Photo Credit: Victoria Smith
Words: Lilly Roberts
PETER HOOK, famously known as the bassist in the iconic Joy Division was the key part in creating the signature sounds of the bands most widely known songs such as ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart‘. Following the death of Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order.
As Hooky returns to his hometown, the people of Manchester fill Victoria Warehouse, ready to relive a night of New Order and Joy Division’s best memories. Taking on a whole 3 hour set, Hooky dives in at the deep end, performing the classic ‘Get Ready‘ album from New Order in full and a second set of all the greatest hits from the days of both Joy Division and New Order.
The crowd begins to fill up the venue and the anticipation grows whilst we wait to take a journey back to the best years of PETER HOOK. The show kicks off with the 6 piece band playing the first song ‘Crystal‘ from the New Order album ‘Get Ready‘. With no hesitation from the band they continue to smash the songs from the album without PETER HOOK addressing his fans. This never stopped the Mancunian crowd from creating an electric atmosphere where the biggest New Order fans really begin to stand out.
As Hooky continues with the full run through of the album we get more songs such as ‘Primitive Notion‘, ‘Rock The Shack‘ and finishing the first set with ‘Here To Stay‘. Now the electric feel of the crowd starts to shine as more and more people fill Victoria Warehouse this is what the people have really came for. PETER HOOK returns on stage as he begins to tell us that his hometown gigs are always when he’s most nervous on stage and continues to give us an insight into the old rock and roll days of New Order. He tells his best memories as he reveals when New Order got back together for the second time he compares it to a “honey moon stage”, take of that what you please.
The crowd then erupts as they recognise the iconic intro of ‘Transmission‘. This is where the audience truly begins to enjoy the legendary songs of Joy Division and New Order. We continue to go back in time with more renowned songs such as ‘Warsaw‘, ‘Disorder‘ and ‘Shadowplay‘. Now we’re reaching the end of the gig and the crowd gets ready to hear the most famous songs as PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT begin to play ‘Blue Monday‘, a real iconic sound of the 80’s. The Manchester hometown crowd displayed their presence when we approached the last song, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart‘, known as the “greatest single of all time” and one of the most defining songs of that era. Quickly taken over by many football fans I’m sure, a great deal of Mancunians enjoyed the experience of this song live in a venue right next to the Old Trafford stadium. With this being the last night of UK tour dates, the band are now ready to take the show to North America.
Photo Credit:
Victoria Smith – York Barbican
Taped Magazine 