Peter Hook returns to Australia with a well rehearsed line-up of New Order songs, once again derived from his back catalogue of work. Hook presents a little slice of how the music industry has morphed to accommodate new formats and touring arrangements. He shows us that benefiting off musical achievements and sales from the past simply won’t cut it anymore.

With the Light, Hook exists within a very different plane from where he has traditionally played, both musically and professionally. Nonetheless The Light confidently played through a series of Joy Division songs before exploring Low Life, the more synthesized record, and Brotherhood the more diverse album, in their entirety. In these three sets Hook proves he can be his own support band, touring band, and main act. It is this kind of involved ego that has attracted much criticism from fans, peers and ex band mates alike.

Peter Hook and the Light Play New Order not only straddles a weird line between high art (festival event) and “low” art (playing at a venue like The Gov to it’s usual patrons) but also swerves between electronic music and rock quite liberally. Low Life and Brotherhood both serve as markers in New Order’s career where the band began diverging from post-punk/rock and into dance.

Ultimately, if Peter Hook is trying to present an oral history, he is doing fabulously. However, most of New Order‘s discography was music that was made to be danced to under back lights, in dark clubs or at least in some dimly lit theatre. By playing New Order‘s songs in this pub arena, he shows a distinct unawareness of who now listens to his music. There is a stark distance from the original purpose of the music to the current.

Hook managed to create a vibe that was professional and entertaining to almost everyone there. He did not crack a smile, barely engaged with the crowd, and seemed to exert very little effort, but this all seemed to work for him, not against him. He confidently reigned supreme over a formidable crowd of New Order fans and caused them to shimmy in the way only 40 year old Australians do.

Peter Hook is an amazing musician and his band certainly does not differ from this standard. I went to his show feeling apprehensive and just a little bit excited, and after I left both of those emotions remained in a greater capacity. The show was as satisfying as it could have been. It was a group of experienced musicians playing incredible songs.

Maybe that was the only intention.