New Order's 1981 performance at Taras Schevchenko in the East Village is seen as a pivotal moment in the band's chronology, one of the gigs where they found their voice away from the looming specter of Joy Division. Their early run through eventual new-wave classic "Temptation" is the key moment: The song's not all the way there yet, or even close, really, but amidst the spiky, percolating synths and gorgeously reassuring bass, you can feel the spark starting to grow of the group that would soon become one of the decade's most important; the raw thrill of greatness starting to be realized. The lyrics could come later.
