Gig Review: Interzone Event (Peter Hook and the Light, The Wedding Present, The Farm, Theatre of Hate, Tom Hingley)

Newcastle City Hall, April 13 2024

Seeing live music has now changed for me. Just a few days after the last gig we went to (Hawkwind) my husband, Kevin died following a massive heart attack. We met through our love of live music over 40 years ago and as my mobility has deteriorated somewhat, he also became my carer/essential companion when we went to see a band. With tickets already booked for the rest of the year, and no doubt, other gigs to be booked along the way, I hope to continue. Kevin would have wanted me to.

We had tickets booked for the Interzone Event , which took place just a few days after Kevin’s death. It was a hard decision, but I ended up going with my daughter. It’s taken a while, but I’m now ready to write about it.

With so many bands on the bill it would have been a long night on top of little sleep so we compromised and arrived later, just as Theatre of Hate’s set was ending.

I’ve spoken of Newcastle City Hall’s facilities for disabled customers at a standing gig previously (Echo and the Bunnymen), and as usual the viewing platform was situated at the back of the stalls, affecting the acoustics slightly but high enough to give a reasonable view and well-stewarded. Sadly, there was no sign of lovely Alec, our designated bar waiter, so it was just as well I had daughter with me for the bar run, especially since I had considered going to this gig alone. The accessible viewing platform was fairly empty, but I hope this doesn’t mean that the additional bar service has stopped for good.

First on for us was The Farm (the evening had kicked off with ex Inspiral Carpets frontman, Tom Hingley and the Kar-pets, before Theatre of Hate). A great set, including a personal favourite Stepping Stone. – I had the 7″ single of The Monkees version of that one back in the day. Then there were the big hits: Groovy Train and of course finishing with All Together Now, such a great anthem.

NERD ALERT: it’s a great anthem that shares its chords with Ralph McTell’s Streets of London and Maroon 5’s Memories, among others, and all owe that chord sequence to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, thought to have been written at the end of the 17th Century. Pete Waterman (who used the same sequence when he co-wrote/co-produced Kylie Minogue’s I Should be so Lucky) once described the Canon in D as “almost the godfather of pop music”.

The anthem played on….The crowd were absolutely loving it and singing their hearts out. Audience participation at its best. You can read about the band’s experience of their trip to play Newcastle on their blog here.

Next up was the Wedding Present. Now I have to confess that I went to this gig knowing absolutely nothing about this band, and I’m not sure why. They were prolific in the number of tracks they released. I really loved their set though. I always think that if a band can make a venue seem smaller, then they have really communicated with their audience and that’s what happened here.

These days only frontman David Gadge remains of the original lineup, but the band around him were great. In a male dominated industry, female musicians are noticeable – they have to be the best to make it and Rachael Wood is a cracking guitarist, playing alongside Paul Blackburn (Bass) and Vincenzo Lammi (drums).

Standouts for me were Kennedy and, as a tribute to the late, great Steve Harley, a cover of Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile).

Then it was time for Peter Hook and the Light. I was really looking forward to this and booked the tickets on the strength of Hooky’s brilliant gig last year at The Boilershop, but I was disappointed.

To be fair, the set was beset with technical problems and during most of it an unfortunate member of the crew was frantically unplugging and replugging in leads trying to rectify the issue. Whereas I loved that last gig, which included all the New Order hits (even more than I remembered), this one omitted all my favourites (I really love Temptation but it was not included)

Obviously distracted by the Gremlins in the equipment, Hooky neither introduced his band or deigned to play an encore. At one point a scuffle broke out near the front. Cue ShowSec staff running to deal with it and a couple of punters being ejected. It was no longer the feel good experience we’d had singing along to The Farm earlier.

With no encore, and a full five minutes before stated finish time, it was over. Hooky removed his t-shirt and threw it into the crowd (some things are better left not done) and that was it. Everyone was left just hanging. As we departed, the atmosphere was not great. There was an uncomfortable edge to it and none of that euphoria I love, when everyone is still singing the encore as they disperse into the night. It was just a disappointed crowd heading home.