Ian Curtis to be Honored in Photo Exhibit
by Ellen Houlihan | 00.00.0000

The late great Ian Curtis of Joy Division will be honored with a photo exhibit of a legendary early club appearance at South Manchester's Bowdon Vale Youth Club in remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the influential singer's suicide attempt which resulted in untimely death.

Captured three months before the band's Unknown Pleasures was released twenty-six years ago by photographer Martin O'Neill on on March 14, 1979, the early club appearance is one of storied proportions having been limited to an intimate crowd of 150 teenagers.

Of the memorable evening, O'Neill offers, "Frankly I can’t remember too much, just being told to ‘f--- off’ by Peter Hook when I climbed on the stage and then being scared to death when Ian Curtis started dancing. Beyond that the only other thing I remember was thinking Stephen Morris is a really good drummer."

O'Neill looks forward to the exhibit with much enthusiasm yet slight trepidation, noting, "It’ll be interesting to see how many people claimed to be there on the night though. I’d really like to meet other people who genuinely were there, but this could end up a bit like the Sex Pistols at the Free Trade Hall which everyone seems to claim to have witnessed."

The Ian Curtis photo gallery tribute will run from May 3rd until May 7th at Hale Library, a neighboring establishment to the now extinct Bowdon Vale Youth Club, which to date houses a post office.