Former Joy Division and New Order bassist performs at Manchester Academy on 4th June 2026

Peter Hook & The Light perform at Manchester Academy on 4th June 2026. The date marks 50 years since Hook attended a Sex Pistols concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall. Buzzcocks (read out interview with Buzzcocks) appear on the bill.

Hook purchased a Gibson EB-0 copy bass guitar at Mazel’s Music Shop in Manchester on 5th June 1976, the day after seeing the Sex Pistols. He attended the concert with Bernard Sumner. The pair formed Warsaw with Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris in 1977. Council records show 28 tickets were sold for the Sex Pistols performance, with attendance estimated between 30 and 50 people in a venue that held 150. Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley organised the concert after seeing the band in London. They hired the Lesser Free Trade Hall for £32 and advertised tickets at 50p in the Manchester Evening News. Bolton group Solstice opened.

Warsaw became Joy Division in 1978 and released Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980) on Factory Records. After Curtis died in May 1980, Hook, Sumner and Morris formed New Order with Gillian Gilbert. New Order released Power, Corruption & Lies (1983), Low-Life (1985), Technique (1989), Republic (1993), Get Ready (2001), and Waiting for the Sirens’ Call (2005). Hook left the band in 2007.

Hook formed Peter Hook & The Light in 2010. The band performs material from Joy Division and New Order. Hook opened FAC 251 The Factory in February 2010 in the former Factory Records headquarters on Princess Street in Manchester. The venue was designed by Ben Kelly, who designed the Hacienda. Hook operated the club with Aaron Mellor of Tokyo Industries. Peter Hook & The Light debuted at FAC 251 on 5th February 2010 and performed a Joy Division set at the venue on 18th May 2010, the 30th anniversary of Curtis’s death.

The Manchester Academy concert includes material from Hook’s work with Warsaw, Joy Division, New Order, Revenge, Monaco and Freebass. Hook played in Revenge (formed 1989), which released One True Passion (1990). He formed Monaco in 1995 with David Potts. Monaco released Music for Pleasure (1997) and Monaco (2000). Hook joined Freebass in 2007 with Andy Rourke and Gary Mounfield. The group released It’s a Beautiful Life (2010).

Buzzcocks formed in Bolton in 1976 after Devoto and Shelley attended Sex Pistols concerts in London. They released the Spiral Scratch EP on New Hormones in January 1977. Devoto left after the EP’s release. Shelley became vocalist and Steve Diggle moved from bass to guitar. The band signed to United Artists and released Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites in 1978. A Different Kind of Tension followed in 1979. Singles included “Orgasm Addict”, “What Do I Get?” and “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)”. The band split in 1981 and reformed in 1989. Shelley died in 2018. Diggle continues with Danny Farrant on drums and Chris Remington on bass.

retrofuturista

Retrofurista is a site on design, interesting things, audio visual arts, and food.