Currently on the road bringing New Order and Joy Division classics to the fans, Peter Hook & The Light hit San Francisco’s Warfield for the first of two Bay Area shows. With no opening act, Hooky implicitly promised all killer and no filler as the band took the stage promptly at 8:15.
While clearly not a sold-out show, the die-hard fans appeared to opt for the general admission floor rather than relegating themselves to what turned out to be a sparsely populated balcony. That made for an incredibly intimate show that fans of the music most surely appreciated as they packed as closely to the stage as possible.
Hook kicked off the evening by celebrating the 25th anniversary of the New Order album, Get Ready, by playing it front to back while keeping the chit-chat to a bare minimum. With hardly a glance at the music stand set up low and to his right, Peter busted out those songs like they were written just yesterday, delivering his signature noodling on the high end of that bass neck while trading vocal duties with guitarist David Potts. But it wasn’t until “Rock The Shack” that it felt like Peter really hit his groove.
A 15-minute intermission allowed the audience to refresh their drinks, but most seemed to stay put, committed to preserving the intimacy of their spot on the floor. What came as a surprise, however, was a familiar face who took the stage to enthusiastically introduce the second portion of the evening—none other than Keanu Reeves.
With a big hug from Reeves, Hook exclaimed, “Welcome to the atrocity exhibition,” before launching into a collection of Joy Division classics from the band’s small but critically acclaimed catalog, Hook beautifully channeling Ian Curtis with the utmost consideration to those classics.
Midway through the second set, the material seamlessly swerved over to a pair of Monaco rarities before heading into more familiar territory with New Order classics. Of course, no tribute to these songs would be complete without Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” which proved to be the perfect closer for an evening of incredible songs.
