Unknown Pleasures, a celebration of Joy Division

Monday 16 August, 2010
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

95bFM, The Groove Guide and Cheese on Toast are proud to present

Unknown Pleasures, a live celebration of Joy Division with Peter Hook and friends, Saturday 2 October at The Powerstation.

Thirty years have elapsed since the release of Joy Division’s seminal album Unknown Pleasures and the untimely passing of lead singer Ian Curtis.

To commemorate this event, legendary bass player and founder Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, Monaco, Freebass) has put together a group of musicians and friends to play the hugely influential album sequentially and in its entirety – for the first time in New Zealand.

This special show will feature all of the songs off the Unknown Pleasures album, including Disorder, Insight, New Dawn Fades, She’s Lost Control, and Shadowplay, as well as selected early Warsaw / Joy Division tracks, plus the classic non-album singles Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart.

The widespread impact of Unknown Pleasures and the music of Joy Division cannot be overstated.

Reviewing the album for Melody Maker at the time of its release, writer Jon Savage prophetically declared, “[Joy Division] set a course in the present with contrails for the future – perhaps you can’t ask for much more. Indeed, Unknown Pleasures may very well be one of the best, white, English, debut LPs of the year”.

Unknown Pleasures became an instant classic – a rare album that unites critics and fans the world over. Its songs have inspired a myriad of covers from artists such as Massive Attack, Grace Jones, Moby and The Killers.

“Even today, the music of Unknown Pleasures and its darkly powerful sentiments echo through the work of contemporary groups such as The Verve, Radiohead, Spiritualized and Primal Scream,” wrote John Oldham in NME, where the re-release received a 10 out of 10 rating and readers voted the album to #3 in their All-Time 100 Albums poll.

As originators of post-punk and alternative music, Joy Division have influenced generations of bands, ranging from contemporaries U2, Bauhaus and The Cure, to post-punk revival bands such as Interpol, Bloc Party and Editors.

The Joy Division story has been unravelled in two big-screen biopics, 24 Hour Party People (2002) and the multi-award-winning, Control (2007).

Peter Hook will be joined for this special performance by son Jack Bates playing bass, rhythm guitarist Nat Wason, Andy Poole on keyboards, and Monaco’s Paul Kehoe on drums.

Do not miss this unique opportunity to celebrate Ian Curtis’ life and his contribution to modern music through the resonant sounds of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures.

95bFM, The Groove Guide and Cheese on Toast present
Unknown Pleasures Live, Saturday 2 October at The Powerstation

Tickets on sale Monday 16 August at Ticketmaster outlets nationwide, including Real Groovy and Marbecks

Online bookings www.ticketmaster.co.nz, or phone 09 970 9700

Peter Hook on MySpace: blogs.myspace.com/peterhookneworder
Unknown Pleasures NZ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110764775643566

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