Joy Division/New Order co-founder Peter Hook headlines return Scarborough Spa date
The singularly distinctive signature bass playing that underpinned two of the most influential of bands to emerge from the immediate post-punk era of the late 1970s, will again resonate discernibly across Scarborough Spa’s Grand Hall auditorium.
For a second consecutive year, the inimitable Peter Hook, the former Joy Division/New Order co-founder bassist will be leading his band The Light, fronting another varied bill of his New Wave peers.
This 2026 ‘Interzone’ lineup also comprises Dublin-based Meryl Streek, the highly regarded Chameleons, in addition to the return of The Wedding Present who appeared last year.
The catalyst for the formation of Joy Division would be an early Sex Pistols appearance in Manchester.
Coincidentally three of the original four Pistols members – Paul Cook, Glen Matlock and Steve Jones (with the exception of John Lydon AKA Rotten) appear in the town at the Open Air Theatre a few days in advance of Hook performing at The Spa.
The gig at the city’s Lesser Free Trade Hall on June 4 attended by Hook and Bernard Sumner, which inspired an initial iteration of the band called Warsaw, was some two weeks after Sex Pistols debut performance at Scarborough’s acclaimed Penthouse rock club on May 20, 1976.
The combined influence of these four visiting musicians to Scarborough this month on late 20th Century rock music and popular culture can never be underestimated.
The two Joy Division LPs would have a predominant effect on subsequent alternative music and notably on the development of the Goth genre.
Lydon appeared at The Spa last year with his band Public Image Ltd., one of two visits to the venue he has made in recent post-Covid years.
As a consequence of the passing of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in 1980, the remaining band members of Hook, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, joined subsequently by Gillian Gilbert, metamorphosed into what would become New Order, whose eventual departure from their initial bleaker sound into an equally pioneering post-punk/dance/pop hybrid, subsequently becoming a defining part of the 80s/90s British music scene.
Having exited New Order in 2007, Hook temporarily became part of several other offshoot bands and collaborations that have included notably Monaco, Revenge and Freebass, among others.
Formed in 2010, Hook’s band The Light, who feature numerous numbers from the extensive Joy Division/New Order back catalogue, comprises Jack Bates (Hook’s son) on bass, drummer Paul Kehoe and guitarist David Potts (all previously of Monaco) with Dove’s keyboardist Martin Rebelski.
A new live LP their 16th titled Get Ready (Live at Victoria Warehouse Manchester), was released recently in June.
After completing the current dates in the UK, the band embarks on an extensive 23-venue North American tour later in August and throughout September.
Hook, some five decades later is one of the cardinal musicians of the post-punk/new wave genre whose influence can be heard echoing profoundly throughout a considerable amount of the alternative music scene to this day.
Peter Hook & The Light, The Wedding Present, Chameleons, Meryl Streek, appear at The Spa Grand Hall on Saturday August 15.
Doors open at 4pm.
Visit scarboroughspa.co.uk for details.