Peter Hook & The Light: The Original Source Of Alternative Darkness

It’s been damn near four-decades since Joy Division released seminal albums 1979’s Unknown Pleasures and 1980’s Closer. Why is it after all these years, that former bassist Peter Hook performing both albums in full is such a big deal? Well, Despite happening almost 40 years ago, both Joy Division and subsequently New Order are more prevalent on our airwaves and headphones than ever before, having been the original source of dark alternative.

This isn’t to say that Joy Division is heavy. Not musically at least. Dark and heavy are very different spectrums. Heavy will crush your bones, force its way into your ears and bounce around your skull. Dark will haunt you, play with your feelings and will linger long after you hit stop; something Australian fans are about to experience first hand with Peter Hook & The Light. Thirty years later, just how far did Peter Hook and co spread the darkness?

Any Nine Inch Nails fan worth their salt will be very familiar with the band’s affinity with Joy Division. From the soundscapes to the brooding tales of woe. NIN solidified their fanship by releasing a snarling cover of Dead Souls to compliment the cult classic film The Crow. They may have broken up, but the music of American goth metal outfit Type O Negative remains as a constant reminder of just how influential Joy Division was to the heavy scene, also just how much heavier the alternative dark soundscapes can be when put in the right hands, much like avant-garde metal band Tombs who not only embraced the darkness, but the coldness of Closer.

With the release of their latest album, 2015’s New Bermuda, Deafheaven showed just how far you can take a Joy Division influence. With one foot firmly planted in the aural darkness of Unknown Pleasures, and the other free to stomp its way across various forms of metal, Deafheaven are one of the purest examples of Joy Division adapted for a current day listener.

You’d be hard pressed to pick specific doom metal or black metal bands who don't fly the Joy Division flag, considering both genres are currently just about entirely informed by the band's outputs.

Upon their return to Australian stages, Peter Hook & The Light will be reminding us all where all the aforementioned artists got their steeze. Hook will be performing two homages to his catalogue; with one focusing on the works of Unknown Pleasures and Closer, the other on both New Order’s Substance (released in 1987) and Joy Division’s Substance (released shortly after in 1988).

Audiences will be taken on a sonic journey through the greatest moments of Hooks career, all the while seeing first hand the original source of alternative darkness that looms above us to this day.

PETER HOOK — October 2017

Performing the albums Unknown Pleasures + Closer by Joy Divison in full

Monday 2 October — Sydney — Metro Theatre

Tuesday 3 October — Melbourne — Corner Hotel

Saturday 14 October — Melbourne — Corner Hotel — SOLD OUT

Performing the albums Substance by Joy Division and New Order in full

Thursday 5 October — Auckland — The Studio

Saturday 7 October — Sydney — Metro Theatre — SOLD OUT

Sunday 8 October — Brisbane — The Tivoli

Tuesday 10 October — Adelaide — The Gov

Thursady 12 October — Melbourne — Corner Hotel — SOLD OUT

Friday 13 October — Melbourne — Corner Hotel — SOLD OUT

Monday 16 October — Perth — Astor Theatre

Ticket via Metropolis Touring.