Published on August 28th, 2022 | by Darren Paltrowitz
0A Look At Peter Hook & The Light’s Packed Show At New York City’s Terminal 5 With El Ten Eleven
A co-founder of 2 legendary bands — New Order and Joy Division — Peter Hook is the rare sort of musician who has been influential, critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful. Prior to New Order disbanding in the early 1990s, Hook began producing other artists, including Inspiral Carpets and The Stone Roses. After New Order went on hiatus in the early 1990s, Hook began recording and/or touring with the likes of The Durutti Column, Revenge and Monaco. The bassist would rejoin New Order in 1998, remaining part of the reunited group for nearly a decade until 2007.
These days, Peter Hook keeps busy with a variety of projects. He has written 3 published books. He has collaborated with a host of other artists, including The Crystal Method, Gorillaz and Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party. He was one-third of the band Freebass with The Stones Roses’ Mani and The Smiths’ Andy Rourke. He has launched a music insutry-themed masters program at the University Of Central Lancashire. And as the frontman and bassist of Peter Hook & The Light, Hook has been touring the world — Mongolia included — with New Order and Joy Division-themed live shows in recent years. Last month, I had the honor of speaking with the well-spoken and well-informed Peter Hook via Zoom about these projects and what else he has coming up, as embedded below in video form.
Last night — August 27, 2022 — I had the pleasure of seeing Peter Hook & The Light live at New York venue Terminal 5, from which video highlights filmed by Melissa Paltrowitz are below. The evening was started off by El Ten Eleven, a rock-centric instrumental duo which interestingly utilizes heavy looping. Hook and band hit the stage around 9:00 PM with a set of New Order favorites, before taking a break for the audience to learn about the importance of why Hook was wearing a “988” shirt. After this, Hook and band played a set which probably included every Joy Division song you would have wanted to hear, including the full Unknown Pleasures album. One of the best live shows I have seen in 2022.
Peter Hook & The Light’s North American Tour of Joy Division: A Celebration is scheduled to continue through September 14, 2022, as wrapping at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. More on Hook, The Light, these North American tour dates and Hook’s next book can be found here, here and here.