing it right-handed, ten points for observation.
The vocals shared between Paul and Colin are brilliantly executed and Chris’ performances on drums was a sight to behold. He must’ve been totally exhausted by the end of the set.
Having not had the honour of seeing Joy Division play live all those years ago, we left the theatre feeling more than satisfied with our night out and hope that Transmission return to the Wight sometime soon. We reckon they’d go down a storm at Bestival.
The band told us afterwards that during the set someone had managed to pinch the hand painted backdrops that the band had brought along.
Luckily whilst sitting in a bar down the road after the gig, guilt got the better of the thief who admitted to one of the band members of pilfering the artwork and duly returned it.
Check out what else the band had to say …
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/transmission-interview-ryde-theatre.mp3]
If you missed the gig you can always check out the Transmission MySpace which has several tracks recorded by the band.
Images: Chris Cowley Contrast TV
