Moby, New Order's Peter Hook Play Joy Division

News Article
SPIN.com
September 16, 2011
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An ongoing feud between co-founding members of two hugely influential British bands-- Joy Division and New Order-- has taken a new turn. Peter Hook, who played bass in both groups, held a Joy Division tribute show this week in Los Angeles, just days after New Order said they would play a set of concerts without him. Longtime Joy Division fan Moby jumped on the stage to join Hook and his current band, the Light; via Slicing Up Eyeballs and YouTube user kalavinka1, watch fan-made videos showing their performances of "Transmission" and "A Means to an End" below.

Earlier this month, New Order announced plans to play a pair of benefit shows in Europe without Hook, who left the band amid highly public in-fighting in 2007. Hook issued a statement September 9 about the two New Order gigs, saying, "Everyone knows that New Order without Peter Hook is like Queen without Freddie Mercury, U2 without the Edge."

Hook's live tribute to Closer, Joy Division's second and final album before the death of singer Ian Curtis, was already long planned before the New Order news. It follows his nine-date tour last year revisiting Joy Division's 1979 debut LP, Unknown Pleasures, which he's also scheduled to perform tonight at L.A. venue the El Rey. According to SPIN's review of one of the 2010 Unknown Pleasure shows, Hook and the Light bring machine-like precision to the performances, eschewing bells and whistles while at times turning these often-funereal songs into celebrations.

Though Hook criticizes his former bandmates for touring as New Order without him, he has also taken some guff from fans for playing Joy Division songs without the rest of the group. "The criticism has been aimed at me, saying I'm cashing in on Joy Division and Ian Curtis," Hook told SPIN last year. "But it took 30 years to cash in. So does that count? Usually you cash in after waiting 30 minutes."

At the Music Box in L.A. on Wednesday night, Hook and the Light played Closer in its entirety, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "It's been an interesting week," Hook is quoted as saying. Along with Moby, Jane Addiction's Perry Farrell also joined Hook on stage. Farrell sang "Isolation," while Moby sang on "Colony," "A Means to an End," and an encore performance of non-Closer single "Transmission."

WATCH: Peter Hook and the Light (feat. Moby), "Transmission"



WATCH: Peter Hook and the Light (feat. Moby), "A Means to an End"



WATCH: Peter Hook and the Light (feat. Perry Farrell), "Isolation"