Show Review: Peter Hook and the Light, El Ten Eleven at The Wiltern 5/18/18

Take The Shock Away!Peter Hook and the Light-9

It often feels like a number of artists these days are playing up the waves of nostalgia for their music. So many bands that have been laying dormant have been coming out of the woodwork with reunion tours, new albums, and renewed activity, enough so that my lovely editor had made mention in passing to me that most of the bands at festivals were made up of 50 year olds. Personally, I don’t really care. I like music, and if a band I like gets back together or does something new, I’m all for it. So when I first heard that Peter Hook had formed his own band in 2008 and started playing Joy Division songs I was pretty much all for it. I love Joy Division. I lamented that Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu’s live Joy Division cover shows were so far out of reach and further lamented missing out on Hook’s shows, but it’s looking like 2018 is just starting to turn into MY year for concerts! Continue reading “Show Review: Peter Hook and the Light, El Ten Eleven at The Wiltern 5/18/18”

The Substance of Peter Hook

Peter Hook and the Light hit the North American stages once again!

No language, just sound, that's all we need know.
Photo by Jonathan Pirro at The Mezzanine (SF) in 2011.

Peter Hook’s saga of rock and roll history is not one to be trifled with. His indelible mark as a bass player and musical progenitor has been left in the forms of both Joy Division and New Order, two bands who influenced incredible waves over their tenures. What probably sets him apart from most musicians involved in such influential and groundbreaking groups is his unabashed and pure honesty in recollection. Anyone could just accept the moniker of “groundbreaking creator,” but how many will tell you that their entire style evolved over the fact that their equipment was shit and they just couldn’t hear themself during band practice?

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Show Review: Peter Hook and The Light performing Closer at The Mezzanine, 09/17/2011

Father and son join for a furious wall of sound
Father and son join for a furious wall of sound

It is frequently said that when you have a formula that works, it is safe to stick with it, but only to the point where you continue to be successful, and not past the point where you’ve entered a realm of dangerous repetition. In 2010 I stated that a popular trend was for a band to go on tour and, as their setlist, play one or more of their classic albums from start to finish. Some acts, such as the Melvins or A Perfect Circle, took up this concept and played multiple albums over multiple nights, and it was a true test of stamina for their fans to make it out for two or three nights in a row to see the entire collection of songs from their catalogue. However, when bassist Peter Hook and his band The Light returned to the Mezzanine in San Francisco to perform Joy Division’s posthumous classic Closer in its entirety, it was quite clear that a nearly-one-year-long wait was a brilliant decision, as it brought a new collection of energetic fans, an explosive performance from Hook and his band, and the reminder that the power and majesty of Joy Division’s music is still fiercely present over 30 years after the release of their final record.

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Show Review: Peter Hook and The Light performing Unknown Pleasures at The Mezzanine, 12/10/2010

Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order
Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order

2010 has been a year for a different kind of performance: the full-album gig. While not necessarily filled with the same wonder and anticipation that your more common setlist will contain, a full-album set guarantees the kind of rapt excitement that comes with knowing that your favorite songs from that record will all be played, and the surprises at the end of the set become that much more exciting. There have been a few artists who selected the albums that truly defined their careers — Weezer performed their classics, the Blue Album and Pinkerton, and Roger Waters recreated The Wall with modernized visuals and ideas, capturing much of the same excitement and wonder that had accompanied the album upon its release in 1979. In the case of Peter Hook, co-founder and bass guitarist of the seminal post-punk masters Joy Division and New Order, Friday night’s performance at the Mezzanine was truly the best time and place for a full performance of Unknown Pleasures, the album that began Joy Division’s career, and the only record to be released before the death of their singer, Ian Curtis, in 1980.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/09/10-12/15/10

The best thing to come from Smashing Pumpkins?

I know that it’s pretty rainy out here in the Bay Area, and also very cold, so going to shows is a tough thing to do, but I think that these options are worth braving the elements!

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