Concert information
| Artist | Peter Hook & The Light |
| Tour name | |
| Date | 03/17/2026 |
| Venue | Melkweg |
| City | Amsterdam |
| Country | The Netherlands |
Rating
Peter Hook, former bassist of Joy Division and New Order, has been touring with his band The Light for years, often performing entire Joy Division and/or New Order albums, supplemented with additional material. The remaining living members of Joy Division still play in New Order, of which the last concert I saw remains in my memory as extremely good.
Anyway, Peter Hook, a living legend I very much wanted to see. This time around the 2001 New Order album Get Ready received the ‘in full’ treatment. An album that wasn’t dance-oriented; not bad, but no favorite either. The performance was good, although often marred by sound issues. And yet… those unique melodic bass lines from Peter Hook are moving, in a live setting as well.
Set 2 was a completely different story. The sound was much better. The band opened with one of my Joy Division favorites, New Dawn Fades – goosebumps. That same feeling was also evoked by songs like Digital (“day in, day out, day in, day out,…!”), Isolation, Transmission (“dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio”), and the solemn Atmosphere. Beautiful.
But the New Order songs were great also, although towards the end they were again plagued by poor sound. Still, Ceremony was unforgettable. The closing Love Will Tear Us Apart is and and forever will be an exceptional song, but the performance also felt somewhat uncomfortable. As happened several times earlier in the evening, the audience once again cheerfully clapped along as if the music were upbeat singalongs.
All in all, a number of deeply moving moments (unfortunately no Dead Souls), but the sound was occasionally poor (Blue Monday, for example, suffered greatly from the overpowering bass), which is a shame, but above all unnecessary.
N.B.:
This concert was originally scheduled for October 6, 2025, but was postponed to March 17, 2026 due to illness.
Setlist
Set 1: ‘Get Ready’ live and in full
Crystal / 60 Miles An Hour / Turn My Way / Vicious Streak / Primitive Notion / Slow Jam / Rock The Shack / Someone Like You / Close Range / Run Wild / Brutal / Here To Stay
Set 2: a selection of Joy Division and New Order’s greatest hits
New Dawn Fades / These Days / Warsaw / Digital / Disorder / Isolation / She’s Lost Control / Shadowplay / Transmission / Atmosphere / Your Silent Face / Dreams Never End / Ceremony / What Do You Want From Me? / Touched By The Hand Of God / Blue Monday / True Faith / Love Will Tear Us Apart
Concert ticket
Poster (10/06/2025)
