Peter Hook and The Light

Peter Hook and The Light
260px The Light, performing in 2011
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Post-punk, alternative rock, new wave, alternative dance, synthpop
Years active	2010 (2010)–present
Labels	Haçienda
Associated acts	Joy Division, New Order, Monaco, Haven, Rowetta, Revenge.
Website	www.peterhook.co.uk
Members	Peter Hook Jack Bates David Potts Andy Poole Paul Kehoe
Past members	Nat Wason

Peter Hook and The Light are an English rock band, formed in May 2010 by the former Joy Division and New Order bassist, Peter Hook. The band also features Hook's son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums), who both played with Hook as part of Monaco, one of Hook's previous groups. From the first gigs in May 2010, Nat Wason (formerly of Haven) was the group's guitarist, however in July 2013 it was announced that Wason would be moving on, to be replaced by David Potts, another former member of Monaco.

The band is noted for performing the Joy Division and New Order albums live. Their setlists primarily feature the two Joy Division albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer or the first two New Order albums, Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies, depending on the respective tour. The band gained some criticism from the other New Order members, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris (also of Joy Division) and Gillian Gilbert, after New Order's reunion without Hook.

The band is also occasionally accompanied by Rowetta, who performs guest vocals.

The band's debut EP, 1102 | 2011 EP, was released on 9 May 2011. It features four Joy Division covers, one of which is a rework of "Pictures In My Mind" which was unreleased at that time.

History

2010

The band performed their first ever gig on 18 May 2010 at Factory Manchester, a club in the city centre which Hook co-owns. Hook announced that he and the band would perform Joy Division's debut album Unknown Pleasures live and in full, 30 years to the day since the suicide of former Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, as a celebration of Ian's life and work. After the gig sold out in minutes, a second night was announced on 19 May 2010. The band duly performed the album in full alongside a number of other tracks. Hook had originally intended for the gigs to be a one-off event, but was quickly inundated with offers from all around the world to take the show on tour. During the summer of 2010, the band performed at various festivals across Europe including Europavox in France, Moonlight Festival in Italy, Benicassim in Spain, Paredes de Coura in Portugal and Vintage at Goodwood & the 1234 Festival in the UK. In September 2010, the band embarked on their first proper headlining tour by performing 5 sold out shows in Australia and 2 in New Zealand. This was quickly followed by a 4 date tour of Spain, a 3 date tour of Italy and finally a 10 date tour of the United States. Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell joined the band as a guest vocalist on the last night of the tour in Los Angeles, singing the Joy Division track 'Transmission' at the Music Box in Hollywood.

2011

File:Peter Hook and The Light.jpg

Peter Hook & The Light performing at the Paard van Troje in The Hague, Netherlands (28 May 2011).

Hook and his band began 2011 with more European tour dates, taking in Portugal, France, Spain, Netherlands, Finland and Norway. On 18 & 19 May 2011, one year on from when the band first played Unknown Pleasures live, Peter Hook and The Light performed Joy Division's second album, Closer, live for the first time, again with two sold out nights at Hook's Factory nightclub. The debut Closer shows were followed by more extensive touring - the band visited Brazil for the first time in June 2011 as well as performing at various festivals across Europe. In September 2011, Hook and his band embarked on their second North American tour, this time taking in 9 cities in the USA as well as visiting Canada for the first time to perform in Toronto and Montreal. As in 2010, Hook invited several of his famous friends to join him on stage as guest vocalists. Perry Farrell again joined the band at the Music Box in Los Angeles, this time to sing 'Isolation'. Moby performed a total of 7 songs live with The Light across the 2 sold out dates in Los Angeles, while Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan joined Hook on stage in Chicago to sing 'Transmission' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. Following these dates, The Light played 3 sold out shows in Mexico, performing in Tijuana, Guadalajara and Mexico City. After these dates, the band took a short break before resuming touring in November with gigs in Israel, Greece, Denmark, Italy and Holland.

2012

The Light began 2012 by performing Unknown Pleasures & Closer shows live in Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Japan as well as back at home in the UK. The Light first performed both Joy Division albums live together in the same night at a special hometown show at the Buxton Opera House on 25 February 2012. The band also played 3 tracks from New Order's first album 'Movement' at this show - a precursor of what would follow in 2013. The band's first proper UK tour took place in May/June 2012, and was followed by a second UK tour in November 2012. The Light also continued to tour in Europe with sold out shows in Belgium, France, Holland, Italy & Portugal.

2013

In January 2013, Hook turned his focus from Joy Division to New Order and performed the first two New Order albums, Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies, live for the first time at 3 special shows in the UK. The band performed an intimate, sold out warm-up show at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff before then performing two large, sold out shows at KOKO in London and the prestigious Manchester Cathedral. The Manchester Cathedral show was later released as a live album by online recording company Play Concert. Following these shows, the band took a short break before resuming their shows performing the Joy Division material in more new places including Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Switzerland and Austria as well as with return visits to Poland and Russia. Summer 2013 saw The Light perform at various festivals including EJEKT 2013 in Athens, Greece & the 2013 MIDI Festival in the south of France. On 23 June 2013, Peter Hook and The Light performed both Joy Division albums live in Ian Curtis' hometown of Macclesfield, within the unique surroundings of the Christ Church. The Light also performed their Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies set for only the fourth time ever by returning to the Buxton Opera House on 23 July 2013.

September 2013 saw Peter Hook and The Light officially begin their Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies world tour, which spanned both North & South America as well as the UK & Ireland. The band also returned to Greece to follow their 2011 Unknown Pleasures shows by performing Closer live in Athens & Thessaloniki.

2014

Following their 2013 tour of Movement and Power, Corruption, and Lies, Peter Hook and the Light embarked on a North American fall tour in 2014, performing the New Order albums "Low-Life" and "Brotherhood"

2015

In February 2015 the band toured Australia and New Zealand playing a 50-minute selection of Joy Division tracks, the New Order albums Low-Life and Brotherhood and some New Order singles. On 18 May 2015, the band performed a complete retrospective performance of Joy Division's entire catalogue, in chronological order, in Macclesfield. This was to mark the 35th anniversary of the death of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. The event sold out in minutes. Jack Bates is currently the touring bass player for The Smashing Pumpkins for their The End Times Tour.

Band members

• Peter Hook - lead vocals, guitar, melodica, bass, electronic drums (2010–present)
• David Potts - guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, synthesizers (2013–present)
• Andy Poole - keyboards, backing vocals, synthesizers, programming, vocoder, syn drum (2010–present)
• Jack Bates - bass, electronic drums, cymbals, cowbell (2010–present)
• Paul Kehoe - drums, keyboards, synthesizers, programming (2010–present)

Former members

• Nat Wason - guitar (2010-2013)

Discography

EPs

• 1102 | 2011 EP (2011, Haçienda Records)

Live albums

• Peter Hook's The Light Perform "Unknown Pleasures" Live At Goodwood (2010, Abbey Road Live Here Now)
• Unknown Pleasures · Live In Australia (2011, Pylon Records)
• So This Is Permanence (2015, Live Here Now)