Massive Joy Division Boxed Set of Concert Recordings Due in September
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- Rhino will release "Eternal (Live)" on Sept. 25, a 14-CD and 2-DVD boxed set spanning 16 live performances from March 1979 to May 1980, marking the first full compendium of Joy Division's concert material
- The set includes two previously unreleased shows (Hope and Anchor, London and Acklam Hall, London), three previously uncirculated recordings, a previously uncirculated Brussels concert on DVD, and Apollo Theatre Manchester material previously available only in part on VHS in 1982
- Joy Division's live recordings were meticulously sourced from audience cassettes, soundboard tapes, and radio broadcasts — including the Amsterdam Paradiso January 1980 set, described as the "mother of all live Joy Division recordings," an unusually long radio broadcast because the opening band failed to turn up
- The boxed set was mastered at Abbey Road Studios and features cover photography by Wolfgang Tillmans (2023), artwork by Peter Saville and others, a booklet with notes by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, and a new edit of a Malcolm Whitehead film
- Joy Division never played the same set two nights in a row and regularly performed deep cuts irrespective of album or single releases, meaning the set draws on a wide repertoire beyond their two studio albums
- The Voltz Clarke Gallery in NYC opens "Ian Curtis: Insight" on June 25 (through July 22), exhibiting handwritten lyrics, photographs, personal letters, and artifacts from the Ian Curtis archive at the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester
Why it matters: For decades, Joy Division fans have relied on piecemeal bootlegs and out-of-print compilations; this 14-CD set consolidates 16 shows into one archival package mastered at Abbey Road, making the band's notoriously raw live sound — distinct from Martin Hannett's studio production — officially available for the first time. The release arrives ahead of a long-awaited Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for Joy Division and New Order, giving collectors a definitive document before that ceremony.
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