Over the weekend the Replacements’ set list from their Primavera Sound appearance in Barcelona last week started to circulate online. Much of it was the same from what most cities were getting from the reunited ‘Mats — including us at a memorable Converse Rubber Tracks show at the Sinclair in April — but one new thing jumped out: a cover of Joy Division’s 1980 classic “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
Brad Searles of Bradley’s Almanac first tipped us off to it, but no video seemed to exist. We were left to wonder whether it was a full-on cover of the entire song or just a snippet. Adding to the intrigue was that it led into a classic Replacements track, “Left of the Dial,” making one hell of a one-two punch of perhaps the best sounds from both post-punk and college rock.
Now thanks to a fan-filmed video, we have the answer. And it’s about a minute of unexpected bliss warming up a few minutes of known bliss. And we think the Replacements are the only band that could forget Ian Curtis’ lyrics and get away with it.
Check it out below…