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Peter Hook & The Light @ Astor Theatre, Perth WA 16/10/17 (Live Review)

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Peter Hook & The Light

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If you have a spread of different generations and groups at a concert it’s a good indicator that artist or group has relevance. Last night, on their final stop of a full Australian tour, Peter Hook (or Hooky) proved himself to be very relevant still.

The bassist and co-founder of Joy Division and New Order had only recently settled a dispute with his other former band members over royalty payments. Two influential bands with a legacy that looms still to this day over alternative, electronic post-punk, synth-pop music, and by the thousands of people who couldn’t name you three Joy Division songs but do have an Unknown Pleasures t-shirt in their drawer.

The weight of seeing Peter Hook and The Light play both Joy Division’s and New Order’s Substance albums was not lost on an Astor crowd who rocked up as soon as doors opened leaving everyone ready and waiting for a 8pm start. Even without support what followed was over two hours of music that created an atmosphere so thick that it felt like the oxygen had been sucked out of the Astor.

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Metro Sydney 2/10 . Photo – Dan Turner

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Metro Sydney 2/10 . Photo – Dan Turner

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Metro Sydney 2/10 . Photo – Dan Turner

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Metro Sydney 2/10 . Photo – Dan Turner

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Hook came out looking like he’d just finished a couple at the Scotsman dressed in a t-shirt, cargo shorts and blundstones began with the New Order portion of the evening. Opening with Dreams Never Die and Cries And Whispers it was like a quick refresher on why New Order was such a unique group. It’s those chordal riffs, quick paced drumming and an almost ethereal sense of space and movement conveyed between the guitars and synths. Watching Hook play for the first time was one of admiration as his style breaks out of the typical perception of what a bass player does. With Ceremony, Hook provided a departure from the song’s darker elements as he laid his fingers low on the guitar neck, playing with a relaxed ease as he prowled the stage.

As the familiar riff of Temptation started the audience were ready to get moving and sing along. A fine example of nuwave dance rock, Temptation, and New Order’s music as a whole, is just so ripe for a bop because of the metered bounce of many of their song’s rhythm. It’s almost hedonistic being present for a live performance of songs that defined an era you were far too young for, which is certainly how Blue Monday felt especially when it sounded, aside from a few muddy vocals, so damn good.

In fact the quality of performance by all players was so coherent it never sounded like Peter Hook’s band or an imitator which is no easy feat. Jack Bates who played his bass so low he could pick coins off the floor, moved around the flourishes of Hook and his pacing. Up on drums Paul Kehoe never let up on maintaining an energetic pace and attack thus allowing Martin Rebelski on keys and David Potts on guitar to grind away in their own worlds.

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Gov Adelaide 10/10 . Photo – Kerrie Geier

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Gov Adelaide 10/10 . Photo – Kerrie Geier

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Gov Adelaide 10/10 . Photo – Kerrie Geier

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Gov Adelaide 10/10 . Photo – Kerrie Geier

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Peter Hook & The Light

Peter Hook & The Light . The Gov Adelaide 10/10 . Photo – Kerrie Geier

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Through State Of The Nation and True Faith it was if we were on a runaway train clacking along its tracks with no end in site. Concerts don’t generally have intermissions but it did provide a welcome break before delving into the Joy Division portion of the night.

Grubbier and rougher around the edges Joy Division were a band that were attempting to break out using punk rock to create something new yet, at the point, undefinable. No Love Lost, Shadowplay and These Days got an outing that highlighted a derisive tone not apparent by the time New Order came to be. Compare the heavy handed droll delivery of Atmosphere to the optimism of Bizarre Love Triangle and you get a better understanding of the evolution and journey that Hook undertook.

And perhaps what sets apart these iconic songs are their identifiable guitar intros such as it were for Transmission and the generation-defining Love Will Tear Us Apart. By the time the melody kicks in we were already entranced, willing to go on that dystopian journey once more with Peter Hook and The Light. As the final strains of the guitars and the syncopated drums come to its final close Hook removed his t-shirt, and after slinging it into the crowd, stood bare chested drinking in what he’d created, as if he himself was asking us rhetorically, “How does it feel?”

4 Stars

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Check out Dan Turner’s gallery of the Sydney show (2nd October) – HERE

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Check out Kerrie Geier’s gallery of the Adelaide show (10th October) – HERE

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AMNPLIFY – DB

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