Peter Hook says New Order are a “bad cover version” now

The Gallaghers have made up, but for those who enjoy a longstanding band feud, there’s still Peter Hook versus his former bandmates, New Order.

“I don’t think they’re New Order,” Peter Hook tells The iPaper in a new interview. “They don’t sound like anything like them. I’ve watched them play songs [online] recently, and they’ve dropped the basslines and play it like some weird, bad cover version of a New Order track.” He adds, “So the animosity is obviously still there now.”

Hook claims that fans DM him on social media regularly complaining about the current version of New Order. “They’re like, ‘You can’t hear the bass!’ Obviously, there is a certain smugness one could adopt. But I’m, obviously, way above all that.”

Hook’s main beef seems to be with New Order frontman and his childhood mate Bernard Sumner, who he says he hasn’t spoken to in 17 years, when New Order broke up again in 2008 only to reform without him in 2011. He sued New Order in 2015 over unpaid royalties, while New Order claimed he was using New Order/Joy Division assets illegally with his band, The Light. The case was settled out of court in 2017.

Hook has led Peter Hook & The Light since 2010, specializing in doing New Order and Joy Division albums front-to-back, and sharing lead vocal duties with David Potts (who sang in Hook’s mid-’90s band Monaco and sounds a lot like Sumner). Some might call them a cover band, but he tells iPaper that sees himself as the true keeper of his former bands’ ideals. “My gimmick is to make it as close to the record as it can be…I’ve never seen so many grown men cry in an auditorium as they did when we toured [Joy Division’s second album] Closer.”

The interview was to promote Peter Hook & The Light’s upcoming tour where they’ll play New Order’s 2001 comeback album Get Ready in full. “Get Ready was a honeymoon record,” Hook said, announcing the tour. “Looking back now it was very enjoyable to make, and I think is massively underrated. It did sort the wheat from the chaff and led to a New Order mk2 which played better but had lost a naivety whilst gaining a maturity. Barney and I became a ‘power couple’ in Manchester during the making of the record but, sadly, the old problems recurred when we came to play live. The writing was on the wall from then on. The two of us worked very hard to make this a great record and I think we succeeded. I am looking forward to playing all the tracks, many of which have never been played live before. The Light will shine through … Get Ready!”

The Get Ready tour hits North America in May and June — including Punk Rock Bowling where they’ll play an all-Joy Division set — and all dates are below.

Peter Hook & The Light – 2025 Get Ready Tour
MAY 22 – Montreal, QC – Mtelus
MAY 23 – Buffalo, NY – Electric City
MAY 25 – Las Vegas, NV – Punk Rock Bowling Festival (all Joy Division set)
MAY 28 – Columbus, OH – The Bluestone
MAY 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
MAY 31 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
JUNE 02 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
JUNE 03 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
JUNE 06 – St Louis, MO – The Pageant
JUNE 07 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
JUNE 09 – New Orleans, LA – The Joy Theater
JUNE 11 – Tampa, FL – Jannus Live
JUNE 13 – Orlando, FL – The Plaza Live
JUNE 14 – Miami, FL – Miami Beach Bandshell