Peter Hook and the Light Releases Live Versions of New Order Classics

Didn’t get enough of New Order’s greatest hits at Coachella? Well, singer Bernard Sumner is no doubt unhappy about it, but estranged ex-bassist Peter Hook is offering fans his take on the songs from two of the band’s seminal albums.

Peter Hook and the Light — that group of his that tours playing Joy Division and now New Order albums in their entirety — is releasing a live Manchester concert of songs from 1981’s Movement and 1983’s Power, Corruption and Lies albums, along with other New Order singles.

The collection is available via Play Concert, which had previously released two shows by The Light recorded on last year’s Unknown Pleasures UK Tour, and for preview and download here.

The audio comes from a January 2013 concert held at Manchester Cathedral, which followed shows in Cardiff and London.

“I was very nervous on the night, I think you can hear that in the recording,” Hook tells The Hollywood Reporter of the performance. “Manchester … you’ve got to prove it to Manchester. That’s where it all started and that’s your benchmark for everywhere else. To stake your claim there was important to me. Manchester audiences are tough audiences, and to have sold it out long in advance made me feel like we were doing something right.”

Despite the tension between Hook and his former bandmates, the bassist puts the emphasis on the songs. “It has been a very difficult period to try and claim your music back when the whole thing has been taken away from you, so it was wonderful to feel that you had got that part of it back … As soon as you strike up the songs they sound fabulous. I’m so glad to be able to revisit the back catalogue and the full albums as there were so many tracks we neglected as New Order.”

Source: Hollywood Reporter