Peter Hook & The Light rolled into Glasgow to play a jaw dropping two hours and five minutes set made up of thirty tracks at the O2 Academy recently. How many musicians can you name that are able to do that? Well Bruce Springsteen, Green Day and Taylor Swift spring to mind but there aren’t many others, with no support for the tour it was straight into the main act as they took to the stage at 8pm prompt. It’s actually two sets that we get tonight as Hook plays the full New Order album Substance that was released in 1987 followed by the 2010 compilation of Joy Division songs that was also called Substance as well as a few other hits. The venue is packed out downstairs with a few empty seats upstairs, we thought it would be a good idea to watch the New Order set up in the balcony and afterwards head down to the barrier for the Joy Division set as a little experiment.
The first of the fifteen New Order tracks in the first half is Regret, not from the Substance album but 1993 release Republic followed by Crystal from 2001’s album Get Ready. The crowd reaction to both of these songs being played is electric … well downstairs anyway, upstairs it’s a lot calmer, with not much movement going on at all unfortunately. The track livens it up a little as the first bass chords are played by Peter Hook, it is an instantly recognisable song as we are treated to the Monaco hit What Do You Want From Me? a band that Hook had been a part of in the 1990s after he left New Order. It’s definitely a crowd sing-along moment as we all belt out the chorus in cohesion “What do you want from me/It’s not how it used to be/You’ve taken my life away/Ruining everything”, We have been waiting to hear this being played live in Glasgow for a few years now and tonight that dream comes true, it’s a track with everything: great lyrics, bass and keyboards making it one of the best of the night.
Hook is joined by his band members David Potts (guitar), Jack Bates (bass), Martin Rebelski (keyboard/synth) and Paul Kehoe (drums) and collectively they gel perfectly as they have done for a few years together now. Blue Monday is by far the most recognisable New Order track and gets the loudest cheer of the night when they play it, sounding very different from the original some of the crowd are up on their feet to help create a great atmosphere. The band continue the high-energy performance working through a few classic tracks such as Thieves Like Us, The Perfect Kiss and Subculture before ending the New Order segment with two big hits Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith leaving the fans wanting more … There would be more, much more.
After a well earned ten minute break we made it down to the front of the standing area for the Joy Division set which would consist of fifteen songs. The atmosphere is so different down here with the crowd right up for what is still to come as the set begins with Exercise One, Heart and Soul and These Days. Hook is commanding the full stage with his unique style of playing the bass as the crowd roar him on. Transmission is one of the best quickly followed by She’s Lost Control as Hook works the crowd into a frenzy, Dead Souls was Ian Curtis’ favourite track to play live comments Hook and Atmosphere is another highlight of the night. The set ends with Love Will Tear Us Apart, a track with more than 438 millions streams at the last count, it’s an instantly recognizable song as EVERYONE is screaming the lyrics back to the stage ending the night on an absolute adrenaline rush and lots of happy smiling faces on the way out.
We have seen Peter Hook & The Light perform a few times but tonight was definitely the best yet. Haste ye back! The UK and Irish leg of the tour ends in Galway on 16th November before the band have a well deserved break until March 2025 when they head out to Europe. 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
