Having recently returned from their biggest ever North American tour and European dates, Peter Hook & The Light have announced their first headline shows for 2023 as they return to Manchester’s Albert Hall for a trio of dates where they will be playing Joy Division’s two albums, New Order’s first two and both band’s Substances in full.
 
Taking place in the atmospheric and ideally suited Albert Hall, The Light pair and perform both “Unknown Pleasures” & “Movement” on Thursday 6th April, “Closer” & “Power, Corruption & Lies” on Good Friday 7th April with a triumphant performance of both bands “Substance” compilation albums Easter Saturday 8th April.
 
With The Light having toured now for a dozen years, they have now played 11 albums in full from Hooky’s bands and performed a repertoire of over 130 songs making their live sets diverse as they take in many celebrated album tracks and fan favourites across the concerts.
 
With the Easter Homecoming concerts marking the first time that the band have combined New Order and Joy Division’s individual albums in one show, pairing both the first and second albums of each band on separate nights, these performances offer a unique counterpoint for fans to compare both LP’s live.
 
Equally with The Light having toured both Substances live previously, this provides a very different show as the band concentrate on the tracks that defined both bands.
 
Do not miss these very special concerts. Tickets for the three dates go on sale Friday 14th October 2022 10AM at https://www.ticketweb.uk/search?q=easter+homecoming
 

A season ticket is available for all three concerts limited to 300 tickets and all season ticket holders will receive a commemorative lanyard and laminate unique to the three concerts.
 
About The Albums
 
Joy Division’s allure and music remain strong in popular culture, holding a sincere reverence.  The albums are played sequentially in track order, respecting the inspiration and impact of the stunning debut album “Unknown Pleasures” and the immaculately produced second “Closer”.
 
“Unknown Pleasures” features “Disorder”, “Insight”, “New Dawn Fades”, and “She’s Lost Control” while “Closer”, considered “a start to finish masterpiece” by Pitchfork Media counts “Atrocity Exhibition”, “Heart And Soul” and “Twenty Four Hours” amongst its many highlights. 

Meanwhile New Order’s debut two albums mark the band’s emergence and their developing sound whilst also, most notably on “Movement” referring back to Joy Division’s musical template.
The last album from the band to be produced by Martin Hannett, “Movement’s reputation has grown stronger amongst fans and since its release, especially for its emotional and musical links to Joy Division and its themes of a band finding its feet in the aftermath of tragedy, looking towards new experimentation and techniques.
With the band not having settled on a permanent lead singer by the time of the recording of “Movement”, Peter Hook took lead vocals on two of the album’s tracks, opener “Dreams Never End” and “Doubts Even Here”, the former now widely admired with Hooky’s elegant bass line hinting at the direction in which the band were now heading.
In comparison, “Power Corruption And Lies” shows the beginning of what is generally termed the trademark, archetypal New Order sound. Critically it was more enthusiastically received than its predecessor with superlatives immediately forthcoming from the very best sections of the music press. Containing some of the fans’ persistent live favourites such as “Age Of Consent” and “Your Silent Face”, it was this album that cemented New Order’s reputation and showed a cohesiveness and new found confidence within from the band.
 
New Order's Substance was originally conceived as a way for Factory Records boss, Tony Wilson, to play the New Order singles on the CD player of his new Jaguar car. Substance became the best-selling New Order album ever upon its release, the double LP going on to sell 2 million copies in America alone.
 
Widely considered New Order's strongest release and Factory Records' 200th it featured the bands’ 12" mixes of their singles as well as re-recorded versions of ‘Confusion’ and Temptation.
Running from "Ceremony" in 1981 up to "True Faith" in 1987, the set takes in the high points of New Order's catalogue, including "Temptation", "Thieves Like Us", "The Perfect Kiss" and "Bizarre Love Triangle".
Released the following year in July 1988, Joy Division's Substance features all the singles which did not appear on the albums such as "Transmission", "Komakino", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Atmosphere", as well as their B-sides, tracks from their EP "An Ideal For Living" and the Factory Records sampler.
Factory Records' 250th release, it begins with "Warsaw" and takes in the development of the band through "Digital" and "Dead Souls" to the band's final tracks. The collection demonstrates the same energy as a full-length LP with several key B-sides added.
For all live links check peterhookandthelight.live
 
For videos and concert footage from The Light check - www.youtube.com/peterhookandthelight
www.facebook.com/peterhookandthelight / www.twitter.com/peterhook
www.instagram.com/peterhook_thelight / www.peterhookandthelight.live
On Peter Hook And The Light Live
'A masterclass in euphoria and heartache in equal measure.... The chronology of the set played perfectly as high spirits continued to grow right up until the end of the show.” – Gigwise
“A 29 song setlist is an impressive undertaking and it was incredible to see one of the great guitarists of the last 50 years. Hooky is certainly doing a fantastic job of continuing Ian Curtis’ legacy and keeping Joy Division’s music relevant to the modern day.” The Mic Magazine
“Peter Hook and The Light never disappoint; you can see they’re giving it their all and enjoying it at the same time. Just a brilliant live band.” Music Fiends
"A real treat." - LA Record
"In the two-and-a-half hours Peter Hook & The Light were on stage, it was hard to fathom how many hits New Order and Joy Division had. Just within the first hour, there were enough songs that some artists today wish they could both write and have in their arsenal. That is what great chemistry in a band does." Huffington Post
"This reviewer could easily write about every song played - the show went for almost three hours - as they're all classics. To hear back to back greatest hits live of two of your favourite bands just never happens. Many went home tonight with a big grin on their faces." The Music
“By focusing solely on the music and allowing the songs inherent structure to do the heavy lifting instead of blowing them up into pseudo-stadium cuts, their inherent virtues were that much more apparent. Frankly, these songs rock......This is Peter Hook and his band taking a chance, dusting off wrongly ignored tunes, and kicking ass.” - Punk News