On 4 June 1976 Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto brought the Sex Pistols to Manchester for the first time for a legendary performance at the Lesser Free Trade Hall. The gig attracted a modest crowd of around 40 people but amongst them were a disproportionate number of figures who would become legends of the Manchester music scene: future members of The Smiths and The Fall, Factory Records’ Tony Wilson, punk poet John Cooper Clarke, producer Martin Hannett and, somewhere amongst the crowd, a young Peter Hook with his friend and future Joy Division bandmate Bernard Sumner. Energised by the ramshackle performance, Peter Hook bought a bass guitar the very next day and went on to play in some the most influential and iconic bands in British history, pioneering the dawn of Post Punk with Joy Division before moving onto the synth driven soundscapes of New Order. Five decades on, Hooky will celebrate the anniversary of that pivotal night with a show in the city that shaped him.

On 4th June 2026, fifty years to the day since the Sex Pistols changed the Manchester music scene forever, Peter Hook & The Light will perform a retrospective set at the Academy spanning his lengthy career. With songs from Warsaw, Joy Division, New Order, Revenge, Monaco and Freebass, it’s destined to be a night not to missed by fans of his widely influential career. Peter Hook & The Light will be joined by very special guests Buzzcocks who, since that night fifty years ago, have carved out their own unique place in British music history with songs such as Harmony In My Head, What Do I Get? and Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) and in the process will be celebrating their own 50^th anniversary. The Manchester date in June will be the only Peter Hook & The Light headline UK date in 2026. Pre-sale tickets will go on sale at 10:00am on the 3rd December here and general sale tickets will be available at 10:00am on the 5th December here

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