Peter Hook has reflected on his last gig with New Order 15 years ago, calling it the “most miserable night of my life”.
Hook played his final show with his former Joy Division bandmates in Argentina on November 18, 2006, and discusses the experience in the new mini-documentary The Peter Hook Signature Collection.
- READ MORE: Soundtrack Of My Life: Peter Hook
The new doc arrives ahead of an auction taking place this week, which will see Hook selling a host of memorabilia from across his career, including a number of his own guitars and instruments, such as the ‘Overwater Bass Guitar’ originally owned by John Entwhistle and the Prophet 5 Synthesiser And Sequencer used in the recording of ‘Blue Monday’.
Speaking of his final show with New Order in the 12-minute documentary, Hook remembered: “It was quite a Manc heavy gig that one in Argentina, strangely enough. 140-160,000 people, and one of the most miserable nights of my life.
“It’s one of those things that isn’t quantifiable about rock’n’roll,” he added, “is how people on the outside can look, ‘Wow, he’s on stage in front of 160,000 people all going mad for his music’, and yet you’re as miserable as sin.
There are very few businesses that have that effect, because the emotional impact far outweighs the financial [gain] or the adulation you get. It doesn’t help you.”
Watch the new documentary below:
Elsewhere in the auction, Hook is selling extremely rare vinyl including test pressings, tapes, CDs, artwork, and the audio rig ‘The End’ from New Order’s ‘farewell’ concert in Buenos Aires.
Discussing the rig in the new documentary, Hook said: “I used this setup for 27 years.
“That was what I sprayed on the amp at the end, because I knew it was the end,” he added, pointing to a pair of speakers with ‘The End’ spray painted on them. “It is weird, and I’ve not seen it for a while. It’s odd to be back.”
Some of the awards accrued by the bassist across his career are also featured in the auction, including the NME Award he received when New Order were crowned ‘Godlike Genius’ in 2005, his 2006 Ivor Novello award, and the ‘Blue Monday Anvil’ presented to the band by Factory Records’ Tony Wilson to mark 500,000 sales.
The items will go up for auction on Friday (October 8), with over 400 lots set to go under the hammer. You can see a full catalogue here.
Although some items will be from Hook’s time in Joy Division, the majority date from New Order. A similar auction of his personal Joy Division memorabilia took place in 2019.
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