The tribute to the post-punk pioneer first appeared in October 2020 on a house in Port Street in the city’s Northern Quarter. Local artist Akse created the mural in collaboration with Headstock, a festival designed to bring together great music with mental wellbeing, in a bid to raise awareness for mental health and to promote Shout, a mental health free text messaging service constructed to help people with their mental wellbeing.

It’s come to light that the iconic Ian Curtis mural on Port Street has been painted over with my album artwork. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, me and my team are getting this fixed pronto. No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian.

MCR

— Aitch (@OfficialAitch) August 16, 2022

The rapper, however, to his credit, was quick to dispel any knowledge of the mural being tainted by an ad for his album, reassuring his Twitter followers of his desire to bring back the original artwork. He stated on the platform, “It’s come to light that the Ian Curtis mural on Port Street has been painted over with my album artwork. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, me and my team are getting this fixed pronto. No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian.”

The repainting of the mural will be done once more by the original artist Akse but in a different location, given that 75 Port Street now reportedly cannot be used anymore. The Star and Garter pub on Fairfield Street, a few streets to the South West of the original location, is now reportedly set to be the new location for the mural after it was revealed that Headstock are applying for planning permission to re-home the magnificent depiction of Curtis on the side of the pub.

The repainting of the mural is without a doubt a victory for Headstock and for the mental wellbeing of the people of Manchester and beyond and will, in turn, delight fans of Joy Division and of Curtis himself, who, after suffering from depression and epilepsy, sadly took his own life at the young age of 23, just before the release of Joy Division’s second album Closer and the group’s first North American tour.

Watch Joy Division perform “Transmission” on BBC music show Something Else in 1979 below:

Joy Division bassist and New Order co-founder Peter Hook was present, helping cut the ribbon by the new mural. Created by street-artist Akse, the work is based on a 1979 photo taken at The Factory/Russell Club in Manchester, right by Macclesfield bus station, by Kevin Cummins.

Peter Hook helps to cut the ribbon at the official unveiling of the Ian Curtis mural by @Akse_P19, taken from a Kevin Cummins photograph, in Macclesfield this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/Hz4Aq1eQTu

— Joy Division & New Order Pics (@JDNOPICS) March 26, 2022

Hook was obviously emotional about the whole thing. He said “I am actually very honoured to be here, and to do this, because to me it’s about time Ian came home …. I’m watching all the people going down the street and every single one of them is drawn to it. Some young kids walking down had no idea who [Curtis] was but now they do. Hopefully they’ll listen to the music and get the gist of what we were trying to do as kids.”  

The mural was funded by Cheshire East Council, a sign that Curtis’ home town is very proud of their own home-spun musical icon. Nick Mannion, who is chair of the economy and growth committee, said that “I am a huge fan of Joy Division – the cultural significance of the band and Ian stretches well beyond my home town of Macclesfield. This is such a proud moment, I’m feeling very emotional about it right now.“

If you’re interested in some other things artist Akse has been getting up to recently, he’s done murals for the likes of Captain Tom Moore (the WW2 veteran who raised money for the NHS in run-up to his hundredth birthday) and footballer Marcus Rashford as part of his portfolio.

As for Hook, he’s back in the limelight touring with his outfit Peter Hook and the Light. They’re due out on their ‘Joy Division: A Celebration’ tour next month with 12 dates lasting from April 7^th-30^th, an event where they’re expected to be playing both classic Joy Division albums in full, alongside some New Order material as well. And after that there’re some dates dotted around the UK and Ireland for July and November (as well as Europe and the USA for those of you this applies to). Tickets and full touring dates can be seen following this link.

UK dates begin exactly two weeks from tomorrow… Have you got your tickets?https://t.co/aRq5vk7N7r pic.twitter.com/kHxBrhnKA6 — Peter Hook (@peterhook) March 23, 2022

The Band’s sound has been described as post funk and electro-dance they credit Bowie and Neu as their musical influences. New Order has released 10 studio albums and has achieved particular success with albums “Power, Corruption & Lies” (1983), “Technique” (1989) and “Substance” (1987).

The Band disbanded in 1993 and reunited in 1998. They have been thorough hiatuses and band changes following the departure of bassist Peter Hook in 2007.

Remaining band members Bernard Sumner (Lead vocalist, drummer and guitarist), Stephen Morris (Drums, percussion and keyboards), Gillian Gilbert (keyboards, drums, programming), Phil Cunningham (Guitars, keyboard and electronic percussionist) and Tom Chapman (Bass and keyboards) now make up the band.

The band have announced that they will be performing a one-off concert on the 8th of September in Halifax. Lonelady and DJ Tin Tin are the opening acts billed to also perform.

New Order tweeted:

Ahead of our show at Heaton Park, we’re delighted to announce a one-off gig in Halifax on September 8th with @LoneLadyHQ and DJ Tin Tin.

Ticket information can be found here >> https://t.co/stWbelDAQI#NewOrderHalifax pic.twitter.com/uLqXRdyaEQ

— New Order (@neworder) August 4, 2021

The band will be following up their one-off concert in Halifax with two UK dates and are playing their first concert for four years, in their hometown Manchester at Heaton Park on the 10th September.

The band expressed that:

“The connection between ourselves and Manchester has played a pivotal role in who we are as a band”

New Order will also be performing at the 02 in London for another one-off gig on the 6th of November and embark on their postponed US Tour with the Pet Shop Boys on the 18th of September.

The band released episodes of their podcast “Transmissions” in December 2020 which detailed their journey from Joy Division to New Order when announcing their UK Tour.

New Order UK Tour dates are below. Tickets are available here.

08/08/21 Prince Hall- Halifax
10/09 Heaton Park- Manchester
06/11/ 02- London

He explained that Be a Rebel was originally written for the last album, 2015’s Music Complete, but never made it on. Its new incarnation is a remix by Sumner himself, made during lockdown. Some fans have expressed disappointment that New Order’s long-awaited return only takes the form of an old album leftover being remixed, but nevertheless there is a buzz about it.

New Order rose like a phoenix from the ashes after the death of Ian Curtis and dissolution of Joy Division. After starting off in the shadow of their former band, New Order have managed to arguably surpass Joy Division in popularity.

Their first single Ceremony in 1981 used lyrics that Curtis had written a week before his death. This and their subsequent debut album, Movement, was fairly similar to the sound of Joy Division. Both Sumner and Hook seemed to be trying to emulate the dreariness of Curtis’ vocals and the lyrical content was equally dour.

It was after the band started spending time in New York City that they began to find their unique sound. The thriving underground club scene there in the early eighties was accompanied by the sounds of Chic, Sylvester and Afrika Bambaataa.

Sumner’s told Q magazine in 1991: ‘I literally saw the light when I was in New York with New Order and I went to this club… someone had spiked my drink with a tab of acid…and all of a sudden this electronic music – Giorgio Moroder, Afrika Bambaataa – made sense’. Sumner had seen the light, electronic dance music was the future.

From then on, New Order experimented more heavily with electronic equipment and synths, creating innovative dance tracks like Confusion and famously Blue Monday in 1983 that epitomise their fusion of post-punk and dance music. This movement from ‘dark gloomy gothic group‘ to ‘disco divas’ was described by Jon Savage as ‘incredible’. But the seeds may have been sown as early as the Joy Division days when Curtis used to bring Kraftwerk records to band rehearsals.

Blue Monday was New Order’s first big hit. That distinctive thumping dance beat from the drum machine and the video-game-like synths still get the crowds going. The iconic use of church organs gives the song a sense of reverence and Sumner’s vocals were by this time hitting the mark. This time there was no attempt to recreate Curtis’ voice because let’s face it, no one could.

With their 2015 release Complete Music, however, the band lost some of their early energy. Likewise, Be a Rebel is a pleasant listen, but ironically sounds more dated than their earlier output. Let’s hope the phoenix that is New Order will rise once again.