Conceptual artist Liam Gillick is behind the amazing light show you can see, he's collaborated with New Order to design the set and show throughout the performance.

He has created a living, responsive art show to accompany the live performances, adding an entirely new dimension to the experience.

He took inspiration from the band's revisited repertoire in transforming the Old Granada Studios.

Over the past year, New Order have worked alongside composer Joe Duddel, externall, to create an entirely new experience of the New Order repertoire.

What you can see behind the band are a 12-piece synthesizer ensemble, lead by Duddell, from the Royal Northern College of Music, external.

Shellshock originally appeared on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack, and is apparently loosely inspired by the 1983 John Robie song ‘One More Shot’.

Like many of the songs you'll hear tonight, it's not exactly how you remember it - these tracks have been torn apart, ripped up and pieced lovingly back together again - accompanied by a 12-piece orchestra and a light show. Not bad for a Thursday night, eh?

We'll be going live any second - and we'll be providing you all the need to know info about the gig, the light show and the accompanying exhibition True Faith, external at the Manchester Art Gallery.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we will.

We're about to go live to New Order + Liam Gillick at Old Granada Studios, and hope you'll stay with us through the entire stream.

Including a 12-piece orchestra and a responsive light show, it's like no other gig you've seen before. Settle in - it's time to watch the masters of electro-pop-rock in action.

Young poets from the spoken word collection Young Identity have been visiting shows across our festival and creating beautiful poetic responses.

Some in reaction to Sampha , externalcan be found below, and you can see them all right here, external. Enjoy!

Sampha

No one knows me like the piano

in my mother’s home,

The colour code of our

conversations is always black and white,

And no one ever spoke to me like

it mattered,

Writing notes for you from here

because on the page they’re too clunky,

They fit between lines like two fat men in a doorway,

My pen is Benandonner running

back home over the causeway,

So I decided my notes would reach you better,

If they came from the piano in my mother’s home,

Because there’s no one that

knows me better,

– Owen O’Connor

Yung Turk’s Process

He brought his feelings in a

backpack,

This Yung Turk arrived via Sierra

Leonne and a SM4(8) postcode,

No one knows him like the Piano

in his mother’s home,

Throne centre stage, in Albert’s

castle of subjects

He sang us a tale of his Process.

– Recce Williams

Submerged

‘Do you need some air, lad?’

I’m just fine,

I’m just fine,

Only the surface of the sea betrays me,

walked on water

and left damp footprints up your

spine I said they weren’t mine,

I’m not sure you believed me,

But it was easier to,

The music was easier three

floors below.

– Roma

Learn more about Young Identity poets, external.

Image source, MIF

Our New Order + Liam Gillick So It Goes , externalshows have been a real highlight of the Festival, but the tickets have been like gold dust. Gutted to have missed out?

Well, we've got a real treat for your tonight: from 9:10pm, right here, we'll be live-streaming part of tonight's gig at Old Granada Studios. To get you in the mood, enjoy our cheat sheet about the band.

Name: New Order

Special Skill: Pop-punk/electronic dance rock fusion

Born: They formed in 1980 in Manchester, and consist of the remaining members of Joy Division after the tragic suicide of Ian Curtis (though the line-up has changed a lot over time)

What should I know?Over 30 years old and still pushing at the boundaries of electronic rock, New Order are undisputed musical pioneers.

From their mega hits like Blue Monday and True Faith, to perfect dance album Lowlife and Brit-Rock surprise Get Ready, they are constantly innovating with a tough-as-nails spirit. As Miranda Sawyer puts it in her Guardian article:

“Revolutionary music made by anti-musicians who use machines to produce emotion, who mix electronic sounds with guitars, who represent the racket and the attitude of the city that binds them together.” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/new-order-music-complete-interview, external

What to say at a dinner party:“By stepping away from the abrasive minimalism of Joy Division, New Order embraced technology to create an amazingly electronic repertoire, that still manages to feel organic.”

What should I do next?Listen to True Faith again, it’s great. Ideally accompanied by the mind-bending video:

See you back here at ten past nine!

We announced a live-stream of part of New Order's sold out gig tonight, and Twitter has been going wild! Join us from 9:10pm tonight for the gig of the year. It sounds like one not to miss...

Another day dawns, the fairy lights twinkle into life, and in the distance, you can hear the very faint sound of a cold drink being poured. Welcome to Festival Square.

First thing's, first, better load up on some food, there's a long day ahead... While we're digesting, why not take in the music?

Image source, MIF

...Lots of music.

Image source, MIF

In the meantime, better check out what's going on today...

Image source, MIF

Not sure what to go for? Well thank goodness for cheerful volunteers...

Image source, MIF

Sure, there's the drop of the occasional (if anything, very charming) Manchester rain...

Image source, MIF

But hey! It doesn't last long! Before you know it, the place is full, bustling, drinks are flowing and so is the chat.

Image source, MIF

And then the show begins. Of course, there's always a show.

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Right, that's enough of that! You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!

Image source, MIF

But let's do it all again tomorrow? @MIFestival #loveMCR

Image source, MIF

With deepest thanks to The Mancorialist , externalfor the photos. Find out more about Festival Square. , external

Image source, MIF

Electro-pop-rock fans rejoice! We're going to be live-streaming part of tonight's New Order gig at Old Granada Studios right here at 9:10pm.

Just tune in here, and see one of the world's most iconic bands play as you've never seen them before, introduced by artist Liam Gillick and curator Dave Haslam and accompanied by a 12-piece orchestra.

We cannot wait. What are you most looking forward to?

Tweet us @MIFestival, external, #neworder

The hotly anticipated experimental dance piece 10,000 Gestures , externalopens this very night: 25 dancers, one hour, not a single movement repeated.

If you're having trouble imagining it (and we don't blame you), we've managed to get access to exclusive shots from last night's open rehearsal, take a look:

Image source, Tristram Kenton

Image source, Tristram Kenton

Image source, Tristram Kenton

Image source, Tristram Kenton

Image source, Tristram Kenton

Learn more about 10,000 Gestures, external

Brilliant local artist Saffa Khan was inspired by the tales of journey, home and togetherness in ToGather, and has created a zine that brings together many stories around this theme.

The stories are created in workshops, external led by Saffa, in which she encourages people from far and wide to contribute their tales.

Image source, MIF

Read the finished issue 1 of the zine for yourself, external, it really is a beautiful thing.

Learn more about Saffa's work on her website, external, Instagram, external and Twitter, external.

Image source, MIF

Young Identity, external is a Manchester-based Spoken Word Collective, and we've been lucky enough to get some of their brilliant young poets to react to shows from our programme.

First up, a few responses to our dance piece, Available Light, external:

Visible

her day’s restlessness


knots her back like the


turpentine,


She says ‘her body looks like


mine, I’ve never seen a body like


mine dance like that,


except when my mirror catches


me in the act’

– Roma 


Unavailable light

in the smoke


i found movement


prosodic poses waxing prose


in a moment


limbs


throwing poetry


at the sober darkness


Closing on bodies like tempo


Allegro wrists cutting


Light to strings,


Keeping us


Taut.


There are


Epics in my leg


Flex about all the battles


Ive fought.


A primal language


That mortal tongues contort


Into winning and losing


To speak is


To teach


Muscle


To forget


How to sing.



In the mist


I found my shadow


Was bigger than yours


Transfiguring


Seconds


Into beats


Transposing


Humanity


From freaks


As stasis transforms


Humans


Into bodies.

Life imitates art.

Art imitates life.


And the dance i do


No mother can bring herself to teach


So my notions of motion


Resemble a painting


As my limbs are framed


By chalk outlines


In


The


Street.


 – Frankie Blaus 


Our demise

Day no longer knows night,


orbiting the synchronicity of one,


and the light cannot comprehend itself.


So when the night comes it acquiescences


to the luminous sun, audaciously setting


red, orange and golden,


orbiting the synchronicity of one.


We are complicit in our own demise.

He came in looking and


sounding like
a brotherman, she: a tribal


warrior


holding all of our tomorrows in


wombs that


once grew life, but have become


a something


in our mimicking of each other.


We our complicit in our own


demise,

We learn to dance in one accord,


losing self to the syncopation of


a designer lifestyle,


we are the hive, dancing to the commands of others.


All is mundane. Seeds that once knew good soil


have become infertile in barren lands.


And we learn to dance to someone else’s rhythm,


We our complicit in our own demise.


 – Sam

Learn more about Young Identity, external

Jane Horrock's industrial gig-musical Cotton Panic!, external is striking chords (please excuse us) with audiences across Manchester.

It's the tale of the hardships of North-West mill-workers in the late 1800s, and how they stood in solidarity with the slaves in America's deep South - refusing to allow the injustice they saw, and fighting from across the ocean for their freedom. Yes Manchester!

Here, look at some great shots from the show - and be proud of your northern roots (if you have them, if not, the shots are pretty great anyway).

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

Jon Howard
MIF17 Creative50

The Propaganda-iser is a Twitter bot built by digital artist Jon Howard that takes any picture posted with the hashtag #propaganda_me and converts it into a Soviet-style propaganda poster. How amazing is that?

Friedrich Engels, the German philosopher and social scientist (and focus of our closing ceremony), spent many years living and working in Manchester - the experience influenced him greatly in formulating numerous works including The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx.

Engels featured on many Soviet propaganda posters - and so the Propaganda-iser has been produced to let people become part of a propaganda piece, this time, one that celebrates Manchester.

Image source, MIF

So what do you do now?

Simply, using the hashtag #propaganda_me with an image will instantly cause the Twitter account @propagandaiser to tweet a poster of the pic. Letting the world join in with the celebration of MIF's conclusion: Phil Collins' Ceremony, in an utterly unique way (and you can see some truly brilliant examples below!)

@swingpants, external

@propagandaiser, external

#propaganda_me

Want to watch something utterly hypnotic?

You won't find anything more mesmerising than this video piece by two local artists Tasha Whittle & Dyllan Zain, who were inspired by our Dark Matter gig series to create a multi-faceted insight into pulsing darkness.

Both artists went to the show, the sound influenced Tasha's subconscious visual mural - having no preconceived thought in the creation process, she painted what matched to the sound from her head to her hand. Whilst painting she was wearing a 'Myo' band which was programmed to respond to movement with sound. The sound output was made into a track by Tasha which was then used by Dyllan to project map the visual he created onto the mural.

This project goes full circle in a sound - visual - sound - visual response, touching on the energy and elements of Dark Matter and how all things are interconnected. We absolutely love it.

Tasha Whittle: @thecolouringbox, external

Dyllan Zain: @dyllanzain , external

With thanks to:

Siemens, Islington Mill & Jonathan Boothby

Tonight we're lucky enough to stream part of the New Order gig LIVE from Old Granada Studios at 9:10pm - so let's find out more about what we're in for...

We've got some amazing news: we're going to be live-streaming part of tonight's Granda Studios New Order gig, absolutely free, right to your homes.

Just tune in here at 9.10pm, and see one of the world's most iconic bands play as you've never seen them before, introduced by artist Liam Gillick and curator Dave Haslam.

This MIF world premiere sees New Order deconstructing, rethinking and rebuilding a wealth of material from across their career for audiences of just 1200 a night. Inspired by this reinvention of the band’s catalogue, Liam Gillick transforms the historic space at Old Granada Studios into an immersive environment, creating a stage set that responds dynamically to the music.Mancunian composer Joe Duddell conducts and provides the orchestrations for a 12-strong synthesiser ensemble from the Royal Northern College of Music, put together especially for these shows.

Image source, MIF

Image source, MIF

We absolutely cannot wait. See you back here, 9:10pm sharp.

Image source, MIF