The 30th anniversary of the death of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis was remembered yesterday, not only by former Joy Division bassist Peter Hook, but also by local schoolchildren in Curtis' hometown of Macclesfield.
In honour of his late bandmate, last night Hook played the Joy Division's classic 1979 debut album 'Unknown Pleasures' in full at Manchester's FAC 251 with his band The Light.
Speaking to NME after the show, Hook said, "The preparation for the gig was very interesting as it was the first time I'd analysed the music since we wrote it. The funny thing is I never realised how many words Ian used to sing, every song is like a wonderful essay without much repetition, which means I had to learn so much that it has made me put his role in the band into a whole new perspective."
He also revealed that he spent yesterday morning visiting his friend's grave.
"I went to see Ian's grave this morning – it was such a beautiful day I thought I'd go and say hello to him and see how he was," he explained. "It's really odd after all these years when you go and do something like that, you see all these tributes [at the grave] and it's really nice."
Back in Macclesfield, school children got together with members of the Northern Chamber Orchestra to compose and perform a symphony inspired by Joy Division. The concert is part of a series of events paying tribute to Curtis this summer, which includes an exhibition featuring archive material, workshops, walking tours and concerts.
The orchestra's education co-ordinator Helen Quayle told BBC News, " The style of music is quite sparse and very simple. The kids can understand and take elements of that and write for a string quartet using the same technique."
Ian Curtis committed suicide on May 18th 1980, the night before Joy Division's first ever US tour was scheduled to begin. He had struggled with epilepsy and recently split from his wife Debbie.
