PETER HOOK AND THE LIGHT | LIVE REVIEW
Tramshed, Cardiff, Fri 17 Mar
Peter Hook has been busy since his departure from New Order in 2007. Spending his time between musical projects and writing tell-all books about his time in Joy Division and New Order, as well as extensive touring. Since performing Unknown Pleasures in its entirety back in 2010, what was meant to be a one-off show extended into a tour showcasing the classic Joy Division albums in full. Peter Hook has now followed it up with a tour of the Substance albums – collections of singles and rarities that span the scope of what the classic years of both bands had to offer.
The Tramshed is packed tonight as the crowd get ready for a massive 31-song set. Peter Hook and his band hit the stage and start off with Lonesome Tonight, which gets a good response despite being a bit lesser known. By the time we get more well known tracks like Ceremony and Blue Monday there’s plenty of middle-aged heads bobbing along, with the dads’ disco in full swing by the time we end with True Faith and 1963. The songs certainly sound dated to younger ears but it’s hard to deny the influence they’ve had over the years.
After a short break, Peter and co return to the stage for the Joy Division half of the set. They start off with No Love Lost, an early track that showed a young band still figuring things out. From there we get more notable tracks that show how the band progressed from their early sound to the two classic albums. It’s a bit strange seeing Peter not bother to play the bassline of She’s Lost Control himself; in fact for a lot of the set he leaves most bass duties to his son. It’s a bit disappointing that someone known as a bassist wouldn’t do just that, but that’s a minor gripe at an otherwise pretty stellar show.
We finish with performances of Atmosphere and Love Will Tear Us Apart that are practically worth the ticket price alone, ending a night of nostalgia that is worthy of any fan.
words MATT LEE photos NATHAN ROACH