Peter Hook and The Light at Leopardstown Racecourse | Review

Peter Hook and The Light at Leopardstown Racecourse on July 10th 2014

Former Joy Division and New Order bassist, Peter Hook, along with his group The Light, are the latest act to perform at the live at Leopardstown gig series. Hook and his band usually perform either Joy Division or New Order albums in their entirety, with the last tour featuring the New Order albums ‘Movement’ and ‘Power, Corruption and Lies’ and the next tour commencing in September including ‘Low Life’ and ‘Brotherhood.’

With tonight’s gig falling in between these two tours, there is a degree a freedom in the content of the show, so it is a mystery as to what tonight’s performance might feature. The answer is a Joy Division extravaganza. Atmosphere kicks off the show spectacularly with its doom drums, melodic bassline and eerie synths. The verse is a quiet scene-setting affair, before the synths and guitar expand the chorus powerfully. Atrocity Exhibition follows, and again the intense percussion drives the song forward with a vibrant energy, while Hook’s growl bristles with the suppressed energy of the original tune.

The band then jump back to earlier Joy Division material with No Love Lost. The song comes from Joy Division’s very first EP ‘An Ideal For Living’ and is a very punky record. The Light play several tracks from the album but fail to recreate the aggression and speed of the original.A slowed down No Love Lost ends up sounding weak and dead, but the same trick works quite well on Leaders Of Men, the slow tempo modernising the punk song.

The wonderful Disorder stands out as a great performance, played a touch more aggressively than on record, but as Joy Division live were always very different from the Joy Division on record, it’s refreshing to see Hook achieve the same effect. The eeriness of the studio sound is lost here, but through impressive dynamic changes, the song gains a new sense of vibrancy.

The same can’t be said for Dead Souls unfortunately, with the bass strangely muted. That doesn’t stop the band from entering the strongest part of their set, with the wonderful She’s Lost Control sounding as striking and startling as ever. 24 Hours is dedicated to the recently deceased Annik Honoré, a major player in the Joy Division story. Coupled with the fact that the song is possibly Joy Division’s grimmest, teeming with the dark undercurrents that eventually overcame Ian Curtis, it is an emotionally charged and moving performance.

Shadowplay with it’s rousing bassline is another ferocious performance, while Ceremony remains as a perfectly constructed tune with catchy bass and guitar riffs streaming from every orifice. Despite struggling with the vocals on Transmission, this energetic song is still marvelously played, while the unstoppable Love Will Tear Us Apart brings the show to a glorious conclusion. It is a joy to hear these songs played again, and despite the limitations in Hook’s voice, it is quite the experience to attend what is essentially a Joy Division show.