Peter Hook + Kites: Unknown Pleasures at Scala

Peter Hook and the Light, is touring a celebration of Unknow Pleasures. Absolutely unmissable event for nostalgic, so I meet with the usual suspects at the Lexington for a couple of warm-up drinks. At eight we start panicking and run to the Scala in Kings Cross, that already hosted another nostalgic moment.

The first bands are unbearable, a noisy clutter reminding me the parties at the end of the year during high school, and we sigh for the nice music and the warm atmosphere of the Lexington. Then finally, after two hours, the Kites go on stage to bring up the level of the gig. They’re really good, professional and talented musicians, you can see they really belong there, but still it’s not enough to wake up a confused audience, that only starts seriously getting involved with the last few songs, including The Disappearance of Becky Sharp.

Then the air gets dense with expectation while the stage is set up for Peter Hook and the Lights.
I notice two bass amplifiers, each bigger than my fridge and I guess that Hook will play the immortal riffs he generously donated to the human kind and some other dude will do the dirty job while he sings. Unfortunately the excitement goes away with the first song.
A pathetic show.
He doesn’t even play the bass, just a bulky thing hanging from his neck, at least until a R&B goes on stage (accorting to Takeshi’s article her name’s Rowetta, singer whose CV lists Happy Mondays but also X-Factor). It’s a cover band. A karaoke.

The good thing of Joy Divisionis that, although playing without particularly remarkable technical skills, they managed to communicate their feelings with such a violent intensity that their only two albums changed the world. Very different than the professionals playing last night, or Peter Hook singing like he was Bon Jovi in front of a stadium crowd.

I come back home in a bad mood, crack a beer open and play Unknown Pleasure. Maybe this is what I was expecting, simply the full album played from top to end, like it is, with a historical band member celebrating the death of a friend. And a band.