Joy Division Atrocity Exhibition - 4th April 1980 - Rainbow, London

Rare recording of Joy Division performing their final song of their support slot at The Rainbow Theatre London. Ian Curtis suffered a seizure at the conclusion of the song and had to be carried off stage by the band roadies.
Later the same evening, the band played at The Moonlight Club in London.
Uploaded for the first time on the 40th anniversary of the gig.
Full set list was:
Dead Souls
Wilderness
Shadowplay
Heart And Soul
Decades
She's Lost Control
Atrocity Exhibition
35 minute set
Recorded from my seat in the stalls. Row RR seat 9.
I had to hastily start the recording due to JD coming on stage so early, probably before 7pm. On my recording, 'Decades' is cut towards the end and the start of 'SLC' is missing too due to a tape flip.
The opening track 'Dead Souls' is now available via • Joy Division - Dead So...
I plan to upload more tracks over time but live in hope that a far superior recording of this historic perfomance by Joy Division is made available too.
Stills in the video fare from Rainbow gig and taken by Robert Ellis and Anton Corbijn
In memory of Ian Curtis
For avoidance of doubt, I do not own the copyright of this material and would urge all those interested in this track to purchase official Joy Division recordings through the usual channels. Their catalogue of material is quite small but the content is stunning.

[@philwilliams953]

I was there. Aged 16. Near the front. There were a few JD fans up behind us, probably near to the recording mic. But I don't remember much applause coming from the crowd at the time.

[@TheSilversurfer61]

Oh God...I was there and still see him falling backwards into the drums.

[@skippyscage]

me also - was a mental night for sure

[@gomaplayzyt3603]

At 6:15 , is it a glitch or do I hear him screaming?

[@Rebelscum320]

You can hear either Ian or Peter Hook yell "Turn the lights off!" at 4:32.

[@IKONtheband]

That's Ian.

[@skippyscage]

wow thanks - this is exactly how I remember the sound on that night

[@livecoilarchive1458]

"Turn the lights off!" That was Ian who said that. Too late. All it would take was a few seconds. He had a fit and fell into the drums. Just an hour or so later, they drove to play at The Moonlight Club, and Ian had ANOTHER fit after just five numbers. Peter Hook later said they should've just canceled some of these last few gigs, but they might have been financially and professionally penalized for doing so. They did what they had to.

[@camerongriffiths9635]

Brilliant, Thanks so much.

[@copeau6104]

Great uploading !

[@ok2760]

Where on earth has this tape been for 40 years?! Would love to know the story.

[@paullewis6443]

I plan to write a few words on post on wycombegigs.co.uk along wirh gig review ☺️

[@bombakdik]

Is this the same gig where JD did the support and foreprogram for The Stranglers concert?

[@TheSilversurfer61]

bombakdik yes it is....memorable night it was.

[@TheSilversurfer61]

Yes, correct. There was also Section25 and a few others, I think.

[@joseantonioalmeida8472]

acabou a exibição de atrocidades ?

[@bombakdik]

I am a big fan from Belgium and I am reading for the second time Touching from a distance at this moment. The JD fansite directed me here telling that you hear Ian asking for turning off the lights but I don’t seem to find where that is on the tape. Also, would love to read more books on JD. Anyone who can help me out where to start? Several books or a maximum as possible is very welcome! Thanks!

[@bojackhorseman5367]

at 4:32, he yells "turn the lights off".

[@Keeleysound]

Check out the books 'Unknown Pleasures and Wayward Distractions' by Brian Edge, 'An Ideal For Living' by Mark Johnson, 'Torn Apart' by Lindsay Reade, 'Chapter and Verse' by Bernard Sumner', 'Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division' by Peter Hook and 'Record Play Pause: Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist - The Joy Division Years' by Stephen Morris. All are indispensible alongside Debbie's book that you're currently reading.

[@hurricanelaughter6880]

Nice one, thanks for sharing. Can we have the rest of the set too please?

[@paullewis6443]

I'm hoping to get some audio experts involved wirh remastering once the current situation eases. Decades is on my Twitter feed @wycombegigs

[@FageOner]

@@paullewis6443 Hello Paul, I'm not an audio expert at all, but I would really like to try to do something with this record. You can see some of my work on my KZbin channel or in my blog: toanend.blogspot.com/ Cheers, Fage.

[@TheArpomni2]

@@paullewis6443 can I ask please, is your recording of Decade's longer than Twitter allowed you to upload??

[@paullewis6443]

@@TheArpomni2 Sadly the recording of Decades was cut due to master tape running out. Slightly longer but not much than the Twitter 2:20 limit.

[@TheArpomni2]

@@paullewis6443 oh what a shame, my fave by JD, thanx for reply appreciated

[@IKONtheband]

Can you confirm the setlist if you have the full tape? Cheers.

[@paullewis6443]

Full set list is below. My tape is 95% + complete. 35 minute set Dead Souls Wilderness Shadowplay Heart And Soul Decades She's Lost Control Atrocity Exhibition Recorded from my seat in the stalls. Row RR seat 9. I had to hastily start the recording due to JD coming on stage so early, probably before 7pm. A couple of tracks are cut due to a tape flip and some recording disturbance at start.

[@IKONtheband]

Thanks Paul.

[@kadenshoemaker6669]

7:16 somebody tell me what he is saying

[@PatrickMapper]

“That was joy division … another excellent gig”

[@markmacdonald2460]

Can't you sort the sound out?

[@bojackhorseman5367]

I think there's only so much that can be done with it, as the high end is all white noise and no actual audio signal present in the higher ranges, and the booming bass sounds like something that can't really be cleaned up because it's the natural characteristic of the rainbow theatre - I'm hoping to be proven wrong, however :)

[@paullewis6443]

Hi Mark, audio is from master tape and best available. If sound quality had been better it would have been shared 40 years ago👍

[@bojackhorseman5367]

@@paullewis6443 to be fair, I think a lot of the die hard JD fans would really appreciate hearing the whole tape even as it is :)