Peter Hook and the Light brought their "Unknown Pleasures" show back to London's Scala on Easter Saturday, much to the joy of Joy Division fans both young and not so young. As most who have followed Joy Division or New Order will know, bassist Peter Hook has always seen live performance as the essence of these two seminal bands, and so it is always a pleasure to see him in his element. Young fans looking for new alternative music will find that, despite the passage of 30 years, Joy Division's songs sound fresh, and they will see the clear influence this band exerts right now on many of today's most famous names.
The Light delivered a strong performance. Inevitably, highlights were famous songs: "Control" early in the set; "Transmission" near the close; a heartfelt "Atmosphere". During the last song of the first encore, Hooky announced "and this next song is..."; he left off there because booming voices from the crowd completed his sentence: "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
Obviously, famous songs will always be the mainstay in the set of such long-established acts. However, less obvious is that these songs became so well known due to their highly distinctive and original sound. Fans of Joy Division at the time speak of the spine tingling sensation of listening to "Control" for the first time, with its cold, spacious drums and piercing, crisp guitar lines which contrasted so strongly with both the dominate heavy rock sound of the period, and even with the punk that had inspired Joy Division's formation.
Hooky, however, has been cited in various publications over the years professing his dislike of the very sound for which Joy Division's records are so well known. His reasons are consistent with his entire ethos: he saw the sound as an artificial creation of producer Martin Hannett's studio wizardry that did not represent the band's 'real' sound - its live sound.
Partly, of course, this was for practical reasons. Hannett employed cutting edge digital delays and other custom-made effects and recreating these effects live in 1979 Manchester would have been outrageously expensive, if it could have been done at all. These days, of course, it would be easy to do, but this would presumably not be of any great interest to Hook.
Why do I digress into arcane details of audio production? Well, Peter Hook and the Light, like the original Joy Division, is a different beast entirely than Joy Division on their two studio albums. To me, this is disappointing because it tends to make their live sound too similar to a host of other rock bands.
That said, Peter Hook is one of the most important figures in British popular music in the last...well, ever to be frank. If he prefers to ditch the complicated audio processing and return to his roots, then he is quite probably right to do so.
Now if only he could reconcile with the other two surviving members of Joy Division, Hook's erstwhile New Order colleagues Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris, and persuade them to come on the road with him again. No offence to the other musicians in 'The Light'- they turned in an impressive performance, not to mention Rowetta Satchell from the Happy Mondays, whose appearance added a tonne of sparkle to proceedings.
But, as those lucky enough to see New Order perform Joy Division classics in recent years will attest, nothing quite compares to the magic of seeing these three old friends pumping out the songs that made them three of the most influential song-writers in the world.
The Light delivered a strong performance. Inevitably, highlights were famous songs: "Control" early in the set; "Transmission" near the close; a heartfelt "Atmosphere". During the last song of the first encore, Hooky announced "and this next song is..."; he left off there because booming voices from the crowd completed his sentence: "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
Obviously, famous songs will always be the mainstay in the set of such long-established acts. However, less obvious is that these songs became so well known due to their highly distinctive and original sound. Fans of Joy Division at the time speak of the spine tingling sensation of listening to "Control" for the first time, with its cold, spacious drums and piercing, crisp guitar lines which contrasted so strongly with both the dominate heavy rock sound of the period, and even with the punk that had inspired Joy Division's formation.
Hooky, however, has been cited in various publications over the years professing his dislike of the very sound for which Joy Division's records are so well known. His reasons are consistent with his entire ethos: he saw the sound as an artificial creation of producer Martin Hannett's studio wizardry that did not represent the band's 'real' sound - its live sound.
Partly, of course, this was for practical reasons. Hannett employed cutting edge digital delays and other custom-made effects and recreating these effects live in 1979 Manchester would have been outrageously expensive, if it could have been done at all. These days, of course, it would be easy to do, but this would presumably not be of any great interest to Hook.
Why do I digress into arcane details of audio production? Well, Peter Hook and the Light, like the original Joy Division, is a different beast entirely than Joy Division on their two studio albums. To me, this is disappointing because it tends to make their live sound too similar to a host of other rock bands.
That said, Peter Hook is one of the most important figures in British popular music in the last...well, ever to be frank. If he prefers to ditch the complicated audio processing and return to his roots, then he is quite probably right to do so.
Now if only he could reconcile with the other two surviving members of Joy Division, Hook's erstwhile New Order colleagues Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris, and persuade them to come on the road with him again. No offence to the other musicians in 'The Light'- they turned in an impressive performance, not to mention Rowetta Satchell from the Happy Mondays, whose appearance added a tonne of sparkle to proceedings.
But, as those lucky enough to see New Order perform Joy Division classics in recent years will attest, nothing quite compares to the magic of seeing these three old friends pumping out the songs that made them three of the most influential song-writers in the world.
Colab is a London-based audio-visual indie electro band influenced by groups like Bat for Lashes, New Order, Lamb, Massive Attack, New Young Pony Club, electronica; by film, photography, art, literature, philosophy, psychology, half-remembered childhood experiences, by all things indie, dark and wonderful. In short, if you feel like crying on the inside, but dancing on the outside then this is the band for you. Check out our work at:
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