Peter Hook and The Light, Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton – review with pictures

The Slade Rooms was packed out to see Hooky perform two sets featuring the songs from the two bands' retrospective albums, both called Substance.

First up was the 1987 New Order collection and after some initial guitar problems the 61-year-old Mancunian musician, switching between guitar and bass through the set, led his current band The Light through storming versions of 16 of the group's best tracks. His vocal performance made you wonder why it was him and not Bernard Sumner that took on vocal duties after the death of Ian Curtis that led to the end of Joy Division.

After three songs that were not on Substance it was into Ceremony and the delivery of the rest of the album in sequence with 1963 on top to finish off.

Hook – now also an author of books about his career and the Manchester music scene – was in great form delivering his distinctive bass sound to favourites including Temptation, Thieves Like Us, Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith. Blue Monday got the mobile phones out in force to capture the great single performed live.

The band – his son Jack Bates on bass, David Potts on guitar, Paul Kehoe on drums and keyboard player Andy Poole – helped weave the hypnotic swirling rhythms and beats that made New Order such an original group in their heyday.

Hook was quickly back for the 1988 Substance set of Joy Division's singles and B-sides, opening with No Love Lost.

It was the great 1979 single Transmission that really got fans singing along as the set finished with fantastic performances of She's Lost Control, Incubation, Dead Souls and the brilliant Atmosphere.

To finish a great night Love Will Tear Us Apart was delivered to get the arms raised and fists pumping.

Taking his leave, the sweat-drenched Hook, removed his T-shirt to display his muscular torso and tattoos and left the stage in triumph to chants of "Hooky, Hooky, Hooky."