Peter Hook // Manchester // 04.06.26 An Evening 50 Years In The Making

There are times when I begin to realise I might be getting quite old, those mornings when it’s a struggle to put on my socks, when I make a cultural reference and no-one under the age of 40 gets it, when I realise many of the people I work with weren’t born when I finished Uni but I have now realised I am getting really old because Peter Hook, one of my musical heroes, is going to perform at Manchester Academy next year to celebrate 50 years in music, how on earth did that happen?

This man has been in some of the most important and influential bands of my, and many other, generations. Warsaw, Joy Division, New Order, Revenge, Monaco and Freebase.

So why that night? It’s because it will also be 50 years since the infamous Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Hall which was the catalyst for Peter and Bernard Summer to form a band.

In celebration of that night, Peter Hook and the Light will play a retrospective set featuring 50 songs spanning his hugely impactful career. It will also, with the exception of some festival appearances, be the bands only show in 2026. If you haven’t managed to see Peter Hook and the Light before you really should, they have been touring the work of Joy Division and New Order for a number of years now and have been a fantastic live band.

If you don’t know Transmission, Leaders of Men, The Perfect Kiss, Bizarre Love Triangle or Love Vigilantes, to pick five of many, many brilliant songs, your musical education is not complete! This is some of the gretest music ever made and, for one night only, it will be played by a band that give it full justice. I suspect tickets will be like gold dust.

As one of the most influential musicians to come out of Manchester this homecoming show will be amazing!

Words by - Iain McClay