Anyone who’s even somewhat familiar with Peter Hook is likely aware of the fact that he’s not the biggest fan of his former bandmates in New Order. SInce parting ways with the band back in 2007, Hook has made it clear that there’s bad blood, going so far as to sue his ex-bandmates back in 2015. Those hard feelings also come through in Hook’s autobiographical writings, which include The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club, Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, and Substance: Inside New Order.
For those who’ve read Hook’s books, one thing that also comes through clearly in his writing is his sense of humour, which was also on display with his first words to the crowd as he took to the stage on Saturday night: “So who’s got Oasis tickets, then?”
Oasis ticket issues aside, the fans certainly came out in full force for Saturday night’s Peter Hook & The Light gig at History to see a set full of stone cold classics as Hook and the band played both the New Order and the Joy Division Substance albums in their entirety. It’s almost impossible to put on a bad show when you’re performing the greatest hits of not one but two legendary acts before a packed house full of devoted fans. And unsurprisingly, Hook and The Light delivered, putting on a fairly high energy show that had many singing along.
Doing things in reverse chronology, the band started off the first half of the show with a set of New Order songs before moving on to Joy Division after a brief intermission. I must admit, it was nice to hear all that Joy Division stuff live, with numbers like “Warsaw” and “Dead Souls” (introduced by Hook as Ian Curtis’ favourite Joy Division song) standing out as particular highlights.
At the end of a fairly lengthy set (30 songs in total), Hook turned to his bandmates and said, “You ready boys? Let’s fuckin’ go!” before launching into the song that even those who hadn’t sneaked a peek at setlist.fm knew was coming – “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
So yes, Hook has made it clear over the years that he’s certainly not the biggest fan of the current iteration of New Order. What he is still a fan of though, is the music they made together as both New Order and Joy Division and through his live shows with The Light, he’s keeping the music alive while giving the fans exactly what they want.
Nice one, Hooky.
