So what are ya, Team Hooky or Team Barney?
There may never be a better opportunity to find out on which side of that particular Mancunian divide I fall.
Here at the beautiful, atmospheric Albert Hall, Peter Hook begins a three-day residency celebrating the early work of two of the city's most celebrated bands, Joy Division and New Order, both of which he co-founded.
Tonight will see the Unknown Pleasures and Movement albums performed in full, on Friday there will be a run through of Closer and Power, Corruption and Lies, while on Saturday the singles compilation albums of both bands will be given a complete live airing.
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But, of course, our Pete is not the only one still playing these songs. These days some of them also make up a reasonable chunk of the setlist of his former bandmates in the rebooted New Order, themselves still a pretty formidable live proposition.
Look, I get that as you’re reading this you’ll be a figure of discerning musical taste with a strong grasp of Manchester pop folklore, so I wouldn't dare insult you by explaining how the stellar rise of Joy Division was tragically halted by the suicide of singer Ian Curtis.
And, of course, there’s no need to go into how the remaining bandmates regrouped as New Order and went on to achieve worldwide success before it all fell apart in acrimony, the odd courtroom showdown and with old school pals Hooky and Barney going their separate ways with the occasional dirty look back in anger.
But what we - the fans - really want to know in this modern day city of two Orders, is who is the real keeper of the True Faith, the proper daddy of Disorder.
I don't know if Barney has ever been introduced to the stage by the Mayor of Salford, but his former bass player has has clearly earned enough brownie points with the top brass in the other city for such an honour tonight.
One-nil Hooky.
And he is greeted by the crowd with a welcome worthy of the triumphant Salfordian Viking he resembles (sadly shorn of the locks of old). Goths from across the continent have arrived early to fill in the front rows, while the Salford casuals rock up at the last minute to grab themselves a free spot in the stairwells.
We kick off with a rendition of 'No Love Lost' from Joy Division’s debut EP before an unmistakable top string twang of bass signals the start of Disorder, and with it a deep dive into the classic Unknown Pleasures album. It is an album oft lauded for Martin Hannett’s sparse, evocative production, but Hook has long lamented that it was unable to capture the energy and ferocity of the onstage Joy Division.
And that is something he appears to relish recreating here. Flanked by the majestic stained glass windows of this converted church, it feels the perfect environment to revive songs that still chime with a foreboding of both greatness and tragedy.
It was our man’s unique approach to bass playing that put the, ahem, hooks into these songs pinning a punk-pop aesthetic beneath the all-powerful vocals and sentiments of the band’s lost auteur (see especially She’s Lost Control, Shadowplay and, of course, Love will Tear us Apart).
It has to be said that Hook’s voice bears an uncanny similarity to the iconic one that sang the originals at times.
As the show moves into the Movement section, we are reminded of the early formative steps of New Order, a band trying to shake free from its past and recreate itself. If Unknown Pleasures is a stone cold indie classic, Movement is a slightly tougher sell beyond the hardcore, the sound of a shell-shocked outfit caught between two stools, ready to evolve but with one foot still in their tragic past.
A blistering encore takes us through Atmosphere, Transmission and tonight’s highlight, a rip-roaring, all conquering version of Ceremony that brings the house down.
There’s still time for Manchester’s unofficial anthem Love Will Tear Us Apart and then a first (for me at least). [SPOILER ALERT] On goes a recording of the trillion selling Blue Monday and off the band disappears into the night.
Will they come back? No it seems, and we are left in a little corner of the Hacienda of our own, an unexpected after show party to dance around in before the lights go up.
So Team Barney or Team Hooky?
It might not surprise you to learn that I’m not about to come down on either side of that particular debate after all, whatever cheap journalistic devices was deployed a few hundred words or so ago. It is simply a life-affirming pleasure to hear these songs played live, whoever plays them, and there’s plenty more to come over the next couple of nights at the Albert Hall.
If I learned anything, it is that I’ve love enough for two. I’ve seen the Light.
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