Ex-New Order bassist Peter Hook will dig through his celebrated musical past this spring, embarking on a three-week spoken-word/multimedia tour of the U.K. and performing a set of Joy Division songs at his newly opened Manchester club on the 30th anniversary of Ian Curtis’ death.
The 16-date spoken-word tour — “An Evening of Unknown Pleasures: Tales from Joy Division, New Order and The Hacienda” — will find Hook sharing his Manchester memories, showing unseen footage of his bands and outtakes from Michael Winterbottom’s “24 Hour Party People,” taking audience questions and even playing a little bass.
According to New Order Online, Hook says of the tour:
“We’ve got some interesting stuff that was left out of the Joy Division documentary and I’ve also decided to play a few instrumentals I like the bass on — ‘The Happy One’ and ‘Elegia,’ for example. That gets me out of talking for a few minutes. I’m renowned for my music, not for my talking, so I’ll let some of my music do the talking for me.”
The spoken-word gigs will be MC’d by notorious UK drug smuggler Howard Marks, who also provides guest vocals on Hook’s long-in-the-works Freebass project, and performed with Hook at last month’s grand opening of the bassist’s new Manchester club, FAC251 The Factory, housed in Factory Records’ former offices.
Following the tour, the Cerysmatic Factory blog reports, Hook will mark the 30th anniversary of Joy Division frontman Curtis’ suicide with a May 18 concert at The Factory, during which he will perform a set of Joy Division songs (Hook actually debuted an unfinished Joy Division track, “Pictures in My Mind,” at the club’s opening).
According to Cerysmatic Factory, Hook is quoted in Thursday’s Manchester Evening News:
“Everyone’s talking about what they’re going to do and I think I’m going to be playing some Joy Division songs to celebrate Ian’s life on May 18. I mean, we’re never going to do it together again, but it just seems right. Especially to do it at The Factory, there’s a definite need to celebrate one of the most momentous days of your life.”
Further details about the Joy Division tribute, including who will be playing with Hook, have not been announced, and the show is not yet listed on The Factory’s schedule.
See Peter Hook’s spoken-word tour dates after the jump…
Tour dates: Peter Hook, “An Evening of Unknown Pleasures”
April 11: Glee Club, Birmingham, UK
April 12: Albert Hall, Bolton, UK
April 13: Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, UK
April 15: Stables, Milton Keynes, UK
April 18: Town Hall, Middlesbrough, UK
April 20: The Sage, Gateshead, UK
April 21: Gala, Durham, UK
April 22: Mechanics, Burnley, UK
April 25: Glee Club, Cardiff, UK
April 26: Academy, Oxford, UK
April 27: Theatre Royal, Wakefield, UK
April 28: Guild Hall, Gloucester, UK
April 29: Assembly Rooms, Derby, UK
April 30: UEA, Norwich, UK
May 1: The Lowry, Salford, UK
May 2: Truck Theatre, Hull, UK
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Peter Hook debuts unfinished Joy Division song, New Order outtake at FAC251
- Bad Lieutenant, Bernard Sumner’s New Order spinoff, announces five U.K dates
- Milestones: New Order’s ‘Technique’ released 21 years ago today
- ‘Ceremony: A New Order Tribute’ proceeds to benefit Tony Wilson charity
- The Other Two reissuing ‘The Other Two & You,’ ‘Super Highways’
- Bernard Sumner’s Bad Lieutenant cancels debut U.S. concerts
- Peter Hook’s Freebass finishes first album, preps debut EP ‘Two Worlds Collide’
- New Order’s botched CD reissues finally to be re-reissued by Rhino Records
- New Order spinoff Bad Lieutenant announces ‘Never Cry Another Tear’
I love Joy Division and New Order more than any other music in this world, but enough already with the cash-ins. Let it die gracefully.