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Peter Hook Calls New Order ‘Lazy’ for Playing New Order Music, Like Him

Peter Hook New Order Tour Low-Life brotherhood Twatto

Peter Hook is a funny guy, both in the sense that he comes out with some priceless insults and that he has a really bizarre approach to life. We’ll start here and work our way back: Consequence of Sound reports that Hooky is doing another full-albums-from-my-old-bands tour, this time performing all of New Order’s third and fourth LPs, Low-Life and Brotherhood. This follows his previous outings, in which he played his old group’s Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies as well as Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures and Closer.

The greatest part about this all? Last weekend, Hook was at the BBC 6 Music Festival where, as usual, he had absolutely nothing nice to say to his old pals. Speaking backstage to Gigwise, he called New Order frontman Bernard Sumner a “twatto” and accused the band of “lazily” touring behind the its greatest hits. Hooky also said Sumner stole New Order from him because the latter couldn’t stand playing to small venues.

“I do think this is what spurred Bernard into getting New Order back — is that he toured with Bad Lieutenant and couldn’t stand the shitholes. I will bet you a pound to a thousand that that’s what it was. He must have been sat there, thinking ‘I can’t be doing with this — I’m stealing New Order off that bastard!'”

UPDATE: A press rep for Hook explained, “Hooky’s problem is with New Order’s live sets which he has said many times before. He explained in the full interview that they perform pretty much the same exact set of greatest hits all the time and ignore the back-catalogue of the band. It was great source of frustration to him prior to the band splitting in 2007 and he enjoys the freedom to play the full albums singles and B-sides.” Thus, the accusation of laziness sticks.

Hook quit New Order in 2007 and the band broke up for its second time, with Sumner reforming it in 2011 without his former Joy Division bandmate. Since then, New Order played the Olympics closing concert at New Hyde Park with Blur in 2012, headlined Lollapalooza in 2013 and will top the bill at Sasquatch this summer.

“It’s really nice to be able to do what I’m doing without having to compromise with another musician,” Hook added. “Now twatto has gone back to New Order and their greatest hits, so he must be having to compromise.”

Hook’s tour with his band, the Light, takes place in November.

November 4 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
November 6 – Philadelphia, @ Trocadero
November 7 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
November 8 – Boston, MA @ Royale
November 10 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Tellus
November 11 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
November 13 – Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag
November 14 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
November 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
November 17 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue
November 18 – Seattle, WA @ Nuemos
November 20 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
November 21 – San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
November 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre