Review by Alan Steenson for MPM
Tonight is a special night for me, not only do I get to go to a gig with my son Charlie for the first time I am getting to hear New Order songs again live for the first time since 1989.
To be brutally honest they were shocking that evening playing to a packed Reading Festival which for me was remembered better for nearly dying under the stampede seeing the Sugar Cubes. For me New order were pretty poor and after seeing Hooky last year at Custom House Square playing Joy Division I had high hopes so this review will no doubt concentrate on the New Order side of things
Peter Hook and the Light are made up ofthe man himself, Jack Bates on an additional bass, Paul Kehoe on drums, David Potts on Guitar/vocals and Martin Rebelski on keyboards. Hooky being the only member of Joy Division and New Order but as shown last year he holds his own on vocals for Joy Division tracks.
No support tonight due to the long set list that apparently we will get, the set will be split into two this evening with New Order set followed by a Joy Division Set with the majority of tracks coming from the Substance albums released as complications. In total we are going to be here for at least 2.5 hours which for one act goes well above the call of duty, and at least the punters are getting value for money.
Lights down and our ears were greeted by the sound of ‘Viking Horns’ from the TV show Vikings closely followed by another Viking sample from the title of the 1960’s film of the same name… not sure of the connection between Vikings and New Order but hey I’m sure someone will enlighten me at some point.
Hooky and the lads took to the stage and with a quick hello to the crowd and announcing that they were pleased to be finishing the length tour to finish up in Ireland, then jokingly corrected himself by saying whatever the fuck it is and you all look the same to me…with a quick “here we go” off they went with a roll of cymbals and his familiar bass sound they started off with the first track of the first New Order Album Movement called Dreams Never End, this song signified the transition from Joy Division to New Order and I wondered at this point should they not start with Joy Division then naturally progress to New Order… anyway…putting away this brief cynicism I just listened in awe of the sound coming from the stage… and to my moment of the nigh… yes only second song in and to my total surprise the computer generated sound of ONE TWO THREE FOUR was heard from the backing track signifying the song Hurt which is my favourite New Order track and one that I did not expect to hear, with its glorious synth orchestral sound and Hooky’s bass and vocals I swear I still can’t get that smile off my face, we were even greeted with the harmonica keyboard thing (is that what its called?) played by Potts.
Touched by the Hand of God was next with its opening Hooky point to the sky as it kicked in with brilliant drumming by Kehoe interjecting synth drums with the snare, vocally Hooky was joined by the first time by Potts and at this stage I did notice the similarity in tone to Bernard Sumner, during the song Hooky and Potts rattled out the instrumental part of the end together.
The unforgettable bass riff and guitar of Ceremony brought us into songs from Substance with Potts duetting again and with the thumbs up from Hooky at one point to him when he was playing solo. The set was then draped in green and funnily enough Everything’s Gone Green was blasted out with the spotlights rolling upwards still lit another shade of green to give a brilliant effect. The lights this evening was excellently put together by the team and big shout out to them for adding all the effects that we watched this evening.
As the cheer hit Hooky he was taken aback and said he wasn’t expecting that response, he is a man of few words in between songs but took time to mention an old friend of theirs who used to run Factory USA whose name was Michael Shamburg who created ever video that New Order made, he organised all the ‘wacky’ producers .. Hooky then said “Michael if you are up there with Ian Curtis to say hello from me man” with the fast passed Temptation and the opening line of Heaven a Gateway I know was a fitting song to do any tribute. With the stage lit with what looked like thousands of spotlights it sounded and looked amazing.
At this point I will point out that I am not stupid and the main sound from the set does come from a backing track, but that was no different to New Order, but for me Hooky and his band carry this off in my opinion better… and no better way to have a backing track than the drum machine that brought us Blue Monday with Keogh leaving his drum kit it was down to Hooky, Bates and Potts to give us the live sound, for those old enough to remember New Order made the decision on top of the Pops back in the day to do Blue Monday live in the studio and it stank big time… one of life’s lessons… if it ain’t broke don’t fix it…. And lit in Blue it certainly was not broken, with my son smiling as this was one of the few songs of New Order that he knew well. Lots of posturing from Hooky during some synth moments.
Confusion brought us the first main vocal of the evening from Potts and his tone was very close to Sumner but in tune (If I do appear to be a bit of a Sumner hater I am not… just stating a fact folks) At this stage I am realising they are playing the running order or Substance… for the uninitiated Substance was released in 1987 with its simplistic cover and was rammed with the New Order extended mixes and B sides if you got the double CD. So as per the CD.
Thieves Like Us saw Hooky salute the crowd with a roar of approval during instrumental parts and with a few intro bangs of the drum sticks I realised Keogh was back but only for a hit of the cymbals as they got stuck into Perfect Kiss with its Hooky riff and Potts vocals were spot on in terms of tone and timing the song transformed into a percussion masterclass with hooky on synth drum also as lights cascaded about the stage to the main climax with Keogh finally giving the drums an almighty pounding, the ending was just perfect and yet another high point of the evening for me. The synth drums from Hooky on the introduction to Sub-Culture reverberated across the room by this stage I think my offspring may have been a bit embarrassed by his old man trying to move, but I had more to give when ShellShock and if you want an aural experience get the headphones on and listen to this track at the start on Substance, live didn’t make it sound the same but was still very enjoyable
State of the Nation was never a favourite of mine but can’t like them all I guess, but Bizarre Love Triangle made up the that moment with it’s dancy opening and tingling keys Potts vocals again made this song special for me. The Belfast crowd sang their hearts out during the chorus and this was the best vocal from Hooky this evening also, and so the final song of the Substance set True Faith, New Orders biggest hit from Substance with it’s famous video that made absolutely no sense (Hooky’s reference to wacky video was never better summed up with this one) The track live was awash with instrumental bliss and was a perfect end to a wonderful first set.
So onto the second part of the evening and whilst I am not a huge Joy Division fan I did like the Substance album, the set kicked off with the band entering the fray to the sound of Trans Euro Express by Kraftwerk with tracks that I wasn’t that familiar with but before that there was a full set change from New Order, with new guitars etc decked out for a more traditional sounding 4 piece band (with the extra bass of course)
The set kicked off with No Love Lost and These Days with a reference to 44 years since Ian Curtis passing and a God Rest His Soul before they kicked off into the set, the sound immediately sounding the opposite of New Order with the drum and bass laden introductions that Joy Division were famous for.. from the outset you can tell the band really love playing these songs compared to the New Order Set and the crowd also responded brilliantly. From Safety to Where slows things down but back to speed again with Interzone with Hooky pointing to the crowd while he sang “looking for some friends of mine” Warsaw really punched me in the face with its opening Three, five, 0, one, two, five GO! And for me was the best song in this set with its punky opening and its call to the crowd to join in on “Three One G” the first three parts of Rudolf Hess’s serial number for which the song is about. Leaders of Men was followed by Digital another classic Joy Division track with its anthemic ‘Day in Day’ out chorus to which the crowd lapped up joining in with “fade away” at the end.
Next was Autosuggestion sloing the pace agin but with Transmission we were back to familiar territory with Hooky taking up stage right with the set lit bright blue, to this point the lighting was subdued with the band taking centre stage but now it was ‘Hooky time’ with the crowd singing back Radio live Transmission in full voice back at him.
For me Joy Division have some stella tracks and She’s Lost Control certainly falls into this bracket with it’s synth drums was the prelude to the New Order sound with Hooky’s deepest tone creating a real special sound for this song. Shadowplay gave us some moments where Hooky soaked up the appreciation with his bass slung behind chest out and loving the feedback delivered by the crowd, with his crouched stance he stared straight at us as he played bass again with real venom.
As Incubation played out, we got a few words from Hooky about him standing beside Ian Curtis seeing him out of the corner of his eye when on stage knowing it was all OK… as he launched into Dead Souls with its long opening hitting us all right between the eyes. The glorious Atmosphere had the stage lit in blue with the mournful vocals piercing our ears and the heavenly keyboard sound that deserved this song’s second coming when it was released as a single in 1988 to launch the Substance album.
And so, the final song of the evening the classic Love Will Tear Us Apart, not much you can say about this really, the song has transcended the ages with even my son knowing it’s all to familiar opening and chorus that he and every person in that room sang till their lungs popped. The perfect end to a wonderful two and a half hours of music from Hooky and his band, for me it was all about the first set and I guess for others the second half… one thing is for sure everyone enjoyed the whole experience and no doubt he will be back for more of the same.
