Acklam Hall, London (Thursday, 17May79): Factory Records contacted Final Solution to set up Joy Division’s next London date, and Rob Gretton even had 100 or so special badges made up by Better Badges London which read "Joy Division At The Acklam" (sic) (Fig. 19). Unfortunately, despite advertisements in the rock press and handbills passed out at record shops, only about a hundred people (many of them rock journalists) turned out for this ‘Factory Night". Joy Division had been well-received in the small club atmosphere of The Hope and Anchor and Marquee, but they were still not well enough known to hope to fill a hall the size of the Acklam as headliner, especially with the support of other Factory bands even more obscure than they were.

Bowdon Vale Youth Club, Altrincham (Wednesday, 23 May 79):

Although this was part of the Factory Tour, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark did not show up at Bowdon Vale because they thought that the stage — really only a low platform in the corner—would be too small for a two-piece band, its equipment, and (in their case) fluorescent lights. At one point during Joy Division’s set the stage lights went out, sending Ian into a real flap. He had been hard at work learning to play the guitar and when it went dark he could not see the chalk marks he had put on the neck to show him the chords. This gig was one of the few times Joy Division played the Still version of "The Kill".

Royalty Theatre, Holborn, London (Sunday, 17 Jun 79): With John Cooper-Clarke.

Unknown Pleasures (LP; Fact 1 0/Factus 1; rec. Apr 79; rel. Jun 79):

1. Disorder 1. She’s Lost Control
2. Day of the Lords 2. Shadowplay
3. Candidate 3. Wilderness
4. Insight 4. Interzone
5. New Dawn Fades 5. I Remember Nothing

Joy Division’s debut was first issued as FACT 10, and contained a message in the run-off groove which reads "This is the way" (A) and "Step inside" (B) from the song "Atrocity Exhibition". The American edition, FACTUS 1, reads "I’ve been looking for a guide" (B) (a variation on the lyric to "Disorder"). The sleeve of Unknown Pleasures was Peter Saville’s stark design (Fig. 20) which contradicted many proper design principles and was the better for it. ‘Everything on Factory is designed, as opposed to decorated" (Saville, Sep 79). Record sleeves usually evolve from ideas supplied by the band themselves — the graphic on Unknown Pleasures being suggested by Bernard’s discovery of the intergalactic scream of a dying star. The group had originally suggested a white cover with a black inner sleeve but agreed with Saville that the image would be stronger with a black cover. Having an "inside" and an "outside" to the album "was a purely arbitrary design decision which had to do with my having a black label on one side of the record and a white label on the other side" (Saville, Sep 82). The photograph on the inner sleeve was given to Saville by the band who had cut it from a book, and it wasn’t until two years later that Saville found that it was really a very famous picture by Ralph Gibson.

The Basement, Cologne, West Germany (Tuesday, 15 Jan 80): The next stop on the tour more than made up for the "disaster" at Antwerp the night before. The club in Cologne was situated in the basement of an old church, and the stage on which Joy Division set up was between a set of massive arches. The atmosphere of the concert was outstanding, the audience was made up of crowds of German punks who were very enthusiastic about the band’s music, and the sound was greatly enhanced by the odd acoustics of the arched and vaulted crypt

Club Lantaren, Rotterdam, Holland (Wednesday, 16 Jan 80).

Plan K, Brussels, Belgium (Thursday, 17 Jan 80) (Figs. 40-42).

Effenaar Eindhoven, Holland (Saturday, 18Jan80): During the end of "Ice Age", a group of English in the audience were jeering Joy Division by chanting "One, two, three, four. Get them off and out the door". Peter, not always known for massive under-reaction, quieted the boisterous ones perfectly by playing the bass line from "Dead Souls", their next song, in time with the shouts.

Club Vera, Groningen, Holland (Saturday, 19 Jan 80).

Kantkino Berlin (Monday, 21 Jan 80) (Fig. 43): "It was really strange when we went there with Joy Division.. . the atmosphere.. strange.. . It was quite alot like Manchester... Berlin... It had a cold atmosphere... Anonymous. . . an evil atmosphere. You could feel the evil... You could feel it from the war" (Bernard, May 81). It is interesting to note that these European gigs highlight the refusal of the band to play the same set every night. Often Steve made up the proposed set list just prior to Joy Division going on stage, the group appears to have freely transposed the playing order, and seems to have considered each song the equal or near-equal to any other in their current catalogue. Returning to England on 23 Jan 80, Joy Division took another short and well-deserved break from touring. Like the holiday prior to the European jaunt, they used the time to write still more songs, including "Incubation" plus "AsYou Said", "Heart and Soul", and "Komakino" the last song being named in memory of the venue in Berlin (or for the dance of the same name used by Japanese mediums to hypnotise their audience and cause them to see visions).