Peter Hook & The Light @ The Gov, Adelaide 10/10/2017

A near capacity crowd crammed into the Gov to witness a musical journey through the greatest phases of Peter Hook’s career, in Joy Division and New Order and his current band ‘Peter Hook and the Light’.

Peter Hook and The Light consists of Jack Bates (Hook’s son on bass), Andy Poole (keyboards), Paul Kehoe (drums) David Potts (guitar) and Peter Hook (lead vocals, bass and electronic drums).  The band played 2 separate sets of New Order (NO) and Joy Division’s (JD) hits for over 2.5 hours, which with Hook being a member of both iconic post punk groups.

Hook arrived on stage with the crowd showing their loud applause and appreciation.  Hook’s stage attire featured the unshaven look accompanied with an untucked black ‘Boy’ t-shirt over a baggy pair of cargo shorts along with a pair of elastic sided work boots; a striking look for the Manchester born rock heavyweight.  Hook’s piercing eyes were glaring at the audience with ‘the look’ that it’s about to get real serious quickly.

The set opened with Dreams Never End with a signature NO style beat accompanied with Hook’s unique ‘spoken’ vocal style. This placed the crowd in a mood where nothing else mattered except the 5 musicians on stage.  Blue Monday was a crowd favourite getting everyone dancing, highlighted by unique playing style with the trademarked wide stance and stare.  Hook’s son Jack on bass performed great bass duets with his dad, happy to play in the background but with intensity and high-calibre musicianship.  At times Hook struggled to hit the high notes, leaving room for David Potts to chime in to sing these lines to perfection.  NO have such a great back catalogue of hits including many top 10 singles, which the band created live effortlessly. Highlights of the NO set were Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith which got the cautious crowd bouncing around, with 1963 to end the first set.

After a short break the darker and moodier onslaught of Joy Division songs commenced, with No Love Lost beginning the set followed by Disorder. The JD devoted crowd were now in their element and the band responded complemented by Hook’s sharp vocal range more suited to the deeper and heavier JD songs. Highlights included Leaders Of Men and Digital, with the distinctive bass and drums matched with the crowd’s echoes of the ‘Day In, Day Out’ in the chorus line. The speed of Dead Souls (a cover Nine Inch Nails) and Atmosphere were other crowd pleasers.  Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures is one of the great albums of all time and the opportunity to see one of their original members perform its songs is a treat for all in the room, to witness this great performance.

As expected the opening notes to Love Will Tear Us Apart received a mighty roar with the faithful fans knowing the end was near.  The band performed an extended version of this absolute legendary anthem, a fitting end to the show and an Ian Curtis tribute. While farewelling the audience as it is his custom, Hook took off his black t-shirt, wiped sweat from his forehead, he then presented it to a diehard female fan in the front row. Hook then took to the microphone one last time, declaring, “Good night, god bless and take care of yourselves,” leaving the stage for the final time, signalling good-bye to the very supportive crowd.

Review by David Kerr

Peter Hook and The Light Set List

New Order Set

Dreams Never End
Procession
Cries and Whispers
Ceremony
Everything’s Gone Green
Temptation
Blue Monday
Confusion
Thieves Like Us
The Perfect Kiss
Subculture
Shellshock
State of the Nation
Bizarre Love Triangle
True Faith
1963

Joy Division Set

No Love Lost
Disorder
Twenty Four Hours
Komakino
These Days
Warsaw
Leaders of Men
Digital
Autosuggestion
Transmission
She’s Lost Control
Incubation
Dead Souls
Atmosphere
Love Will Tear Us Apart