Peter Hook and the Light

About Peter Hook and the Light

Peter Hook and the Light exists because of a breakup, which is fitting given how many Joy Division and New Order songs are about relationships falling apart. After Peter Hook's very public split with his New Order bandmates in 2007, the bassist found himself on the outside of the band he'd cofounded. Rather than fade away or start something completely new, he did something more interesting: he started playing the old songs himself.

Hook formed The Light in 2010, initially as a way to perform Joy Division's catalog in full. The band's name comes from the Hacienda's tagline "The Light and the Light," though Hook's connection to Manchester's legendary club runs deeper than references. He co-owned the place, watched it drain money for years, and saw it shape the sound of British dance music. The Light began as a tribute act of sorts, except the person doing the tributing helped write the songs and defined their sound with that melodic, high-register bass playing that turned the instrument into a lead voice.

The early performances focused on chronological album runs. They'd play "Unknown Pleasures" one night, "Closer" the next. Then Hook started adding New Order material, eventually working through "Movement," "Power, Corruption & Lies," "Low-Life," and the rest. The project stopped being about nostalgia and became something stranger: a historical archive performed by someone who lived it, but now standing outside of it. Hook plays these songs with his son Jack on bass sometimes, which adds another layer to the whole enterprise.

What makes The Light more than a cover band, even a cover band featuring an original member, is Hook's relationship to this material. He's not reverently recreating factory-sealed versions. The band pushes the songs harder and louder than the originals, leaning into the punk energy that got buried under New Order's dance-floor evolution. Songs like "Transmission" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" hit differently when played by someone who was there in the room when Ian Curtis was alive, even if the sentimentality of that fact can feel uncomfortable.

Hook has released a few records with The Light, but nobody's really here for new material. "The Light" EP came out in 2013, followed by the album "Kelso House" in 2024, but these feel like side projects to the main work of keeping Joy Division and New Order's catalog in circulation. Whether that's generous preservation or stubborn score-settling depends on your perspective and which member of New Order you ask.

The band tours constantly, playing mid-sized venues to crowds who know every word. Hook's still doing the thing where he sings backup vocals while playing those fluid basslines, and the songs remain stubbornly great regardless of the context. At this point, The Light has probably played "Blue Monday" more times than New Order has in the past decade, which says something about legacy, ownership, and who gets to decide what happens to songs after they're released into the world.

Peter Hook's shows are basically masterclasses in post-punk and electronic fundamentals. Crowds are attentive and reverent without being stuffy. His bass work anchors everything. These aren't nostalgia gigs—they feel like someone genuinely protecting the legacy of songs that matter.

Known for Blue Monday, Temptation, Bizarre Love Triangle, Crystal, Love Will Tear Us Apart

See Peter Hook and the Light Live