Live music review: New Order back in Utah after 35 years at Kilby Block Party 2025
By now, most indie rock fans have heard about Kilby Block Party, the mid-tier sized festival that has taken place in Salt Lake City over the past six years. The paean to indie rock produced by S&S Presents has grown in stature in the music festival scene each year since it was founded in 2019 with a single-day event at its namesake Kilby Court’s location in SLC’s Granary district. This year’s expansion to a fourth evening of music was largely driven by the availability of England’s New Order who hadn’t played Utah in 35 years. The cutting-edge act whose music still sounds fresh and relevant almost four decades later, represents acts that are most influential to the bands that played Kilby Court over the years. KBP had to expand the schedule when they realized New Order could be gotten. Given the size of the Thursday night crowd yesterday, it was the right call.
New Order kicked off their set promptly at 8:30 p.m. on the main stage with the darkness of Joy Division’s “Transmission” thrilling long-time fans before performing “Ceremony” which was fitting as the song was the group’s debut single in 1981 and originally a Joy Division song before the untimely death of the song’s vocalist, Ian Curtis. The tragic nature of the band’s history is a thread that runs through the entire history of New Order which still be Joy Division if Curtis was still with us. The mood turned more celebratory with next track “Age of Consent” a much-loved song from 1983’s Power, Corruption and Lies. Only three tracks into a 15-song setlist, the band had the crowd wrapped around their little finger already.
The mix of deeper cuts with New Order hits made for pleasant journey with the New Order catalog. The band performed beautifully and vocalist Bernard Sumner did a stand-up job bringing those classic hits to life for the Kilby faithful. The surprise of the evening came with the introduction of Salt Lake City resident and The Killers band leader, Brandon Flowers who joined the group to sing verses of mega-hit “Bizarre Love Triangle” to cheers from the locals and an apology from Sumner for waiting 35 years to return to the Beehive State.
The second half of the performance ratcheted up the visuals with lasers flying across the fairgrounds in addition to the impressive video screen and light show. New Order saved hit “Blue Monday” for the second to last song in the set. The song is best-selling 12-inch single ever and a popular club track that commemorates the passing of Curtis.
The band left the stage following closing song, “Temptation” before returning to play encore, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” a classic Joy Division song that was only released as a single a month after Curtis’ death.
All photos by Christopher Alvarez
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