Hooky’s ‘Light’ Shines Brightly in Detroit

By Vlad T, Rock At Night Detroit

Live Review: Peter Hook & the Light – Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI – September 10, 2024

 

On an evening where Detroiters were hoping to catch a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights, another “Light” shone brightly in suburban Royal Oak for fans of two of modern rock’s most-storied bands.

An offshoot of 80s pop dynamo New Order, itself an offshoot of seminal post-punk existentialists Joy Division, Peter Hook and the Light have by now established themselves as the definitive live preservationists of those bands’ music. After all, Hooky’s melodic, driving basslines are a signature element of those groups’ sounds and, indeed, many post-1980 bands.

Having toured worldwide extensively since its 2010 founding, Hooky’s outfit finds itself touring North America again in 2024, performing songs from both the New Order and Joy Division ‘Substance’ compilation albums in their entirety. The tour saw the lads return to a sold-out Royal Oak Music Theatre on September 10th.

Throughout the evening’s two sprawling sets (each corresponding to New Order and Joy Division material), Hooky and his cohorts delivered faithful and technically excellent renditions of the original recordings. Truth be told, certain parts of New Order’s live sound in the its heyday were subject to inconsistency; we almost never see that with the Light, testimony to the strong cadre of sidemen, including drummer Paul Kehoe, guitarist/vocalist David Potts, and keyboardist Martin Rebelski.

Yes, they’re playing the hits, but, judging from the rapturous reception the band receives from an audience both young and old, there is considerable appetite to hear and celebrate the collective oeuvre live.

The star of the proceedings was obviously Hooky himself, and, signature bass work aside, his vocals were surprisingly robust and effective live. With Hooky’s voice is surprisingly similar to Joy Division’s Ian Curtis’ baritone, this made for compelling versions of JD classics like “She’s Lost Control” and “Transmission.”

Where Hooky’s husky vox added a unique wrinkle was on the New Order material, especially “Struck By The Hand of God”; the effect gave me the impression of how Ian Curtis might have voiced those tracks in an alternate universe. (Maybe in that alternate universe, the “hand” of footballer Diego Maradonna, purportedly an inspiration of the song’s title, might not have “struck” out England in World Cup 1986…)

As a testament to Joy Division’s reputation with current audiences, the band’s otherwise-mournful coda, “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” was transformed into a rousing, celebratory singalong with Hooky, the Light lads, and a clapping, adoring crowd in Royal Oak. To a Joy Division fan from the 1980s, this was a remarkable and heartening recast of the band’s music from the bleak dungeon of dark clubs of the day where Curtis’ demise was freshly felt.

Compelling evidence that time and music can heal wounds.

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