Live Review: Peter Hook Presents Joy Division Orchestrated

After a brief, warm welcome from Peter Hook, Detachments vocalist Sebastien Marshall channels the late Ian Curtis with Gary Numan-oid cheekbones and tempered hanging off the microphone for a twinkling and deconstructed Love Will Tear Us Apart. So arresting was Marshall’s performance, he left us hungry for more, exposing cracks in the vocals of Hook and Mica Miller. While Miller’s voice soared beautifully close to Florence Welch’s, her takes proved to be either utterly inspired (Atmosphere, A Means To An End) or slightly miscalculated (New Dawn Fades, She’s Lost Control).

Longtime stalwart David Potts on guitar drew cheers, draping a simple titular vocal line over These Days. But few expected Higher, Higher, Higher Love, the first new Monaco song in almost 20 years and a bolshy reminder that Hooky and Pottsy are a dynamic duo. More of this, please!

A delicate dedication to Malcolm McLaren came via the recreation of one of his unheard mashups of Love Will Tear Us Apart (in its second of three incarnations tonight), and Love Will Keep Us Together saw Marshall and Miller swirl around each other. To the end, The Metropolitan Orchestra had the gates thrown open for full-on big hitters, Digital, Ceremony and Transmission.

The takeaway emotions from the night all depended on which side of the familial fence you sit on with Hooky and New Order. Few fans are glad for the split, but feelings are conflicted. Many see Hook as unfairly treated by his former bandmates, others viewing him as a money-grabbing egomaniac. Despite his absolute love for the material, reinvention via erasure of Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris’ contributions felt in places almost like a pissing contest to prove who was closer to Curtis when he was alive. Surely it’s time to turn to those Monaco and Revenge albums now?