Peter Hook will spend 2022 playing and singing Joy Division and New Order songs all over the globe, starting right away in January. After conquering the UK and France throughout the spring, Peter Hook & the Light will come to North America to perform the Joy Division albums “Unknown Pleasures” and “Closer,” and will open the shows with a New Order set.
Last year was the 40th anniversary of “Closer,” and Hook told Rolling Stone he intended to play it live, which had not happened as a band due to the death of front-man Ian Curtis two months before its release. “’Closer’ — because of what happened — has always felt a little detached,” he explained. “I never played those songs [live] as Joy Division. And it actually felt after a couple of years like the LP was by somebody else. I was only able to listen to the record as a record years later. It was really, really strange, but ‘Closer’ became one of my favorite records.” The 2020 anniversary shows did not happen due to the pandemic, but that will change next year.
The two albums include the singles “Isolation,” “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “Disorder,” and “Shadowplay,” but what exact New Order songs are not as obvious yet.
The bassist and founding member of New Order and Joy Division has never been quiet about his time in the bands, even releasing memoirs about each: “Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division” and “Substance: Inside New Order.” There have been disputes between Hook and his former bandmates, but after a 2015 lawsuit, they reached an agreement out of court. However, in the 2020 Rolling Stone interview, he said they were not done with disagreements. “Nope. Was arguing with the lawyers this morning,” he said. “It’s absolutely the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever been through in my life. It seems because, for whatever reason, the fact that the way that they took New Order from me is unforgivable, and even the court case and the settlement did not give any insight or any kind of rapport between the members.”
Oddly enough, the other members of New Order are also expected in the US next year when they tour with Pet Shop Boys for the Unity tour.
The extensive Peter Hook & the Light tour will kick off in our section of the world on August 11 in Toronto and wind its way through the US into September. There are three Southern California dates on the bill: September 6th at Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay in San Diego, and September 8th and 9th at Theatre At The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.
After the US, Hook will go back to the UK, plus more portions of Europe, and then Australia.
So much incredible music is headed our way, so make sure to tell Santa to get to work!
