Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker

Peter Hook & The Light play a one-off, sold-out show at Manchester Academy to celebrate Hook’s 50 years in music.

Opening the night are the Buzzcocks, the legendary Manchester punk pioneers whose influence on the late 1970s punk scene remains undeniable. Aware of the crowd’s expectations, they launch straight into a driving, rumbling bassline and a powerful guitar riff, setting the tone before frontman Steve Diggle’s harmonica pierces through the mix. The reaction is immediate: the crowd surges into life, jumping and singing along as the band tears into ‘What Do I Get?’.

Buzzcocks transcend the role of support act entirely, instead acting as co-headliners in spirit, showcasing an hour of punk classics that resonate as strongly today as they did decades ago.

Never one to mythologise his own success, Hook takes a moment to reflect on the gig that changed his life. Recalling seeing the Sex Pistols at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall, he jokes: “I must admit I thought it was a fucking pile of shit and I thought ‘I can do that’, so here we go, enjoy your fucking pile of shit.” The crowd responds with laughter before the band crashes into a cover of ‘Anarchy in the UK’, a nod to the performance that inspired Hook to form Joy Division nearly five decades ago.

The set unfolds chronologically, tracing Hook’s musical journey from Joy Division and New Order through to Revenge, Monaco and Freebass. Between songs, Hook shares anecdotes from each era, lending the evening an almost theatrical narrative structure. Before ‘Dreams Never End’, he reminisces: “So, New Order –  I was sat in my bedroom on the Sunday before we started on the Monday, practicing as New Order, and I wrote this song. I brought it to rehearsals…”

One of the night’s biggest surprises arrives when Hook introduces ‘World In Motion’ by New Order: “Now we know that this year we’ll have a crack at the fucking World Cup, and we’ve all got our fingers crossed, and we need all the help we can get, so this is ‘World In Motion’.”

The crowd laughs, expecting little more than a nostalgic trip back to England’s famous football anthem. Instead, the atmosphere shifts as John Barnes steps onto the stage to perform the song’s legendary rap verse. The surprise appearance sparks one of the loudest reactions of the night, with thousands of voices joining together in chants of “We’re singing for England, ENGERLAND!” so enthusiastically that the song itself is almost drowned out.

Amid the night’s celebratory atmosphere, Hook pays tribute to his former Freebass members Mani and Andy Rourke, and, of course, Ian Curtis. “Ian Curtis, God rest his soul, without him there would’ve been no me, no Joy Division, no New Order, no Hacienda, no fucking Manchester to be honest. Ian, God rest your soul.” The statement hangs in the air before they begin ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. Instantly, the venue is transformed into a sea of raised voices and emotion, as fans sing every word of the song that has become synonymous with Curtis’ legacy.

Peter Hook & The Light do far more than perform these songs; they keep alive a musical legacy that continues to influence generations of artists and fans alike. To witness the band live is to see a defining chapter of Manchester’s musical history unfold before your eyes, making for an experience that lingers long after the concert.