by Dinosaur Journal in Live Report & Photography
photographs: LINK
好音樂永遠不會過時，今晚你比任何人也更清楚。Peter Hook 作為傳期後朋克樂隊 Joy Division 和 New Order 的貝斯手，於3月31日與他的樂隊 The Light 來港表演，作為2014年的 Celebration Tour 其中一站。Peter Hook & The Light 在每次巡演會從 Joy Division 和 New Order 出版的專輯中選擇兩張作演出曲目。這一次，他們選擇了 Unknown Pleasure 和 Closer 這兩張定義的後朋克聲音的專輯。
筆者在 2013 年看過 Peter Hook & The Light 在美國的演出，我可以肯定，香港的觀眾反應熱烈得多，尤其是舞蹈動作和大合唱，美國實在是及不上的。或許這與香港作為前英國殖民地領土有關，這無疑再次展 現了英國音樂給我們帶來的巨大影響。相信 Hooky 也深知自己在這裡非常受歡迎，並提議拍攝一張他拿著曼徹斯特夜時報 (Manchester Night Times) 的全埸大合照，之後他更把相片上傳到自己的 Twitter。
既然這巡演被打造為“慶祝之旅” ，你可能不會對歌單有太多的期望，因為連續把兩張專輯足以相等一個演唱會的時間。怎料 Hooky 竟以 Substance 大碟中的 Atmosphere 揭開敊幕，緊隨其後有 An Ideal For Living 的 No Love Lost。80年代初合成器仍是一種創新的技術，電子元素是最時尚的聲音；除非你是在那個年代成長的，否則你會在表演中埸感到氣氛下降。
話雖如此，筆者對 Hooky 一口氣完成一個150分鐘的演出而不作任何中埸休息十分佩服！而且，較成熟的觀眾群對 Peter Hook & The Light 的”兩張專輯” 表演公式絕對受落。在現場聽到這些 Post-punk 經典專輯完全把他們帶回到 80年代的黃金時期。(除了當年 Joy Division 音樂中 Ian Curtis 的標誌性聲音和戲劇性的合成器原素變成了現在 Peter Hook 沙啞的歌聲和偏重的低音取代。) 老實說，可能由於這種差別，這次演唱會給我點看 “翻唱樂隊表演” 的感覺。當然，大家還希望他在現場會彈奏多一點，而不是完全交托他的兒子兼樂隊成員 Jack Bates 負責吧。
Peter Hook & The Light 最後以 “Transmission”, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” 和 “Ceremony”結束演出，再一次帶我們乘坐時光機上回到80年代 –那種熟悉的聲音，舞蹈和黑暗中的浪漫 ……
Good music never gets old and tonight you know better than anyone else. Peter Hook, bassist of the legendary post-punk band Joy Division and New Order, came to Hong Kong with his band The Light on 31 March for their celebration tour 2014. In different legs of the tour, Peter Hook & The Light will select two albums from the Joy Division and New Order eras to play in full. This time, they picked Unknown Pleasure and Closer, the albums that defined the sound of post-punk.
As someone who had seen Hooky’s band playing in US before their show in Hong Kong, I could tell you we got a much better crowd here. All the dance moves and especially the singalong could not be seen in the States. Probably it has to deal with the undoubtedly influence of British music to us in this former British colonized territory; even Hooky himself KNOWS he’s very welcomed here and suggested to take a crowd picture with him holding a Manchester Night Times which was later uploaded to his Twitter.
Being promoted as a “Celebration Tour”, you might think there’s not much surprise to expect from the setlist since playing two album consecutively would probably be enough to fill a concert. And.. surprise! Hooky kicked off the show with “Atmosphere” which appeared on another album “Substance” and “No Love Lost” off “An Ideal for Living”. Unless you were actually grew up in the early 80′s when synthesizers were an innovative technique and electronic elements was the hippest sound by that time, you would find the gig losing its hype in the middle.
Having said that, this 2-album-set formula definitely worked for the older generation audience ’cause listening to all these classic albums entirely in live probably took them back to their golden days, except the signature sound from Ian Curtis’ vocal and the dramatic mix of the synthesizer were now replaced by Peter Hook’s husky voice and a much greater emphasis on the bass. To be honest, this concert at some point gave me a sense of “cover band show” due to that discrepancy. Still, this writer does have all the respect for Hooky to complete a 150-minute set without a break! Of course everybody still hoped he’d play his bass a little more instead of letting his son and bandmate Jack Bates to take his spot.
Hooky eventually wrapped up the show with massive hits “Transmission”, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and “Ceremony” which once again took us a ride on the time machine back to the 80′s – the sound, the dance and the romance of darkness.