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CARLISLE & HEBDEN BRIDGE, TRADES CLUB

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 CARLISLE, UK. 23/4/18

Here we are back at work after nearly 4 months off!!!

I cannot even remember when I last took 4 days off? But now we are back and missing a bass player;(

Jack has been asked to play with The Smashing Pumpkins …..again! They are doing a huge stadium tour of America and it is a fantastic opportunity for him …..without a doubt! So we are deep in rehearsal with his stand-in ….who is Fred Sablan of Marilyn Mansun fame. He came in and had to learn 40 songs in a week, with jet lag, and has….What a man!

And a lovely one to boot!

So by the time we get to Carlisle we are red hot, never been more practiced in my life. Saying that I am very, very nervous, more than I can ever remember….Strange for me( But as Lou Reed used to say…

’If you don’t get nervous you shouldn’t be doing it!’

Good old Lou. R.I.P.

We are starting both sets with a couple of songs I have missed out of the re- collection, ‘Too Late’ a New Order song from very early on in our career which we did for a John Peel Session then never recorded for ‘ONE’ reason or other. Personally I think it’s rather good;) That and ‘Homage’ are the only two New Order songs written that we’re never properly recorded.

Second is Turn The Heater On by Keith Hudson. One of Ian Curtis’s favourite songs and the very song he got the idea for using the Melodica in Joy Division’s music, also recorded at that very same Session for our lord and master John Peel R.I.P.

Nice to finish off the re-collection so far;)

 Gig goes great from start to finish. Fred is fine, we are all still terrified but for no reason, because it goes down a treat. Strange playing without Jack I must say, but he is here helping us out so it’s not too bad;) Nice drive down the M6 and before I know it I am off again to……

 HEBDEN BRIDGE, TRADES CLUB. 24/4/18

 This is a great place to play, apart from the bloody stairs and they wouldn’t be so bad if my back hadn’t gone. Come out with a vengeance this time. 3 x 10k uphill in a week, and I knew it was coming, but like most blokes just ignored it;(

Then catastrophe…..come Tuesday I couldn’t walk…..especially upstairs. 4 visits to the Chiropractor and I am still in agony….PERFECT! So this gig sold out yonks ago, and basically we know everyone here. All old friends and supporters, who as we play barrack us gently, as is their wont, It goes great. Although my style is well and truly cramped and it takes me ages to get up the bloody stairs;(

Not bad going down of course).

Afterwards Fred is upset?

 ‘Why?’ I ask.

 ‘They were the rudest audience I have ever known! They were derogatory from start to finish!’.

 I have to explain about our Northern Fans and their Northern sense of humour. He just looks puzzled, and I must say explaining Fat Alex to anyone is a tough task. Awful trip home, motorway closures from start to finish…..GRRRRR!

Next day sees us on the flight to Philadelphia for our American Tour 2018;)

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DFDS:  THE NORTH SEA BOAT TRIP …..THERE….

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 Nice drive to Newcastle to the DFDS Ferry Terminal on a beautiful clear and sunny day. I must admit the last one of these we did was quite wild, but great fun! I do wonder what the hell will happen this time?  

Our Rep regales me with tales of the last concert on the boat, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

Martha is 77 now and still at it, and from what I heard is quite a handful.

I must admit to being a great Motown fan since I was 13 and actually own one Martha Reeves 7” single, I can’t remember which one but I do remember it having a split in the record and having to carefully click it back together so it would play and the grooves run together…..Aaah happy times….I was 16! Anyway, bagged a great cabin and if you read my last ferry blog you’ll understand my reservations about this one. Soon we are off and I must admit

 we are looked after wonderfully right from the off.

Great meal, great dressing room and rider too, very generous.

The support band a Dutch group certainly take advantage of it and are getting louder and louder by the minute. The sea is calm-ish with not too much roll so everything looks good. My partner Aaron Mellor from Fac251TheFactory is Dj-ing tonight so it’s a great reunion for us. We are both so busy we hardly get together at all these days. He tells me he’s branching out to L.A and taking Ben Kelly with him. I’m looking forward to that;)

Gig time looms and as I walk to the stage I realise the boat is pitching a little but not too much and it is very good for your core. Onstage? There is no stage…eh? I am face to face with the audience.  Which is quite strange as most of them are taller than me. However we play great and get a wonderful reaction too. New Order Substance flies by before I know it we are done. I retreat for a good nights sleep and at 8a.m. get the wake up calls for the day trip to Amsterdam. I turn over and go back to sleep, thankfully the announcements on this boat are a lot more humane.

The day flies by courtesy of a couple of films and by 5 we are off back to Newcastle. As soon as we get out of Amsterdam Harbour it is obvious that the waves are much bigger now and by dinner time everything is going all over the place. A couple of the lads can’t even face eating at all. By stage time it is wild, everyone is moving in that real comedy manner of back and forth…but all together. We start to play and it just seems really odd. I am trying to be serious as much as Joy Division: Substance demands, but cannot keep a straight face. Then on Shadowplay as the audience all seem to be retreating and advancing….altogether in waves. I can take it no more and collapse in fits of laughter;) Soon everyone joins in and I am in tears. It is a fantastic moment. Which has never happened before, we are all band, audience staff etc., pissing ourselves laughing. I have to try really hard to pull myself together just to carry on. It is crazy watching people dance in these conditions especially the women in high heels, and I am told later that a lot of the fans couldn’t even get out of their cabins at all. Our great fan Ellie was telling us last night that tonight was to be her 50th gig. She doesn’t make it;( We had a cake and everything, now all over the deck. We stagger (literally) to the end and I run to bed.

Once in bed it doesn’t seem too bad, so I take my magnesium and after a read (The Remaining: D.J.Moles) I get my head down. Aah ….I drop off but it seems like moments later that I am tied to a crazy roller coaster and cannot get off! The bed pitches and bucks and seems to be leaving the feckin’ floor???

It is like I’ve been spiked with acid but it’s pitch black. This literally lasts for hours and then the announcements begin again. I stagger to breakfast, which is looking to be very unpopular, everyone is bleary eyed and fooked. There our Rep tells us that even after 12 years on the Ferries she has never known a night like that. She says the waves were20 feet (7metres) high at 4a.m. No-one has slept! Later when Steve Jones appears as fresh as a daisy, it seems out of 900 people he is the only one who has slept….

 ‘How?” I ask, incredulous.

 ‘Half a bottle of Whisky, 12 beers, half a bottle of red wine and a Zopiclone!’ He pro-nounces proudly!

 At last we make harbour in Newcastle, and the boat stops pitching completely…….Absolute bliss! We disembark and I am so happy to be on dry, stable land. As I get in the car I think to myself, this is one gig….

 I WILL NEVER, EVER FORGET;)

 Love Hooky xxx

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NOVEMBER SPANISH TRIP…..

Valencia.

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 It’s a fair cop!

 Flight to Alicante, a very beautiful city with a strange reputation! When I first Dj’ed here I thought it would be like Benidorm but it has a gorgeous Old Spanish feel to it and the old town, whilst a bit rundown, is lovely. No visit for us today sadly, as we hit the road for a lovely warm drive in gorgeous weather to Valencia. Well enjoyed after miserable old Manc;(

Straight to hotel for a siesta again, god I am getting old, miss dinner again;(

Then before I know it duty calls. We are trying a new set list today, splitting the night into three.

First: Vinyl versions of both Substances.

Then for fun, some old New Order and Joy Div tracks.

It’s a bit hair-raising at first especially at the end of the first sets, because some of them are still a bit fresh as we say. But it goes well and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow.

God three sets?

Who would have thought that could happen. In 1980 when we started, we were playing for 23 minutes and we thought that was a long time;) Gig went very well and the three sets worked. Hooray! Sleep well, although I have noticed that these days after a gig it takes me ages to drop off. Ah well;( Nice lie in because….Joy of joy….we are on the train. Which is glorious,

such a rare treat, not having to go to the Airport. We arrive relaxed and rested to…..

Madrid

Nice gig and another beautiful city.

One of my favourite in the world ever, although hotter than hell in summer! I used to DJ here at Low Club once a month with Maximo and his wife Christina before the financial crash in 2008, it is sadly no more.

It was a great gig. I used to go on stage at 4a.m and finish at 6.30am and there would still be a queue to get in on a Friday morning??? How these people worked was a mystery to say the least, obviously that very, very important siesta!

Great hotel and before I know it I am grabbing a siesta myself and miss dinner again….damn! Get to the gig and grab two slices of cold pizza before we are off. Gig goes great again and by the encore it is mental. Really hot on stage and poor old Kehoe is really suffering! Who’d be a drummer eh?;)

Lovely leisurely morning to Madrid station and a choo-choo to Barcelona!

Barcelona

Now this place is very special and always has been, what a great city. It seems that all the great cities in the world now have one thing in common, one awful thing….but people…. life goes on;) Once we arrive I steel myself and go out for hot food. Realising I had not had any since Wednesday night! But typically, everywhere is shut so smiling (I had not had one for ages) I leg it to Burger King. Which is great…..Nuggets, Wings, Fries and an Oreo milkshake and to boot I find a beautiful umbrella. I am happy at last…then when I get back to my room….I am unhappy, very unhappy, as my stomach turns inside out….JESUS! Too high a price to pay definitely;( Gig-time and the gig is in a rocking area near The Ramblas, I look out the window on my way and see someone who looks familiar in a roadside café ….It’s Jack! Weird!

But it’s a great venue tonight and the sound is superb onstage. Gig goes wild from start to finish and nice to have a drink with the lads after;) Back to the airport ruins the mood but hey ho, it’s off to Manc we go;)

30th Nov Dolan’s, Limerick, Ireland

Short flight gets us to Dublin nicely, weather is cold tho’ after Spain…..Brrr! Then the drive to Limerick flies by, nice to see the lads again.

Lovely hotel too, The Savoy no less! This gig was sold out and wild last time, but sold out and a bit reserved this time…or is it me? Sometimes it’s hard to tell!

The people running it are lovely. And in the end a great time, is had by all. We had been trying to move the set round and put some new tracks in Spain but it hasn’t felt right? So tonight we revert to the old two sets and that feels weird, bollox …..you cannot win. But we get through and everyone seems happy. My back has been bad lately, and is getting worse but I get through okay thank god. Ah well back to the drawing board.

 1ST DECEMBER ACADEMY DUBLIN

Drive safely and pick the wife up at the Airport. This is a lovely city too. I am a lucky boy. We are staying in the centre and it’s great to see all the Christmas parties beginning, and the resulting reverie ensuing. Gig is ace as per usual here. This has been one of the few venues to host every LP we have played.

Lovely vibe in the hotel after, as we drift off to bed.

 2ND DECEMBER LIMELIGHT BELFAST

We finish off Ireland the only way we know how….with another stormer! I thank you all. Not long to go now to the end of the year and I hoped you all have a lovely Christmas.

Hooky;)

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EUROPEAN TOUR NOV 2017

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PARADISO, AMSTERDAM 24TH NOV, 2017.

Back on the road agaiN.

Sadly, after Perth as soon as I got back on the plane home I was ill again and by the time we landed in Singapore was as bad as ever! Really bad chest, coughing up some disgusting green gunk…..I couldn’t believe it! I ended up at the Doctor’s back home, again to be told it was Pneumonia and I should be taking it easy???

No chance. One more set of antibiotics for me it seems. This works but leaves me with really bad asthma so it’s back to the Docs for bloody steroids! Which I now have to take forever, balls! No more Athletics for me…. I am recovering slowlyL

So….. Great to be back in Amsterdam and at the Paradiso tooJ

I have played this venue very much over the years with varying degrees of success….. I might add. $ riots with 4 different bands! I am hoping tonight will go well.

New order Subst goes well and then for Joy Div Subst they go bonkers.  The audience changes from polite nodding and swaying to a full on mosh pit.

Breathtaking!

I am amazed, capacity audience too. As I walk into the night after, I can’t help thinking how well things have turned out for me, it just seems to get bigger and better every time, everywhere. Somebody up there must like me;)

 MAASILO, ROTTERDAM 25TH NOV, 2017

Nice drive to The Other ‘Dam gets us there early afternoon. I chill out before the gig and later head down to the huge place that is the venue. It’s an old grain silo that has been converted to a purpose built gig with several different sized theatres, amazing what those EU grants can do eh? We will miss them. Great audience drives us all along really well. Another great gig, bed calls ZZZZZZZZZZ……..

 013, POPPODIUM, TILBURG 26TH NOV, 2017

Another nice short drive and before we know it….. the delights of Tilburg await. Nice brand new venue, great layout this one and run very, very well. Another great gig with both sets going very, very well (again) indeed. This is getting boring! Well certainly not boring, so I suppose consistent is the word I’m looking for;)

 LE TRIANON, PARIS 28TH NOV, 2017

Paris is very crowded. I have a book signing to do in the afternoon before the gig, and lovely to have David Sultan and James Masters with me. I can’t seem to sign fast enough to bring the bloody queue down! It seems that everyone who’s coming to the gig is here too. I am a victim of my own success;)

Lot’s of families here. Fathers and Mothers with Sons and Daughters, it is very humbling.

A great compliment thank you.

The Trianon is a lovely theatre and the audience reacts well to New Order then goes absolutely bonkers for Joy Division….again. It is crazy to watch it really is. Nice to finally meet The Liminanas for a picture shoot for the next track we have done together called The Gift, which will be released soon and goes very well with the first track we did together Garden of Love;)

Leave straight after for the Airport, we are staying in a really wacky Hotel called Citizen M, well worth a stay it’s great! For our early flight tomorrow.

 Merci beaucoup,

]au revoir. Hooky ‘17

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Isreal, Australia and New Zealand.

BARBY CLUB, TEL AVIV, ISRAEl!

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Our second trip to Israel!

Complete with me nursing a really bad sore throat and chest;(

Not too many death threats this time I believe, what a world eh! Quite a long flight, but flies by with the boys. Immigration is easy until our sound guy gets dragged off for questioning about his granddad (who he never knew?).

He is kept for a long time, which is a little worrying, but is eventually let in and never really found out what it was all about?

His Big Bad Grandad sounds interesting!

The road works (in the centre of Tel Aviv at midnight???)  hold up our arrival at the hotel for a couple of hours, with all the roads leading to it closed. What a mess! We end up walking, which with the equipment isn’t easy;(

A lovely day dawns and our wacky little hotel called Hotel Cinema, has film posters and projectors everywhere. I am in the actual projection room at the top of the old theatre, complete with hole for the lens to poke through, really weird. I grab a haircut by the Mighty Zohan and a lovely pizza. The area we are in is very vibrant, in other words …..Rocking! The gig looms and we being joined today by Hadar Goldman, an Israeli violinist from the punk band Ciam, whose other claim to fame is the purchase of Ian Curtis’s old house, 77, Barton Street, Macclesfield. Hadar wanted to open it up as a museum but has not been successful so far, sadly. Could be a job for me in my dotage as a curator, like Night at The Museum eh?;)

Anyway, he is very nervous but the lads are on top form and the gig goes great from start to finish. Hadar is great on Atmosphere and Autosuggestion, and the three hours fly by! The lads are off early the next day to OZ but I don’t follow until the night of the day after, so have a bit of time to kill.

It is Yom Kippur here and everyone seems really worried I will starve to death. So like a real student, I invest in two Pot Noodle’s and a load of chocolate and after raiding the breakfast buffet, I think I will survive;) I sleep again after brekkie and wake and walk down to the beach. Spending the whole afternoon just watching the world go by.

Yom Kippur lasts from dusk until dusk the next day and as the sun goes down the noise levels decrease, until the only sounds you can hear are the children playing in the deserted streets. Breakfast is provided on Sunday for us and my wonderful hosts have hired me a mountain bike for what is called ‘Childrens Day’ here.

I have not cycled for years so am a little apprehensive to say the least. I get the bike on the street and it is really strange…..There are no cars at all! The whole place is deserted with every shop closed. The only problem is my chest….I am like puffin’ Billy.

In the old days there would be no power or phones in the city I am told. The leaves soon settle in the road and it gives a post apocalyptic feel as I cycle along topless the leaves blowing round me. I go down through the deserted market to the beachfront, and there the place is completely alive, with thousands of kids on every size and kind of bike, motorised skateboards and tons of electric scooters everywhere. It is completely magical, it really is.

I AM SPELLBOUND;)

 I love the bike and watching the kids in huge groups cycling along the freeways and empty streets is heart warming, it really is and I only give up because I am worried about getting sunburnt, heading back to the hotel for a hat and a T-shirt and a Pot Noodle. I go back in the afternoon suitably attired and ride and ride, until I have to give up because my arse is so sore (no 50p jokes please!). As the sun sets the city gets back to normal all too soon with the noise level rising to it’s usual roar by 7p.m. On the way to the airport for my flight to Oz the busy, noisy streets seem so coarse compared to how they were a few hours before, what a shame. I sail through Immigration/Customs, my granddad must have been ok? (Didn’t know him either;(

I begin a to long trip to Australia, one of my favourite places on earth.

 METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Throat and chest still bad but we persevere;)

I arrive the day of the gig so by the time gig time comes I am completely addled. It reminds me of being drunk, it really does. This Joy Division ‘2 album’ night was added at short notice after our Japanese gigs fell through, but is very well attended. Great to play Closer again, wonderful. Martin our new keyboard player is top from start to finish, a great response. I crawl off to bed exhausted. Not much time to relax because we are off the next day for a gig at….

 CORNER HOTEL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

 Lovely to be back, a beautiful city, very Parisien. It was here that I wrote most of The Hacienda Book funnily enough, when I was Djing at Parklife in 2008, you got the week off in-between so I thought it was a great time to start. Australia looms large in my books lives, as you will see later;)

The on stage sound is tough at this place, which I remember all too well from last time, but the gig goes great and is Sold Out! Too. Great reception for both Unknown Pleasures and Closer, yet again! An almost humane leave sees us off to……

 THE STUDIO, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

 Another beautiful country and now we have a lot of English friends living here now. Hi Carol;) Back to Substance tonight, which is nice.

I have to give in here, I am finding it hard to sleep my chest is crackling that much, so a trip to the Doctor’s beckons. Strangely both me and Pottsy have the same problem???

The Doctor says I am ‘crackly’ and he is ‘wheezy’,

 ‘Where’s Grumpy?’ I ask?

 He doesn’t laugh;(

 $350 Dollars light and we are both Amoxcycillined up and off we go.

Gig goes great from start to finish. Still struggling with my throat which is really annoying Grrrrr! I am waiting for the Biotics still to kick in. But I take it easy by cycling all over the place puffing gently. It’s my new thang!

It’s wonderful how both countries are completely suited, and go out of their way to encourage cycling. I follow the river past the Zoo all the way down to the centre of the city. Then get embarrassed because I am the only one topless? So head back. Hard on the chest again but well worth it! Grab a Kebab before the gig and I am ready!

The place is packed and gig goes great. The lads are on fire.

Ecstatic reception to both records!

Catch up with a few old mates, lovely to see you again Platty;) Next stop…

  THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

 Back to Substance and another Sold Out gig. This getting boring….only joking, after all our hard work it is the best compliment ever, thank you all.

Nice venue and everything goes well, recovering nicely;) Off early tomorrow so after more smashed Avacado we are off to…

 THE GOV, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA

 Another beautiful place.

Nice, quiet and very suburban. Lovely old theatre venue that is packed and of course….Sold Out! Bit of an altercation with some fans at the front, but it is soon sorted and the bouncer tells me it’s the same guys he threw out last time we were here….go figure? Very cold here at night in spring, so wrap up if you are visting. Up earlish to hop over to …….

 CORNER HOTEL, Concert’s 1, 2, AND 3, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

1.I feel marginally better today, thank god!

So have a lovely first day here, visit the Dior exhibition at the Museum along with The Great Wave exhibition by the Japanese Ukiyo-e artist Hokusa

.

  A very cultural day indeed! Enjoy a lovely stroll back to the Hotel and struggle through a short gym session, which does make me feel better.

It’s gig time before I know it and it’s back to The Metro for the struggle with the foldback.

Gig is a struggle and I cannot get the vibe, but it goes down well I must admit. Nice early night.

 2.Have a lovely Big Morning out for breakfast/Brunch with Viv (Big Day Out owner and very old friend) and one Zombie film later am ready for round two.

DING DING! Better gig tonight, great audience, sound still shit. The only place that sounds worse than this place is our very own Fac251 The Factory, where there is nothing you can do to combat it, believe me we have tried everything.

Lovely to see Viv Lees, with his son at the concert too. God we are getting old!

 3.Last night and we turn down a bit onstage and magically it sounds better for it. Play really well and great reaction gives us heart for our long trek to…….

 THE ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 This is one of my favourite places on earth. It really has to be seen to be believed, and that’s despite nearly dying from food poisoning here once see Inside New Order for details;) I am so happy we are finishing here. Stay in a wonderful Casino Hotel that is HUGE! Great pools inside and out, huge gym and as I am feeling a lot better I get in there and have a great workout, so good to be back to normal. Finish off the day sunbathing with a Virgin Mary and with dinner at their very own NOBU, am ready for whatever the concert brings.

Tonight we are back at one of my favourite venues. It’s an old Cinema complex transformed into a great gig. The dressing room used to be one of the smaller theatre’s but they have normal dressing rooms now….Boo Hoo! Do the meet and greet like a Old Mancunian Santa Claus then it’s the show, Sold Out show did I say? Hee Hee!

The sound is great, the audience is great, band is great!

What a wonderful end. I thank everyone and we are done ready for home, but Oops…… I forget to thank Phil Murphy and Steve Jones and they will not let me forget it either, sorry boys;(

Nice to see Brian Jary (I used to sit next to him at Salford Grammar in 1967) and his wife, along with Ken and Georgina our old friends too;) Wake to a huge storm, which is beautiful to watch.

After a fantastic breakfast with the biggest Las Vegas style buffet I have ever seen, Dan our Tour Manager takes us to the airport for the first of our three planes home.

 Thank you for such a fantastic time…..EVERYONE!

 Cheers Hooky, ’17.

[hookysblog]

SUMMER FESTIVALS 2017

HASTINGS PIER, EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND 26/8/17

A wonderful institution, I was happy to help;) 

Back to good Ol’ Blighty for this one, and this is a beautiful part of England, it really is! We are on the Pier looking out to sea, which is gorgeous.

Strange line-up again….Us ….Bootleg Beatles (one of Pottsy’s favourite bands) and Ocean Colour Scene. There are a few people we know here and weirdly for an alcoholic like me, it’s weird to see one of them who has been sober for 18 months, looking fantastic and his mate, who is still in denial, rattling like fuck? When he gets here he legs it to the bog to throw up and when I ask if he’s ok, tells me he has stomach problems, humh? I know exactly what that’s like. It has been a loooong time since I have had to face this. I have been sober now for nearly 13 years, 23rd November this year actually;) He is sweating, completely grey and looks like shit. I don’t say anything, but literally minutes later, after a few drinks, he comes back to a semblance of life. Wow, this is really strange. Like watching a film again that you’ve seen ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ or something? Sadly I am utterly fascinated and follow the poor geezer round watching him like a hawk.

Now one of the things I know for sure is that when someone is like this you cannot tell them anything (from bitter experience) they need to realise it themselves, so eventually I leave him to it.

Gig fills up and a lovely sunny afternoon makes The Light shine.

Beware if you see these two at ANY festival;)

Great gig and great reception over…….. all too soon.

Now it’s The Bootleg Beatles and this is really weird, they look exactly like them too! Even down to a false nose for Ringo and False cheeks for McCartney??? Bloody hell! Imagine if we did this for The Division ha ha! What a thought! We’d need a lot of padding for ….oh hang on ….stop Hooky! Keep forgetting I have turned over a new leaf;) Yes the prosthetics are a step too far for me, I will just stick to what’s important……The Music….Da Da!

Takes us ages to get out because the Police won’t let you drive on the Pier while there are people there. A very sad sign of the times. Stuck in a traffic jam for hours on the out-skirts of Hastings and it takes a long time to get me to Gatwick for yet another bloody flight! I hear some people get to do this only once a year….Lucky them;) But I shouldn’t moan it’s certainly better than working for a living eh folks? I will try and remember that at Security in a couple of hours;)

 ELECTRIC FIELDS, FESTIVAL, THORNHILL, SCOTLAND 1/9/17

 Bloody hell, I have done more flying than Superman. This one is with The Mary Chain again and British Sea Power. Stunning location, the Scottish countryside is amazing too, if only the weather lived up to it;(

Today isn’t bad, cool with sunny spells, almost perfect. We arrive early and have time to relax, which is nice. Nice to see Elspeth who is great fun, our permanent photographer these days! We hit the stage and do it again. A great set from start to finish, and afterwards everyone is full of compliments. The band are great tho’ I will say. I am very proud of them to say the least. Jack has been asked to play with another group and this time I don’t want him to go;(…..but…..life goes on….that we know too well ….don’t we kids?;) Lovely trip to Manchester braving all the road works and the exit closures, not! Our roads are crap!

 BEYOND THE TRACKS, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND. 17/9/17

 Nearly our last Festival appearance for this year and it is nice to be in Brum. Great line-up, with The Editors, and Ocean Colour Scene, again headlining. A nice day and I spend most of the afternoon helping this Security guy who has locked his keys in his car. This is harder than you think and before you know it the door- frame is fooked completely with still no entry! Ah well, nice to see our old mate Cromey, then we are ready and off. Great crowd goes mental and a lovely hour and a half passes. I say goodbye to the boys and am back at the airport again in minutes, enjoying a lovely Beef Pie and Chips in Wetherspoons (highly recommended, great value;). Then blink and I am back in Majorca for our 5 day drive home, we have a lovely time. I arrive home to the wonderful news that the Court cases, me against them and them against me…..are over!

This has been one of the worst months of the whole 6 years….. without a doubt! Don’t expect a re-union soon tho’ kids, these wounds will take a long, long time to heal.

 Onward and upward!

Love Hooky 5th Sept, 2017

[hookysblog]

REWIND, PERTH, SCOTLAND

 Another of my wonderful moments…. to play again with B.E.F.

I am delighted;) A cold day in Scotland, but a very warm audience and really up for it.

These Rewind Fessies have GREAT audiences.

Tonights guests are:

Me;)

Glenn Matlock

Jaki Graham

Glenn Gregory

Owen Paul

Claudia Brucken

And the Band ….who are very good!

 This lot are so well rehearsed it’s humbling. Before I know it we are off and everything goes swimmingly. It is amazing how nervous you get waiting to go on, the time crawls by…..I am terrified! Thankfully it is pulled off and before I know it I am off back to Majorca again;) Lovely to chat to Glenn Matlock, who was of course one of my greatest inspirations to be a bass player, see my Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures book for details

 I ask him about Steve Jones book,

‘Have you read it?’ I ask.

 ‘Should I?’ says he.

 ‘Yes, It is a great book!’

 ‘Ok I will!’ Says he.

 Wonder if that happens to The Others? Ah well, I will never know.

 TIMES SQUARE, NEWCASTLE

Another flight from the sun ending up at The Malmaison in The ‘Toon! For this gig supporting James. Newcastle has changed so much since we started playing, it really has. Our first gig was at the Old City Hall, supporting The Adverts in 1978, which was wild. We slept under the bridge, The Malmaison, thankfully is much more comfortable;)

Times Square is a great place for a gig. We are looked after wonderfully and play very well, with a fantastic reception, thank you all.

Tim and Jim join us for a rousing Love Will Tear Us Apart at the end and we are done. I fly back very happy.

Adios Amigos! Again….H.

 KANALROCK, HORTEN, NORWAY 4/8/17

 One off trip to Norway begins with the obligatory flight from Majorca, two very contrasting countries indeed. Much cooler here of course and a pleasant drive and then Ferry (Bryan?) trip (which is weird watching the lake absolutely full of jellyfish??? Literally thousands of them, more even than Majorca, in cold waters as well?) to Horten. We are staying in a former Royal Residence, which is a little strange and Olde Worlde, very spartan, and fully restored back to it’s austere 18th century best, it even has a strange little concert hall downstairs.

Breakfast is a marinated fish treat and then we spend the rest of the morning visiting a naval museum nearby that boasts an original Cold War Submarine, full size, wonderful. 

Gig time approaches and after a wonderful ‘couldn’t be fresher’ fish supper and what a lovely warm welcome we get! The stage is a huge tin can, would you believe? And sounds like it. We go down a storm and the people hosting treat us fantastically. So much so that on our very early morning drive to the plane home the next day, I manage to leave my coat and Pottsy his phone and on hearing the news our wonderful hosts have them back to us both in no time at all. God bless you. Many, many thanks;)

 REWIND, CAPESTHORNE HALL, CHESHIRE 5/8/17

Another hop back for this Home-Town gig. And another stellar line-up ….did I ever think I would be on the same bill as The Village People??? A wonderful atmosphere backstage and within minutes I am introduced to The Blockheads, one of my favourite groups, sadly minus Ian Dury;( Trevor Horn, one of my favourite Producers, and The Village People, one of my favourite bands! Only joking, but hey ……..Live and let live! (At my age I realise that this is very, very important!) We have a lovely afternoon. Do the obligatory Press junket which is always very entertaining and sit across from Tom Robinson, weird seeing all these faces you have grown up with in one place. Rewind is the ONLY place to do it. We are on early, the places are drawn out of a hat…no favouritism. It is great, a great crowd and lovely to see a lot of old friends in the audience.

Level 42, even suggest a bass off??? Which I thought very funny;) We’d slaughter them of course!

Still weird seeing all these acts. I spend my time talking to Trevor Horn who is with Lol Crème from 10cc. Chris Hewitt is currently rebuilding the control room from Strawberry Studios in Stockport for the buildings 50th anniversary and weirdly, even after all the time I spent in it. I can’t wait to see it.

Lol Crème of course built it in the early ‘70’s with 10.c.c. Seeing that will send a few shivers down the old spine I can tell you! The strongest memory I have of the studio is fearing the old cleaning guy coming in the morning. He would arrive about 6 a.m. while we were still in the thick of it, and turn the hoover on immediately terrifying us! We would all run and hide until he’d finished, which, of course seemed to take hours;(

 W, FESTIVAL, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM 19/8/17

Bloody hell! I am getting sick of airports.

There is a HUGE queue at check-in but I manage to blag it to the front, by acting daft and save myself an hour….HA;) Nice flight brings me to Brussels and I am amazed how many wonderful cities in the world now have this one awful connection. Barcelona brought Manchester back to mind too much….such a sad world we live in;(

Nice to see Philippe Carly again, an old friend who I first met when he photographed Joy Division in 1979. A nice day and again, The Light are on in the light. Big crowd welcomes us warmly and we play great and…… it goes off proper! The gig is in a nice location and the large crowd is very receptive, this is turning into a great festival. We are on with The Human League, so are in great northern company tonight. The end comes round all too soon and then we are done, spend a little time hobnobbing backstage with Kosheen which is nice and then like the old duffer I am, I crawl to bed,

Belgium we love ya’!

(If only we could get to Brussels eh?;)

 Love Hooky xxx

[hookysblog]

INFORMATION!!!

Hookysblog

We are back in business!

Due to a combination of bad advice and bad management, peterhookprivatecollection has been closed down. Talk about a hard lesson, well we live and learn!

I will be getting a new web site shortly, but until then I will be putting the Blogs back up again, here.

Mail enquiries to Peter Hook, Suite 169, Court Hill House, 60, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AJ.

E-mail enquiries to peterhookenquiries@outlook.com, but be patient for replies on both please. Keep fighting, love Hooky ‘17  

[hookysblog]

INFORMATIO!

Hookysblog

We are back in business!

Due to a combination of bad advice and bad management, peterhookprivatecollection has been closed down. Talk about a hard lesson, well we live and learn!

I will be getting a new web site shortly, but until then I will be putting the Blogs back up again, here.

Mail enquiries to Peter Hook, Suite 169, Court Hill House, 60, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AJ.

E-mail enquiries to peterhookenquiries@outlook.com, but be patient for replies on both please. Keep fighting, love Hooky ‘17  

[hookysblog]

EJEKT FESTIVAL, ATHENS WATERFRONT, GREECE 14th July 2017

 Back at the airport way to soon for my liking, but it’s quieter at least;)

We fly well and arrive in Athens about midnight but of course lose two hours;( Lovely hotel is the same as on our last visit and it is still lovely. We were here two years ago doing our ‘Electronic New Order’ set with The Pet Shop Boys.It was a great success. So ‘fingers crossed’ will be this Joy Division set.

On the bill tonight are Jesus and Mary Chain and Kasabian. Tough competition. The boys have suffered a long hard, hot sound-check which I thankfully escaped by going to the gym, where I was joined by the two bands minders, one of whom ends up telling me off like a school-kid for throwing the weights around….

’Tosser!’ I say under my breath, he was massive;(

Later we all manage to grab a few hours relax by the rooftop pool in the sun, which is great. We head to the Fessie in the light, with The Light….Ged it?

Always a bit weird playing in daylight, but the sun goes down as we start, and there is a wonderful view of the sunset just before we finish. We play well and get great support from the crowd. Many, many bootleg Joy Div T-shirts as per usual.Before I know it we are done and heading back to our very hot dressing room, another great Greek appearance, no tragedy;) Earlier our Promoter promised us a gig in the ruins of The Acropolis, seems this old ruin is drawn to other ruins;)  

It seems The Foo Fighters just played there and he says,

 ‘It was good. But will be perfect for Joy Division!’

 Interesting to watch Jesus and Mary Chain play. I loved them when Bobby Gillespie played drums and still like them now. We had a bit of a run-in shall we say when they played their ‘17mins of Feedback’ tour at The Hacienda (see How Not To Run A Club for details) but it is all behind us now;) They play very well and Jim, the singer is charm personified. Good luck to them!

Back to sleep for an early flight to Stansted for...

                                                                                                                                                                                     CHIDFEST CHIDDINGLY, CRAWLEY.

 A small festival where we play with The Christians, but great fun, just enough chaos to make it edgy and enjoyable. Jack has done a dark set but it is great to play I must admit. Everyone is knackered so go straight off to sleep. Next day is a civilised midday leave for….

WATCH OUT FOR THE ZOMBIES!!!

 DARTFORD FESTIVAL, KENT

 This is bigger and very well attended. We are in the swing so put in a great performance. Pottsy and the Boys are great(reminds of me Mrs.Merton days). Love it!

Lot of Liverpool bands about and before us play Space who are excellent, loved their first record ….Check it out! The lads dump me at the airport for an early flight back to the sun. Thank god, this weather is crap.

Adios Amigos, Hooky;)

[hookysblog]

Festival Les Deferlantes, Perpingnan FESTIVAL LES DÉFERLA

Sorry about the lack of photos, but my phone ran out of memory;( However, here’s two beauties…

A lovely drive though France to this gig. The traffic is horrendous on the last leg and even though the sat-nav says 3.5 hours ….. it actually takes 8, with us driving all over the place when we get there…bloody sat-navs!

This would be a beautiful spot, for any festival. High on a hill set in an old medieval castle. Their set up and organisation, food etc., is fantastic with Chemical Brothers headlining. We play really well and are received very well too, a lovely day out. Nice to see the Chemicals crew members and their Agent Alex Nightingale on the trip. Nice drive home with gorgeous weather.

  The Foundry, Sheffield Students Union.

After two weeks off I am very nervous. It seems like such a long time! We practice very well, and even though as soon as we start practicing, we wonder why we are? Because we know the songs so well;)

Using a new boy today, Rob on monitors. Rob is the bass player from The Cadavers, Part Time Band contestants, and it’s nice to have someone you know doing the fold-back. It makes life a lot easier.;)

Geek Alert: Foldback System – when you see a band perform live, the black speaker boxes facing the musicians at the front of the stage, are called ‘fold back’. Folding the music back to the performers, so each musician can hear what they and the other group members are playing on stage.

(Pottsy actually mis-heard this years ago and thought, until last week???… it was called ‘fallback’…how weird is that!)

We are out of term time so no students, and I wonder what will happen?

I needn’t have worried. It is HOT!  And packed with a very boisterous audience greeting us very, very warmly. The boys play fantastically, it is insanely sweaty and I am delighted to see Queen Vivien of Bedford Boys Club 1981 fame backstage with her beautiful grown up daughter, which makes me feel very old… God doesn’t time fly?;)

Y not Festival, Matlock, Derbyshire

Nice drive to picturesque Matlock, in Derbyshire. It is strange rounding a bend and seeing this huge festival site stretching out before you, in the middle of absolutely bloody nowhere. I go out in the tent to watch the band before us play, PRETTY VICIOUS, and very young and energetic they were too, with a great drummer.

As I’m watching there is one surreal moment when someone reaches over my shoulder and points to the back of the guy in front of me, who is wearing a Festival T-shirt, and points to Peter Hook and The Light on it. I think is he taking the piss? I look round and the guy who’s pointing screams, ‘Fucking Hell!’ he shouts, ‘Peter Fucking Hook!’ I beat a hasty retreat.

The tent is packed, bursting at the seams, and apart from this huge stanchion in the middle of the stage, everything is great. It’s a mixed audience but most are very young.

The gig goes GREAT! Starting with Joy Division, then moving on to New Order. The crowd and mosh-pit getting wilder and wilder. With crowd backing vocals for ALL of the songs. Then about halfway through the set a young lady at the front pulls her top up showing off her lady parts and Jack drops the most monumental bum note I have ever heard…God bless him! We finish with LWTUA and the audience are still singing it 10 minutes after we have finished!!!

A lovely drive home as the sun sets and I feel very happy, tired but happy.

Thank you to all at Y not! Thank you very much;)

Hacienda Classical, Rainbow arena, Birmingham.

A quick trip down to Brum, turns into anything but quick when the motorway turn off is shut on both sides of the M6??? Who’s crazy idea is that???

Make it just in time as today has a 9p.m. curfew. We are playing an Electronic New Order set today all mixed together, just like the Classical in fact. We play well and for a support act are very well received. As we limber up for the main event the Arena fills up nicely. Then were on. The sound at the start is a bit ropey but soon comes together and after about 4 songs is rocking. Everyone plays great and nice to have Daz out of 808 State toasting tonight, as MC Tunes is busy. After we finish we drive to a hotel Gatwick ready for our early flight to Croatia. I have never been and am very excited.

Splitzka Festival, Primosten, Croatia.

Nice flight, thank the lord, and before we know it we are in Croatia. Which on first glance looks a lot like an unspoilt Greece. We have a short drive and unbelievably it is pissing down. The driver says they have had no rain for over 68 days, but we are Mancs…it follows us wherever we go! There is at least two foot of water on the roads now and we are very worried about the Festival. The driver laughs it off and sure enough within two hours everywhere is dry as a bone.

This is a lovely place and we get picked up for dinner later and driven into the hills to a beautiful rustic restaurant on top of a hill overlooking the ocean complete with a beautiful sunset…told you!

As we feast on home made bread, oil and olives, with a 8 hour baked lamb dish that is simply sensational, we are all sat they feeling really fat and realising we do not have long until we play….Oooops! There is nothing worse than playing on an overly full stomach…God we are getting old.  Then back to the Fessie which is gorgeous and before we know it we are off. Great gig and a great crowd, loads of Bootleg Croation Joy Division T-shirts greet me.

A wonderful time, is had by all!

A lovely warm night makes for a lovely warm singer and I am wet through. Then a young lady approaches me asking for a hug,

I say, ‘I’m wet with sweat?’

‘It’s fine.’ She says.

Then as she hugs me she whispers in my ear,

‘I miss him.’  

‘I miss him too.’ say I.

And off she waltzes. Great night. One odd sight backstage is this one bloke just sat on his own in a corner, sniffing away. When I ask who he is, it seems he is the festival drug dealer, offering all the normal stuff and the lads say he has done absolutely no business all day and now all night? That is brilliant. The old me would’ve adopted him but now I am delighted that the old drug thing now seems totally out of fashion. Last week in Magaluf on the strip, I was watching this guy approaching all the kids passing by, me thinking he was promoting a bar or something, and the kids were nice to him with quite a lot of backslapping but none stopped. Then he sauntered over to me, ‘Hey signor…you want cocaine?’ I smiled, if only he knew. You’ve not got enough in that rucksack for me dickhead. Ha Ha! I decline obviously, but am very heartened by all these kid’s reactions. He must have approached about 80 and every single one said no. I am delighted.

JUST KEEP SAYING NO KIDS!

Nice late start makes for a lovely easy morning and is only ruined by my usual legal work that has occupied my life for too long now. In the words of Ian Curtis….’Where will it end?’ Nice trip home surrounded by kids on the plane, which was different. A cool, damp Manchester welcomes us with open arms. And….no queue at Passport Control? Which makes a lovely change;)

Rebellion Festival 40 years of Punk, Blackpool.

Lovely to be asked back and to be celebrating 40 years of punk.

I cannot believe it is 40 years ago I started!!! The crowd here are so nice and friendly it is an absolute pleasure to play. I do a Q and A with John Robb and get to meet Brix Smith after too many years. I love Brix, a great woman and let’s face it we all make mistakes don’t we? Eh Mark;)

The old theatres in here are fantastic, with many old features still in place, including me, Hee Hee. I watch the Anti Nowhere League who are as mad as ever and then get told they are Nazi’s…eh? They are just like us…fat, old blokes singing bollocks. How could anyone take any of us seriously, anyway…back to the gig! We are playing in a 2000 seater and I am delighted to be told later that it was one in one out. We are the first band to fill out a venue in the festival. I don’t feel great tonight but have to admit it goes very well and we take roof off. As I drive home later past many of the places where I used to play as a boy, I sigh. I love Blackpool.

Rewind Festival, Cheshire.

Nice jaunt back to Cheshire with The B.E.F.

This is a great Festival, loads of fancy dress and a real party atmosphere. Older crowd, but I fit in perfectly. Nice to be asked back by Martin and lovely to meet the other featured artists. Mari Wilson (who I had a mad crush on when I was a kid, saw her play loads of times in Manc, loved the beehive!). A lovely relaxed day ensues and some wild people about, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley. I feel quite grungy in comparison. B.E.F are a great group and have another great line up, as we practice backstage in the true punk tradition everything is so relaxed it’s fantastic. Then we are on….Everything goes great and I even spot Sally, my trainer in the crowd at the front, a lovely surprise.

Nice to be home.

Just to finish off a lovely picture of me from 1981.

Thank you everybody, you’ve made an old man very happy.

Love Hooky ’16 xxx

[hookysblog]

ITALY JULY 2017

ANFITEATRO MEDITERRANEO, BISCEGLIE, ITALY 8TH JULY 2017

 Back to Italy….this is becoming a lovely habit;)

An evening flight the night before seems like a lovely treat, but when we get to Manchester airport it is MADNESS! In all my years of travelling I have never seen Terminal 3 this crowded! There is nowhere to sit and all the restaurants are completely full. Is every fecker having their hen/stag this weekend???

Ryannair get us to Rome a bit late, well a lot late, so we don't get the bugle on landing thank god. Lovely weather here….It’s boiling, sadly there is now a three hour drive which, for some reason seems to take forever. Eventually we land at The Nicotel, 4 star in 1975;) I reckon, but liveable with and minutes from the gig. I have had a tough day and crawl to bed at 4a.m. Sleep very deeply until 10.20….Shit just missed breakfast! Grab a snack bar and before I know it I am asleep again. Then the bloody phone rings and I am offered a better room?

 ‘I’d rather have the sleep at the moment love!’ I bark!

 ‘Ok. But is very nice room with view!’ She barks back!

 Can’t get back to sleep, luckily the lads ring asking if I want to go to the beach. This is a great idea. The beach is beautiful and a lovely couple of hours and some Pasta later, I feel almost human;) Get some well-needed rays and a nice relax, which is very welcome after a very, very tough week.

 I AM BACK IN THE ROOM!

 Later back at the hotel I think ‘Feck it’ I will change rooms and end up with that beautiful view for my troubles….Gorgeous! I grab a bit more sun on my balcony and end up as red as a bloody lobster! Shit! Gig time approaches and I prepare myself.

How I hear you ask?

 One pair tight dark blue jeans (preferably Zara, True Religion or G-Star Raw) Dr.Marten boots (black or brown, non-slip sole very important)

Three guitar picks, safely in my ticket pocket.

Watch (preferably silver).

Wristband - leather.

Inhaler (my asthma reacts badly to some smoke machines!)

Disposable T-shirt (daft message preferably:)

and ……off we jolly well go!

 O.M.G. This venue is amazing, a small amphitheatre right on the beach, facing out over The Adriatic. You can hear the surf from the stage. By far the best Venue’s I have ever played have been here in Italy. We are on the floor and so I have the whole floor circle to run round in, I show off madly. Gig goes great! By the time we get to Joy Division Substance they go nuts and LWTUA finishes them off completely, they even invade the floor! We have a fag and a pizza, in that order, and watch the waves and the full moon, a heady combination.

Bed beckons, sleep well until about 6 a.m. when it’s like someone has switched a huge searchlight on outside my bloody room…..SHIT….it’s the sun, bollocks! That bloody view! Can't win them all eh?

 THE ROMAN THEATRE, FLORENCE, ITALY 9TH JULY 2017

 Wake at 8.45 to the worst breakfast I have ever seen. I honestly don’t know why they bothered? I am in a hurry so grab a coffee and jump in the van because the lads are all waiting and we have a long way to go. With the first jerk the first jerk gets his coffee all over him…..Balls! Now a 6 hour journey flies by, aided by good company and beautiful scenery. We are in a district just outside of Florence called Fieste, which my driver assures me is the very upmarket district. It is lovely I must admit, very Beverley Hills. The venue is another amphitheatre from the Etruscean era (????) and is surrounded by many Roman Ruins and one Salford Ruin. It is hot and steamy but delightful. This arena is bigger and we get double the audience of last night, it rocks right from the start to the finish. I am delighted.

The boys play fantastically and our only distraction is the mosquitos. We get back to the hotel at 2a.m. and have to be up early for our 3 hour drive back to Rome for the return flight. As you can imagine….it’s a quiet drive. Weirdly I don’t feel too bad, I must admit. But after flying back to England I am wiped out…… completely!

Sanatogen anyone please?

 Arivaderci Roma, Gratzi.

[hookysblog]

LAS LUNES DES PIRATES, AMIENS – FRANCE

A one off Festival for us over here, nice flight and a short drive puts us into the centre of this beautiful French town. Our hotel is right in front of the Cathedral and it’s gorgeous. The Fessie is in the local park and the whole place is delightful. I am nervous… seems like we haven’t been doing many gigs (I have been really busy with everything else lately:( and it always makes me more nervous;)

Pre gig we have a lovely meal on the canal side in a funky café, I know it’s supposed to be work…I know!

Then back to the Park. We are on in ‘the light’ and a have a crowd that needs winning over to say the least. It is cool weather, cold almost and it makes it tougher….but…. we go for it! Then a couple of numbers in we start to win them over, warm them up and before you know it….THEY ARE OURS! HA!

Finish ecstatically and I am one more T-shirt worse off. Sign everything the people have for me and then back to the hotel for a nice early night. Up early and the same short drive and nice flight home, got a few days off thank god. I need a bit of peace and quiet, to say the bloody least;)

 DEAF INSTITUTE –BENEFIT FOR MANCHESTER ARENA VICTIMS

Joel Perry has done a fantastic job of organising this gig, very quickly, and it is the least we can do to help. My daughter was at The Arena and knowing how it has affected us, I cannot begin to comprehend what some parents are going through. It is completely heart breaking.

Manchester is suffering, and a great measure of the respect is how many messages of support I get from all round the world. I am very proud of the way our community has pulled together.

I attend the One Love Concert in the afternoon and while it has a strange atmosphere, the crowd is very buoyant and there are some great attendees, my daughter included. It is run very well and it just shows what can be pulled together quickly for such a great cause.

I arrive at The Deaf just as Certain Ratio finish, sadly, but it is lovely to see all these old faces about. It is hotter than hell and luckily I don’t have much time to think about it before we are on. A great crowd is well warmed up and the response is fantastic. We start with Atmosphere, which gets a few people emotionally, including me! Then in a gesture of hope and defiance, a greatest hits set. The crowd goes wild from start to finish and even on this this tiny stage ‘The Light’ spreads out. As I head into the night through this great city of ours I cannot help but feel very saddened by this world of today. This week alone there have been three car bombs in Kabul and two in Mosul, inflicting great pain on many innocent people, but no-one will be doing a benefit concert for them;) We are very lucky indeed.

Take care out there,

Hooky ‘17

[hookysblog]

HULL, COPENHAGEN, AARHUS Etc.,

STUDENTS UNION, HULL UNIVERSITY.

As a band we have had a funny relationship with Hull over the years I must admit. Daftly because of one of our gigs in the early 80’s, but lately I have really come to appreciate it as a great city, with great people.

Nice drive, despite the road-works, and I come to realise that this may be one of my last journeys in my car, a Mercedes 400E, twin turbo 4 litre, and I must admit it has been a great motor, I will miss it.

I love cars and have wasted fortunes on them over the years, ever since I was able to drive. One of my first cars was a Jaguar Mk 10 420G, cost £35, at 19 years old (google it), The Kray Twins had one! It did 6 miles to the gallon. Mainly thanks to its triple 2” SU carburettors (ask your granddad) I couldn’t afford to run it at all, but loved it and treasured my moments in it. I had £2 a week to spend on petrol, which bought a gallon and those 3 miles there and back were my weekly treat. As I approach my later years I wonder if my love for mad old cars will fade or when? Not at the moment though, so I am on the lookout for my next car, suggestions? Strange, with what I have been through on the legal front, the waste of time and money, I must admit it makes Sports cars look sensible;( You live and learn eh? It has been a difficult lesson…..

…. I ‘ll never get that bloody Ferrari;(

 Oh yeh the gig….went off on one there ha ha;) When I got to the postcode I could not find it anywhere?? The University is huge, sprawling and totally impenetrable. In the end I have to ask directions (us men hate to do that:) but everyone I ask is going to the gig and is lost too! Funny, me and the fans, all stuck in the same boat… hee hee! Eventually a lovely young lady fan sorts us all out and before we know it we are there. Nice short wait in the dressing room and we are off. Great crowd, great gig. Well worth the trip, much easier finding the way home, staying at The Airport Hotel, Thank god, before our trip to…….

 COPENHAGEN

Lovely flight and we are staying in a wonderful hotel, Bella Sky and it is gorgeous. Nearby the fantastic modern venue is very much like the BBC in Salford. Brand new and all shiny, completely purpose built. Only trouble is the stage isn’t really a stage where are on a raised floor, like a theatre set-up. After a few songs I quite like it, you can wander all over the space, it’s a bit surreal in a good way. Audience are cool to start but by the end, all ours;) We load out and asleep before we know it.

AARHUS

A nicer late leave for Aarhus and after a hearty breakfast and some oral persuasion Phil agrees to take the ferry and cut short the drive. So it’s an hour on the road, a bit Dad’s Army, but we make it and a lovely ferry awaits!

It is interesting that these ferries between the Islands in Sweden and Denmark are so good compared to those in France and Spain. I wonder what the ‘Meditation rooms’ are like?;)

Nice easy day for me, even though I have to work on the Case again, for a couple of hours;(.

But, squeeze an old man’s nap in between a great film called ‘Sandcastles’ featuring the kid who used to be in ‘Skins’. He has done very well for himself I must say. Highly Recommmennnded!!!

Bloody Netflix, it’s hard to get a minutes peace with it;( Gig soon looms after an awful Italian meal? Which puzzles me……. how anyone could fuck up Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread??? But they did folks.

A smallish crowd for us these days, I’d say roughly the same as we had last time in 2011. Which is strange, because we have really grown everywhere else. Ah well can’t win them all. But they are very enthusiastic and both sets go down really well. The boys play great and I dedicate Atmosophere to Ian C. as his 37th anniversary approaches on May 18th, be nice to see him.

We finish fantastically and wind down nicely. I finish ‘Sandcastles’ and go to sleep, listening to the club next door, throbbing it’s way through the night. Wake up late and another nice easy day sees us driving back to Copenhagen for the flight home, no Ferry this time, the new van is too tall, so drive we must. Time flies by and everyone sleeps, apart from the driver of course;) Then with an almighty ‘BANG’ the exhaust falls off??? WOW… this is like the old days! We pull in the services in a shower of sparks and the boys leap into action trying to figure out how to fix it.

This is great…Too many cooks spoiling the broth deffo;)

I suggest sticking a brush handle I have found, through both ends and carrying on? I get poo-pooed mightily with everyone saying it would catch fire??? That’s rubbish isn’t it readers? Eventually Pottsy gets it tied up and sorted out, well done that man, and we complete our journey safely to the airport and head home in the sunshine.

Back to Good Ol’ Blighty.

I thank you all,

[hookysblog]

BACK TO AMERICA May ‘17

Our American Airlines flight is cancelled from Manchester, gone tech!

So we are transferred to British Airways via Heathrow, which actually works out better for us;) It’s a direct flight to San Francisco, we were due to change in Dallas….. every cloud eh? A lovely brand new plane too, very comfortable and as it’s a day flight, sleep escapes me….. Which I will regret later;(

We land and navigate Immigration easily, but when we get to the luggage roundel we are informed that our gear is still in London…..Ooops! Mad panic ensues and as we run round like headless chickens, we are gently re-assured it will all be here tomorrow, thank god. We get into our Japanese hotel, Kabuki about 4.a.m English time. We are knackered. It is 8.30p.m here now, but I am shot, totally combobulated, so crawl to bed and guess what? Am wide awake at 4.30a.m San Fransico time??? Hammering on the breakfast room door at 6a.m, then in the gym for 7! Later we are informed by text, that one bag is missing….But which one you ask? Only the one containing our backing track machines!!! Which are obviously vital to the New Order set??????

This only affects one half of the show but is very upsetting, we have another panic summit but let’s face it ?…..it isn’t the end of the world:(See Kim Jung On and Donald Trump for that!) Me and Jack sort out a replacement set and later I head over to Berkeley for a rare sound-check.

 UC THEATRE, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 28/4/17

This is a really funky place, very bohemian, but the traffic from San Francisco is really bad;( The driver tells me that so many people commute to the centre of S.F. now that sometimes there and back can take nearly 4 hours a day…..EWWWWH! Thankfully all the gear has arrived….Hooray!

We are back to normal, whatever that is?. Sound-check well and after a pizza courtesy of our great friend Professor Wendy Fonarow, who is introducing us tonight, we are well fed and watered;) Gig time is here and Jack and I are presented with our new guitars by Yamaha, made especially to commemorate the BB1200S that I have used on nearly every New Order track and all my solo work, Freebass, Revenge and Monaco, and most other sessions as well.

They are rebuilding them as my signature bass. I am honoured. These two are prototype’s…. rebuilt from scratch, and amazingly are actually better sounding than the original, technology eh? The launch is imminent. Details to follow;)….

The gig is great, the boys play very well, interestingly ‘The Others’ played here last week so half joking I ask the audience who went to see them and nearly all, if not all actually, put up their hands….No pressure eh? It is very interesting that we share the kids, they have them one night and us the other. How long before they start playing us off against each other for more treats and presents….

 Mummy, please let us stay up later!

 Daddy let’s us have McDonalds every day!

Etc, etc., I am worried;(

 Anyway, onstage sound is crap, which just goes to show how useless sound-checks are, but the gig goes great. Both sets are received very, very well and we are very happy. Luckily the trip back is much quicker at midnight and we all crawl to bed. I sleep okay thanks to a Zopy, but bloody hell this jetlag is murder! Must be old age? We fly early to Denver, thankfully with equipment.

 SUMMIT MUSIC HALL DENVER, 29/4/17

I like Denver. Red Rocks is sensational, I urge you to check it out if you ever get there. Even without a gig they are worth seeing. The weather is freezing and we are greeted by a blizzard…..Wild!

What a contrast to California. One old mans nap later and I am at the gig, which is packed. N.O. goes down a treat and then on to Joy Div. we get a flurry of fights! In Digital I have to stop the band as one guy is elbowing another, Jack Reacher style, on the top of his head in a huge melee in the audience??? It calms down but flares up again and again, right to the end of the set. Scary! Be careful what you wish for eh? We finish greatly and head out into the cold to bed, Pottsy is unwell and struck with a sore throat and I really miss him tonight;(

I sing Confusion and Perfect Kiss, which I enjoy. Off to bed and with a wake up call for 6.10a.m, to worry about, sleep really badly. I am up at 5.30a.m exhausted. Airport run wakes us up and a quick 2 hours get us to the …..cold of Dallas???? The first time I have ever been cold in Texas;( The weather has been very bad here for a while, watching the news is terrifying. The boys and I all go straight to bed, crashing out. I grab 2 and a half hours then wake up feeling terrible, really jet-lagged……it’s horrible. Stumble to the gig….

 Old Young Hooky! If you know what I mean?;)

FORTRESS FESTIVAL, FORT WORTH, TEXAS 30/4/17

Held in the Modern Art Museum, the place is gorgeous. We are playing on a raft in the middle of an ornamental lake outside the Main Art Hall. I have no idea why? But there is a moat in front of us, which is quite weird. It is cold and windy which doesn’t help with the atmosphere and then as it goes dark we realise there are no suspended lights at all. It’s all floor lights, so the stage is virtually pitch black. You can’t see the frets or lyrics or even each other. Totally surreal! The sound is awful too, but the lads put in quite a performance and we even do an encore. Great crowd, and the moat stays un-breached. I do interviews celebrating Bill Paxton (‘Touched by the Hand of God’ Video) and Jonathan Demme (‘Perfect Kiss’ Video) both taken much too early, the net seems to be closing in, scary. Bed about 1 and feeling so spacy it’s unbelievable, oh to sleep, please god. Up at 8.30 and a hearty Texan breakfast that would have fed 4 Englishmen, makes me feel better and I steel myself for the trip home to good Ol’ Blighty.  Takes me 4 days to recover….phew…..I must be getting old.

Love Hooky ’17.

[hookysblog]

QININETTA, ROME 7/4/17

Back to Italy, and flying direct to Rome.

A lovely day when we leave and when we arrive, it is glorious…..Hooray! It warms my old bones. A nice relax before the gig and we are on at 11.20p.m? O.M.G!  

A real shock to my system??? I love you Continental’s…. thank god for siesta’s tho’. The gig is right next to the Trevi Fountain which is quite strange, but lovely to see. The Concert goes well from start to finish, and the reaction is almost even across the two LP sets, which is nice. A great finish ensues, but as I enter the ‘smoking room’ for a post coital fag, I get the shock of my life when our driver appears from nowhere, pulling the door open and me with it, scaring me to bloody death! He was asleep, just waking on the final chord. Anyway, I recover and as we drive back to the Hotel it never ceases to amaze me how impossibly beautiful a city Rome is? Every street you drive down brings yet another wonderful surprise. I am a very lucky boy. Home for about 3.a.m……knackered…. but happy;)

Bit of a lie in and we drive in lovely weather too….

 DRUSE, RANCIA, BERGAMO 8/4/17

The scenery is stunning all the way but as we get into town, we find this gig is a bit in the middle of nowhere on a huge Industrial estate;( These halls are usually purpose built by the community as an Arts Centre and it is something The Europeans do so well, as a gig they are designed perfectly. Usually paid for by the local governing parties to curry favour with the young voters, but as I said very well designed and equipped. I tax the bootleg T-shirt seller outside by getting some free T’s for me, and the boys. The cheeky bastard is amazed I pick a Sex Pistols one? Asking why I don’t have a Joy Div one? Would have thought that was Bleedin’ Obvious….. but never mind!

Anyway, tonight’s gig is no exception and we are looked after very well. A capacity audience greets us very warmly and another great gig ensues. Loads of different bootleg Joy Division T-shirts on the people in front of the stage greet me. Weird!)

All these successful gigs are great but sometimes you think,

“Oh for a riot like the old days?”

Ooh! Be careful what you wish for Hooky;)

Bed rather late again and another well needed lie in and we hit the road again. Gorgeous weather and beautiful terrain accompanies us all the way to……..

 ESTRAGON, BOLONGNA 9/4/1

Another beautiful, beautiful city!

Our Hotel is outside on the outskirts, and is hosting a wedding which looks like it might be wild later, I take the opportunity to get a bit of sun on my balcony for a couple of hours whilst doing some interviews for Record Store Day and The Hacienda Classical. We have the first of one in Leeds next week, with our new set and after all the preparation it is very exciting. These are such different gigs for me, I do the sound and sing Blue Monday, but strangely the whole thing is much more nerve wracking than playing with The Light. I can’t figure it out?….I know there are more people but I do that all the time as well. That’s one thing I love about our gigs as The Light, we get to play all different sizes of venue even on Ships ;), and believe me it really keeps you on your toes. Big venues are good, especially from the financial point of view but it is easy to feel and act detached see Substance :Inside New Order for details. It is quite an art to project and not every group or group member can do it. Anyway, the gig is great…..again! We are all very happy and Joy Division finishes it off with a bang……..Perfectly!

We have a drink in the dressing room after…..a very happy bunch. What a life;) Up late again on Sunday for a drive back to Bergamo for our flight…which is weird backtracking. Kiss the weather goodbye and back to cold old Manc….our home!

Thank god.

Love Hooky ’17 xxx

[hookysblog]

BOAT TRIP:SHINE’ HULL -  ROTTERDAM – HULL

A beautiful day and a nice trouble free drive (despite the BLOODY road worksL) gets us to Hull. I am accompanied by Twinny my old mate of 44 years and two of his friends for this jaunt. Which is very nice. I hope he makes it to 45? He is on a bender you see;)

Boarding the boat today is easy because we are headlining and get very special treatment. Thank heaven for small mercies eh? Normally the queue-ing takes ages, the last one of these I did in Barcelona the boarding and room registration process took 6 bloody hours!

 I WAS READY TO MURDER SOMEONE!!!

 Anyway, I get a corner cabin with two windows and a double shower, WOW! Which feels like being on holiday. The boat is moving around a lot. It’s choppy from start to finish, and I see people clutching their drinks with very determined looks on their faces everywhere. After a lovely meal (I will say one thing for these P & O Ferries, the foods great! On the ones we get from England to France and Barcelona to Majorca the food is shite, and I can never figure out why….must be the captive audience:).

Before we know it we are onstage, which is a tiny one compared to most we get these days, but everything goes well. The Joy Division Substance is first and the audience go bonkers from start to finish, severely testing the row of Security guys and gals at the front, no barrier you see, so it’s a flesh and blood one! These guys are tough! Phil saw them take two kids down in the bar and said they had them in handcuffs in seconds. “Take them to the meditation room.” One of them shouted.

We finish well and I troop out for a smoke on the crew deck where we pass said meditation rooms, numbers 1 2 3 and 4. They are the cells, very sobering. So after I head for bed, it’s been a heavy week, narrowly avoiding the swaggering Beer Zombies all the way, like some mad sort of 3D game.

I get to sleep about 2.a.m. and then am rudely awakened by the HI-DI-HI like announcer at 5.45a.m.????

FOR BREAKFAST?

 WHAT THE FOOK!

 Here incredibly I am joined by a very fresh looking - even tho’ he hasn’t been to bed - Clint Boon, which is lovely. He is getting off after DJing last night to fly home for his regular, for 26 years he tells me, night at South in Manchester. He IS the hardest workingman in showbiz (he even makes me look lazy;) it’s great to catch up.

As he leaves I go back to bed. I am being awarded the title of ‘Honorary Crewmember’ today so I can stay on the boat instead of heading to Rotterdam or Amsterdam as are the rest of the band and audience. They all laughed at me for staying on board. I then toss and turn, for what seems like hours, listening to all the bloody announcements over and over again, which seem to last forever!!!

I count four speakers in my room alone. It is torture.

 NO SMOKING!

 NO REMAINING ON THE BOAT!

 BREAKFAST IS NOW BEING SERVED!

 DUTY FREE IS NOW CLOSING!

 THE COACHES WILL BE LEAVING SOON.

 NO SMOKING!

 NO WANKING!

 THE COACHES ARE DELAYED!

 THE COACHES ARE LEAVING!

P an O FERRIES LOVE YOU! Etc etc etc.,

 It is with blessed relief that about 10.a.m. they finish….phew! The next thing I knew it was time for lunch, where I was a guest in the Crew’s mess. The food was great here too and much refreshed I watch A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, have another nap and before I know it, it was time for dinner. Tough Life! I must have put on half a stone! The lads have arrived back and like every one else are absolutely knackered. The audience have been transformed with lack of sleep into wasted shadows of their former selves;(

The New Order Substance set opens to a very quiet bunch, it’s like they have all been kidnapped and replaced by bored librarians, even Twinny’s posse are exhausted). But we persevere and by half way through we get them back and it ends in a huge furore…..phew again! One great moment when I berate a front row guest for sleeping and his girlfriend comes later and tells me he has Narcolepsy.

“Makes driving with him very interesting.” She says, “He drove us here and fell asleep three times!”

Bleeding hell???

I was okay after but the lads were a sight to behold they all just lay around spent, completely spent. I go to bed only to be wakened by more bloody announcements at 4.45??? Because the bloody clocks have gone back and we have lost an hour……aaaargh!

This was probably one of the weirder gigs I have ever done, but the crew and the crowd I have to say were fantastic. We had one crewmember Pedro, from Portugal, who seemed to do everything on board. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was driving the boat. He was head-waiter, greeter, photographer, head cook and bottle washer! It’s like the Circus. On the way off he says to me,

“You hear that announcement? That’s the code for toxic human waste in the cabin. We have to send in the experts in gas masks and hazard suits and steamers.”

Shit, for some reason I immediately think of Twinny. But surprisingly he is quite chipper. We get off the boat, first! Top one. Then a lovely sunny drive home and I drop him at Wetherspoons on Deansgate where him and the boys start again.

Oh to be young;)

love Hooky ‘17