Peter Hook at First Avenue
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Prior to Peter Hook taking the stage and playing music between sets was DJ Jake Rudh, from Transmission. As you know, Rudh is a big fan of New Order and Joy Division, naming his radio show after a Joy Division song.
After Hook finished his show, Rudh would close out the show with a dance party, playing music videos of UK bands from the 80s and 90s.
If you were keeping up, Peter Hook was previously playing Substance throughout 2016 and 2018.
With 2019, Hook decided to revisit and play every song from New Order’s albums Technique and Republic… both albums were very popular in the UK (having hit #1 on the UK charts in 1989 and 1993 respectively). There’s also an interesting story behind those two albums, Technique was possibly the last album that Factory issued for New Order before they went bankrupted… while Republic was picked up by major label Qwest/Warner Bros Records - making it the most popular New Order album in America (thanks mostly to terrific hits like “Regret” and “Ruined in a Day”).
Like many Americans, Republic was really the first New Order album that I bought, so it’s a little special to hear the album played live… not just the hits, but the weird album tracks.
As I’ve previously mentioned, it’s challenging for bands to play entire album from start to finish, mostly because of constantly re-tuning or playing with different instruments… plus, many times, when bands put songs in certain order for their albums, they don’t think that those songs can be played live.
I don’t know Technique quite as well, but I can tell that the last song on Republic, “Avalanche”, was played from a tape (since it was an instrumental track closing out the record).
All the songs were played expertly, and was how I remembered them sounding from the albums. Sometime bands would “mix it up” live, but thankfully, Hook kept it faithful to the studio recordings.
The “encore”, or rather the third Peter Hook set, started with all Joy Division songs… before returning to New Order’s “Ceremony” and “Touched by the Hand of God”. The encore songs were bonus, and they were songs fans wanted to hear… although it would’ve been nice to hear “She’s Lost Control” (which they didn’t play). Still no complaints here, “Isolation” was just as good to hear live.
What made the show special was hearing “World in Motion”. The official 1990 England national football song was on the setlist because Peter Hook said, “because I f***** love it.” It is really a wonderful song, especially when the audience screams back, “En-ga-land!”
The rap portion was handled by a fan (singing the part of England footballer John Barnes). After the song, the fan proposed marriage to his girlfriend, who came on stage to accept the ring.
Overall, a very special show, especially for the newly engaged couple.
Peter Hook ended strong with a double-whammy of New Order’s “Temptation” and Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. The latter song has always been a favorite to end his set, and you can tell when you hear everybody on the dance floor singing back the lyrics.
Remaining tour dates:
11/05/2019 Neptune Theatre, Seattle WA
11/07/2019 Wonder Ballroom, Portland OR
11/08/2019 The Fillmore, San Francisco CA
11/09/2019 The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA
11/11/2019 Emo’s, Austin TX
11/12/2019 Variety Playhouse, Atlanta GA
Peter Hook & the Light at First Avenue, Minneapolis (02 Nov 2019) |
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