Peter Hook & The Light perform at The Warfield in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2024. Derek Fisher/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — Legendary bassist Peter Hook delivered what amounted to two headlining sets from his pair of  influential bands Saturday night at the Warfield. Fronting Peter Hook & The Light, he played nearly 30 songs from the catalogs of New Order and Joy Division; particularly, both band’s Substance compilation albums.

The band worked backward, opening with nearly 90 minutes of synth-heavy new wave New Order material, before taking a break and coming back for a set of darker and starker Joy Division songs. But in a way, it made sense, as New Order’s Substance was the earlier album (1987), with Joy Division’s Substance following in 1988.

Dressed in a black T-shirt and cargo shorts, Hook was joined onstage by bassist Paul Duffy (in place of Hook’s son Jack Bates) who switched between bass and guitar. The lineup also featured guitarist David Potts, keyboardist Martin Rebelski and drummer Paul Kehoe. Bates is currently with the Smashing Pumpkins, who performed at Oracle Park with Green Day a day earlier.

“So we’re here and ready to rock,” Hook said before launching into “What Do You Want From Me?” from Hook and Potts’ mid-’90s side project, Monaco.

Peter Hook & The Light perform at The Warfield in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2024.

While the stage production was rather minimal, with just red and white lights set on a black backdrop behind the band, the music was lush and intricate with both live percussion and drum machines, along with syrupy synths, growling bass, and funky guitar.

Seeming to recognize them almost instantly, the crowd cheered wildly for New Order’s signature drum machine sounds, including the distinctive drums fills of “Bizarre Love Triangle,” from from 1986 album Brotherhood, and the familiar hi-hat work of “Ceremony.”

Hook and company saved New Order’s two biggest hits for the end of the set, as the audience did some of its most enthusiastic dancing to “Bizarre Love Triangle” and “True Faith,” from 1987’s Substance. Hook delivered the chorus with his arm stretched triumphantly over his head: “I used to think that the day would never come/ I’d see delight in the shade of the morning sun.”

The band left the stage for about 15 minutes before returning to play music from Hook’s earlier band.

“This is for Ian Curtis,” Hook said, dedicating “Exercise One” to the Joy Division vocalist who died in 1983.

The music during the second set was starker and grimmer. Songs like “Warsaw,” “Lost Transmission” and “Shadow Play” bristled with punk energy, evoking comparisons to the legions of bands Joy Division influenced; acts as varied as The Cramps, The Cure and The Vapors. A frenetic jam of “Autosuggestion” was interrupted by what some thought to be an attendee having a medical emergency on the crowded theater floor.

“You OK?” Hook asked. When the surrounding crowd cheered exuberantly, he laughed. “I know you’re all right, bloody hell.”

The importance of Hook’s bass lines became obvious as the band finished the night off with the slow plodding beauty of “Atmosphere” and the driving signature melody on “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” which Hook dedicated to his wife, who’s leaving the tour to fly back to England. Duffy took on the lion’s share of the bass playing on these hits so Hook could focus on the vocals.

An earlier version of this story misidentified the touring bassist and keyboard on this tour. They are Paul Duffy and Martin Rebelski, respectively. We regret the error.

Follow photographer Derek Fisher at Instagram.com/dfishswish.