• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

planet leah *news

One journalist-turned-TV-producer's look outside her professional head. Coming soon to Comedy Central and Adult Swim, just kidding.

About planet leah *news

One journalist-turned-TV-producer's look outside her professional head, coming soon to Comedy Central and Adult Swim, just kidding.
  • Blog
  • Published Writing

Billy Corgan Sat In With Peter Hook. I Didn’t Drop My Phone Filming In Mosh.

September 25, 2011


This was how my Friday night was supposed to go: Go to a panel about new media at the Tribune Tower, and then sit at my new home — the 24-hour Clarke’s on Damen in Chicago — and write more on this bloggy thing.

But I got a call from my girl Traci, who said there was a +1 available for the Peter Hook show at Metro, and would I like to go? Sure! I said. Even though I couldn’t remember who Peter Hook was at that moment, honestly, but I love hanging with her and usually it’s something interesting. So then I retreat to my cellular Internets and realize that Peter Hook was the bassist from Joy Division and New Order, oops, right.

And then I hear that Billy Corgan is supposed to sit in on a song at some point during the show. Which I guess wasn’t last-minute news because Miles Raymer from the Chicago Reader wrote something about it earlier in the day, which I saw later — talking about the controversy/unrest regarding Hook touring with these Joy Division songs (he played the 1980 hit album “Closer”) and touting merch featuring new designs. The latter inspired Raymer to use phrases such as “explosive diarrhea,” ha, when comparing them to the classic designs of Joy Division (like the cover art for the “Unknown Pleasures” album, pictured on this kid’s forearm, an album that Hook played at The Double Door last year). The Chicago Sun-Times has another background-y article here.

I did think it was weird that Hook seemed to have a songbook up there that he’d flip through occasionally, and it was not the tightest set by any means. But I liked watching this guy play bass, a hollow body electric one, that was like a cross he would maneuver around the stage.

Corgan was of course going to come on for “Love Will Tear Us Apart (which Hook dedicated to Metro owner Joe Shanahan who was DJ-ing that night, and then Corgan goofed the timing on a lyric one time, it was rather cute). But Corgan first came in for “Transmission,” and inspired a mini mosh, as odd — and at times painful — a musical match-up as it was. I screamed a lot. Getting knocked and filming. There were Hook-aged bros in the audience who knew every word and were psyched (Joy Division never made it to play the States, Ian Curtis committed suicide right before a scheduled tour in 1980). And there were college-age kids who knew every word and were psyched (they weren’t even born before Curtis died). Sometimes it’s just nice to hear your favorite music played live by someone who once played it, I guess.

[UPDATE: Here’s a good review I found in F News, the School of the Art Institute newspaper by Brandon Goei.]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Elsewhere on the Blog

Cain “Suspends” Campaign…And Should Suspend Whoever Decided to Use This Photo on His Website’s Homepage

He looks like a poster child for Metamucil. … [Read More...] about Cain “Suspends” Campaign…And Should Suspend Whoever Decided to Use This Photo on His Website’s Homepage

The New York Times Won’t Print “WTF”? WTF?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

A writer friend of mine in New York started a … [Read More...] about The New York Times Won’t Print “WTF”? WTF?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

Contemporary Balloon Animal Art

I call this "Forlorn Poodle, Lost But Not … [Read More...] about Contemporary Balloon Animal Art

I’m in an Art Show, Nice. And I Got to Play With Fire.

Okay, the first bunch of photos are of the same … [Read More...] about I’m in an Art Show, Nice. And I Got to Play With Fire.

Will This Post From My iPhone?

Kind of slow but seemingly working. I am at … [Read More...] about Will This Post From My iPhone?

Subscribe

Get the latest from planet leah *news

Archives

More Blogs

The Joy of Random Googling, Part 2: “Crazy High Heels”

I'm sitting at a 24-hour diner and this girl … [Read More...] about The Joy of Random Googling, Part 2: “Crazy High Heels”

The Pied Piper Was a Kidnapper. But a Shrewd Businessman.

So in my previous blog, you'll notice how I gorged … [Read More...] about The Pied Piper Was a Kidnapper. But a Shrewd Businessman.

Making Time For “Real” Writing

I have been away again! Because blogging on here … [Read More...] about Making Time For “Real” Writing

Copyright © 2022 planet leah *news · Site Designed by Digital Executrix