Peter Hook & The Light Tickets

Holmfirth Picturedrome
Holmfirth
15th April 2013

Plenty of Substance to Hooky's latest outing...

by wendavey on 18th April 2013 06:09

The highlight was She's Lost Control & Shadowplay - great double whammy

It could be argued that taking such an iconic back catalogue as Joy Division's two studio albums and performing them in full, was a risky undertaking, even given Hook's unique credentials for the task. As things turned out there was no need to worry. Taking to the stage in front of a backdrop of the debut album's iconic "pulsar" artwork and Bernard Pierre Wolff's tomb shot from "Closer" the band kicked off with three standalone tracks, "Dead Souls", "Digital" and "Glass", the latter augmented by vocals from Crispy Ambulance's Alan Hempsall. Introducing Hempsall, Hook explained that at Joy Division's infamous riot marred 1980 Derby Hall gig in Bury when Ian Curtis was taken ill, it was Hempsall that had stood in for Curtis. Hempsall would also later guest on both "Disorder" and "Transmission". The other guest vocalist during the evening was Rowetta who performed on "Insight", "New Dawn Fades", "Colony" and a brooding "Atmosphere" during the encore.

It has to be said that Hook's vocals, while not mimicking those of Curtis, were eerily well suited to the material. Dressed in a black "I Am The Sound" t-shirt and with the rest of the band happy to adopt low-key anonymous roles, this was a no nonsense performance with the band on stage for over two hours apart from a very brief break between the end of the "Pleasures" and start of the "Closer" performances, and the encores. Indeed, the band over ran and with the curfew imminent, Hook offered the audience a dreadful choice - did we want "Love Will Tear Us Apart" or "Temptation" as the final song? The responses to the respective cheers were weighed, and "Temptation" got the nod. Not my choice, but admittedly, it did prove a fine way to close the show.

A special mention must go to the Picturedrome which again proved to be an excellent venue, offering great views, a reasonably priced bar, and good, sensible security staff. They deserve to go from strength to strength.