2 March 2021
(Father and son in Belgium 2018 – pic by Turn Up The Volume!)
In the UK – 2022
In Australia & New Zealand – 2022
In Brussels – Sept 2021
Hope to see you there… Hooky
The Light Live…
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT: Facebook
All new 2021 dates for Europe and the UK here.
Hi, Hooky, hope to see you soon…
(photo by Turn Up The Volume!)
Back in 2011 JOY DIVISION‘s original bass player PETER HOOK and his band THE LIGHT recorded a 4-track EP with covers of four Joy Division crackers, titled 1102 / 2011, with the wonderful Rowetta (who recorded and still tours a lot with Happy Mondays) on vocals on
3 of the 4 tracks. It contains a spine-tingling rendition of ATMOSPHERE. With ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart‘ one of the most gripping songs the Manchester legends ever wrote. Rowetta‘s vocal performance is just breathtaking and will send shivers down your spine.
Here’s the magic…
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT: Facebook / ROWETTA: Facebook
1102 / 2011 EP available on iTunes
Who: Peter Hook & The Light
Song: Temptation (single New Order from 1982)
Where & When: In Mexico City, 2013 before an entirely euphoric crowd
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT: Facebook
Artwork TEMPTATION 1982 – stream original NO version here
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT – Depot Venue in Leuven, Belgium – 2017
(photos by Turn Up The Volume!)
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT – Het Depot in Leuven, Belgium – 26 January 2017
After a successful appearance at a Belgian festival last summer flamboyant bass player PETER HOOK, former member/co-founder of legendary bands JOY DIVISION and NEW ORDER already returned to my home country to play a staggering 31-song set. The almost 61-year-old, tireless Mancunian musician got into a nasty legal fight with his lifelong friends Bernard Sumner & Stephen Morris when they decided a few years ago to reform New Order without him. In return Hooky started to play extensively with his proper, excellent, band THE LIGHT, performing only songs from his two best known old bands’ repertoire and… with success. On his current tour the show starts with an elevating, dancy New Order set and continues after a short break with a Joy Division mix of early punk anthems and some of the dark greatest hits. Here’s the setlist…
Nostalgia drove the highly excited crowd, with a legion of loyal British fans in front of the venue, to ecstasy and spirited sing-alongs. Peter Hook isn’t the best singer in the world but his vocal achievement is genuine, intense and honest (a couple of ones are sung by his splendid guitarist). What struck me (again) was the timeless power of most of the songs. Like they were written only yesterday. In the end it’s that imperishable quality that turns a PETER HOOK (and his cracking band) show into a fantastic night out. Here’s some magic footage of an old Mexico City concert to illustrate yesterday’s atmosphere in Belgium…
TEMPTATION (New Order)
LOVE WILL TEAR US APART (Joy Division)
And some of my pics from yesterday’s triumphant gig…
Dance, dance, dance to the radio…
Classic Hooky pose…
Tireless and victorious…
Father and son…
Peter Hook also published recently a new book ‘Substance: Inside New Order’
You can read an extensive review by British newspaper The Guardian here .
ATMOSPHERE is probably both the saddest and most beautiful JOY DIVISION track ever, released just before and after IAN CURTIS‘s tragic death (18 May 1980). A drama loaded and truly gripping electronic symphony with spine-tingling Curtis vocals. At first, in 1979, the Manchester band recorded a demo of the song, then called ‘Chance‘, for a London radio session. In March of 1980, the pearl was released, quite strangely, as a France-only single – by small record label Sordide Sentimental – with ‘Dead Souls’ as the B-side. Following the unfortunate passing of the troubled young frontman Atmosphere was re-released as a 12″ single by Joy Division‘s familiar label Factory with ‘She’s Lost Control‘ as the B-side. Here’s a version by original bass player PETER HOOK and his band THE LIGHT (still touring the world successfully with tremendous performances of New Order and Joy Divison classics) featuring the fabulous Rowetta (who recorded and toured a lot with Happy Mondays) on vocals, dating from a few years back. Enjoy the epic rendition here. Really magnificent!…
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT: Facebook – Tour – Twitter
Artwork of the legendary 12″ edition released two months after Ian Curtis tragic death…
