Peter Hook Is Meticulous About Re-Creating the Music of Joy Division and New Order Live

One of the great arguments against the existence of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is that neither Joy Division nor New Order has been inducted. Joy Division is one of the most influential post-punk bands that ever was, while New Order, formed by surviving members after the death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, revolutionized synth pop and electronic rock. Bassist Peter Hook was a founding and pivotal member of both groups, and he's made it his life's mission to perform their complete works with his band, Peter Hook & the Light. The ensemble will play New Order's 2001 record, Get Ready, in its entirety at the Miami Beach Bandshell on Saturday, June 14.

"Get Ready wasn't received well when it came out," Hook tells New Times on tour ahead of the Miami Beach show. "I listened to it again and thought, 'This is good." He describes the album as a "second honeymoon" with Joy Division and New Order bandmate Bernard Sumner.

"We fell apart after [the 1993 album] Republic. But we got back together, and it was just me and him on this record. It felt more personal. Because Stephen [Morris, drummer] and Gillian [Gilbert, keyboardist and guitarist] weren't on it, we ignored the record on tour. Seven of the songs were never played live by New Order. It was me and Bernie against the world."

Hook and Sumner were in their twenties when they saw the Sex Pistols live and decided to start a band in 1976. "I picked up a bass the morning after seeing them," he remembers. "We saw Led Zeppelin the week before, but we saw no chance to emulate them. With the Sex Pistols, it seemed like you had a chance."

With Joy Division, success came quickly both artistically and commercially. The dark, moody atmospherics, paired with melodies you could dance to, were like nothing that came before them. But Curtis' 1980 death by suicide stopped the band in its tracks. The surviving members agreed future musical offshoots would proceed under different names. New Order was the first.

The band did not continue the renaming tradition when Hook left the band in 2007 — Hook derisively refers to the current iteration as "New Odor," and he pulls no punches in speaking of Sumner. "Time was a great healer in the studio with Bernard. As soon as we started gigging again, all the problems reemerged between us. It was so great in the studio. I used to beg of him not to tour. I'd prefer if we don't play live so we don't fall out. He'd go out of his way to turn the bass down. He said it got in the way of the vocals. We'd argue constantly over that."

Still, Hook acknowledges the sadness of two childhood friends who pioneered a musical movement not speaking in years: "It breaks my heart every day."

When he performs the music they created together, he takes great care in playing the songs as close to how they were recorded as possible. "Fans come to see us because they love the sound," he says. "New Odor doesn't sound like New Order, which I'm happy about — and also outraged."

Peter Hook & the Light. 8 p.m. Saturday, June 14 at the Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 786-453-2897; miamibeachbandshell.com. Tickets cost $42.43 via dice.fm.