Editing Joy Division (section)

=== Live performances ===
In contrast to the relatively polished sound of their studio recordings, Joy Division typically played loudly and aggressively during live performances. The band were especially unhappy with Hannett's mix of ''Unknown Pleasures'', which reduced the abrasiveness of their live sound for a more cerebral and ghostly sound. According to Sumner "the music was loud and heavy, and we felt that Martin had toned it down, especially with the guitars".<ref name="Mojo 1994"/>

The group did not typically interact with the audience during concerts. According to Paul Morley, "During a Joy Division set, outside of the songs, you'll be lucky to hear more than two or three words. Hello and goodbye. No introductions, no promotion."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Morley |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Morley |date=16 February 1980 |title=Simply the First Division |magazine=NME}}</ref> Curtis would often perform what became known as his "'dead fly' dance", as if imitating a seizure; his arms would "start flying in [a] semicircular, hypnotic curve".<ref name="Mojo 1994"/> Simon Reynolds noted that Curtis's dancing style was reminiscent of an epileptic seizure, and that he was dancing in the manner for some months before he was diagnosed with epilepsy.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=115}}

Curtis' diagnosis made live performances difficult for the band. Sumner later reflected in 2007, "We didn't have flashing lights, but sometimes a particular drum beat would do something to him. He'd go off in a trance for a bit, then he'd lose it and have an epileptic fit. We'd have to stop the show and carry him off to the dressing room where he'd cry his eyes out because this appalling thing had just happened to him."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lester |first=Paul |date=November 2007 |title=Torn Apart: The Legend of Joy Division |magazine=[[Record Collector]]}}</ref>