Peter Hook & The Light @ Élysée-Montmartre, Paris - March 15th, 2025

Peter Hook & The Light are not here to reenact, embellish, or smooth out the past. They are here to play, to let the music stand as it is—loud, raw, relentless. Two sets, two albums, two bands. First, Substance 1987 by New Order, charting the shift from post-punk minimalism to machine-driven euphoria. Then, Substance 1977-1980 by Joy Division, where the pulse remains but the shadows stretch longer, the rhythms tighten, the collapse feels inevitable.

And Hook stands at the center of it all, bass in hand, not as a curator or a nostalgic figurehead but as a direct link, the living transmission of a legacy that might have fractured but never faded. That word—transmission—hangs in the air, no longer just a song title but a statement of continuity, of movement, of passing something forward without letting it slip away.

His bass remains the driving force. Never just rhythm, never content to sit beneath the surface. In Joy Division, it sliced through the tension, melodic and defiant against Ian Curtis’ monotone weight and the rigid, mechanical drums. In New Order, it twisted into something else—elastic, sharp, half-melodic, half-percussive, always pushing forward. On stage, it dominates, thick and metallic, refusing to recede.

The band is tight, built for precision and weight. Jack Bates, Hook’s son, takes over bass when needed, keeping the foundation solid while Hook shifts higher on the fretboard or concentrates on the vocals. Martin Rebelski, behind his keyboards, handles the textures—cold, soaring, functional, never overplayed.

The voice is different. It has none of the detachment of Ian Curtis, and none of the manic, nervous energy of Bernard Sumner. Hook sings lower, rougher, stripped of theatrics but full of force. The menace in "Warsaw" is still there. The desperation in "Bizarre Love Triangle" is palpable. The songs shift under his delivery, but nothing loses its edge.

The setlist delivers. "Blue Monday," "Ceremony," "Sub-Culture," "Transmission," "She’s Lost Control," "Love Will Tear Us Apart"... songs that have lived on dance floors and bedroom stereos for decades, still vital, still demanding movement. A few surprises, too: a Monaco track, and an encore with two deep tracks from Closer, exhumed especially for the Paris audience.

And through it all, the distinction between the bands dissolves. The anger and alienation of Joy Division pulses inside New Order’s cold sheen. The rigid grooves of Joy Division were already dance music before New Order pushed them further into club music. The connection isn’t just historical—it’s structural. And for all their reputations as mechanical, distant, and insular, what ties these songs together isn’t detachment but emotion, surging beneath every sharp bassline and locked groove.

The Elysée-Montmartre is packed to the walls, the crowd swaying, shifting, dancing from the first bass hit to the final synth fade. No division between eras. No preference. No conflict. Style vs. Substance? It’s a draw. And we could dance!

Setlist:

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