What are the odds?

Remember the cruise that screwed me over by substituting a visit to Norfolk Island with three days at sea and BRISBANE?

Well, to rub salt into the wound, one of my favourite bands – New Order – has just announced an Australian tour next year … and the dates are exactly when I’m stuck at sea.

Nooooooooo!

A few weeks ago I wistfully told DD how much I wanted to take him to a New Order concert and it was like I’d wished the tour into existence when I got the notification they were coming.

New Order was the soundtrack to my late teens. Every Saturday night I’d hit the dancefloor at a scruffy little wine bar in Newcastle called The Gunfighter’s Rest. We’d dance up a storm under the ultraviolet lights as the dry ice steamed from our Dingo Dangler cocktails.

We didn’t document every moment of our lives on social media back then, so I don’t have a single photo to show you from the Gunnies days.

All I have are the memories.

It took me until I was 48 to actually see New Order live on stage, when they appeared at Vivid Sydney in 2016.

I was having dinner with DD’s mate Cliff when he mentioned he’d bought two tickets to see New Order but his wife couldn’t make it because she was going overseas. Talk about a serendipitous moment – I immediately offered to buy her ticket.

New Order has a special place in Cliff’s heart because he grew up near the original band members. He has all their LPs, including the latest ones.

I hadn’t been aware there were latest ones. My knowledge ended around the Blue Monday era.

Stunted playlist knowledge aside, finally seeing them live was the bulkest, most awesome fun.

The eldest also became a bit of a fan in his late teens. I’d hear the strains of their hits drifting out from under his bedroom door.

When I heard New Order were returning to Sydney I asked if he wanted to come along.

And so we found ourselves battling the Harbour Tunnel traffic to the Hordern Pavilion in March 2020, a few days before Australia’s first lockdown, to see them perform.

It was a weird moment in time when all the hand sanitizer had sold out but people were still in denial – the queues at the bar were 10 people deep and the Hordern Pavilion was a sweaty, heaving mass of humanity.

Wow, what a concert! The songs Temptation and Blue Monday were transcendentally glorious. They alone justified the ticket price. Magic.

The eldest loved the concert too. We raved about the gig to each other for the whole drive home, which was quite a long time, as it took 45 minutes just to get out of the carpark.

The eldest’s mind was slightly blown when I said I was 14 when Blue Monday came out. My mind was slightly blown that we had that amazing experience together, days before the world shut down.

I am soooooo disappointed I can’t see them perform next year.

Stupid cruise. I would forgive it for keeping me from New Order if it was taking me to Norfolk Island like it originally promised. But it’s bloody not. So I don’t.

Tell me, how do I feel? Tell me now, how should I feel?

Song of the day: New Order “Blue Monday”