Peter Hook w/ 10-Year Old Bass Player!!!

Stev187 · #1 09-24-2011, 03:29 PM

Owen Plays with Peter Hook & The Light - YouTube

Okay, Peter Hook is AWESOME!

I just have to tell a quick story about my 10-year old son Owen, who is a huge Peter Hook/Joy Division fan. Peter Hook invited us to the soundcheck before his show at The Metro in Chicago last night. Owen got to see the band and crew at work getting the EQ/mix, and then Peter invited him to sit in with The Light.

Little Owen jumped right on stage and started playing "Shadowplay," which is one of several JD songs he's taught himself from recordings. The band jumped right in and they played the whole song. So Owen is playing his little Squier SS bass through a gigantic SVT/8x10 rig with it blaring loud as live through the FOH literally shaking the building. How cool is that????? Later, during the Show, Hooky called out to Owen before they played "Shadowplay" and said something very nice about his playing.

Here's a brief video of the extremely awesome event. Peter Hook, his band, his US tour manager, and the staff at The Metro could not have been cooler. I'd say Owen is off to a good start with the bass (he's been playing since his 10th birthday 3 months ago).

Just had to share.

--Steve

krustwell · #2 09-24-2011, 03:33 PM

sweet, man. very cool story.

Fassa Albrecht · #3 09-24-2011, 03:35 PM

Awesome! I'm now jealous...

Stick_Player · #4 09-24-2011, 03:37 PM

That's so great!!!

My, now 11 year-old son, got to spend and play about an hour and a half with Les Claypool, a year or so ago. I know the feeling!

Good luck to your son! Tell him to keep it up!

Tat2dHeart · #5 09-24-2011, 05:43 PM

This is awesome. Congrats! He did ya proud, dad.

rulyongo · #6 09-26-2011, 07:05 AM

Great Story!!! I'm gonna show the video to my son, I'm sure he will enjoy it!!! Tell Owen his bass looks great!!!

randyripoff · #7 09-26-2011, 11:09 AM

Very cool.

iamthebassman · #8 09-26-2011, 02:12 PM

Too cool!

Laurent · #9 09-26-2011, 02:20 PM

Wonderful story. It speaks to the talent and generosity of Peter Hook.
Great way to inspire future generations of musicians.

Peter Hook played San Francisco a couple weeks ago and I missed him, to my chagrin.

Epidrake · #10 09-26-2011, 02:32 PM

Extremely cool!!!! Congrats to you and Owen.

GearGod · #11 09-26-2011, 02:38 PM

That was pretty awe inspiring! I am now jealous of a ten year old.! LOVE Joy Division, New Order and Hooky!

lunarpollen · #12 09-26-2011, 10:00 PM

What a great story!!!! Such an amazing experience for Owen! 10 years old with 3 months of bass experience and already knows some Joy Division tunes!! Definitely off to a good start!!!!

I saw them play in San Francisco very recently and they completely rocked the venue...Very tight performance, all meat and potatoes and no filler! They got the most enthusiastic crowd response when they played "Transmission" as one of the encore songs...

Stev187 · #13 09-26-2011, 10:14 PM

Thanks, everybody. I can't say enough good things about Peter, the band, and their US tour manager Phil. Great guys all of them. I've been a Joy Division fan since I was 14 years old, and this was a great show. The band really nails that sound. If you get a chance to see them, don't miss it. Owen is still very psyched about it.

In case any of you every have the opportunity to have your bass signed by a player you like, here's a thread that explains one way that gets really good results.

Hooky's lines are perfect for new bassists because they are so central to the melody of the song. He spent a little time with Owen after they played. He commented that Owen had learned a "mistake" from his line on "Shadowplay." He says he didn't mean to play that C# on the slide before it drops to E. He seemed to get a kick out of the fact that Owen learned it that way ("I played it wrong on the record," he said.) I didn't have the nerve to disagree, but that bass line is perfect.

--Steve

iamthebassman · #14 09-27-2011, 08:00 AM

Yep that C# makes that part.

superbassman2000 · #15 09-28-2011, 08:38 AM

That's pretty cool!

tZer · #16 09-28-2011, 09:04 AM

Very cool! Owen did a great job!

Now the camera man, oth... LOL - Holy 'blair witch' batman!

Just kidding - that was really great!!

mantrabass · #17 09-28-2011, 09:35 AM

This is awesome! So happy for your son! You're a great father for putting this together, man. Cheers!

hernameisrio · #18 09-28-2011, 09:55 AM

This is seriously so cool. And I'm so glad that kids this age are listening to bands like Joy Division and New Order and the like...they have a lot more substance (pardon the pun!) than people think. It makes me really happy to see parents supporting their kids' musical interests like this!

MusicJunkie · #19 09-28-2011, 10:18 AM

That's an utterly amazing story! Peter Hook is a legendary bassist, so for him to be that cool is an excellent thing to know!

Stev187 · #20 09-28-2011, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tZer

Now the camera man, oth... LOL - Holy 'blair witch' batman!

ROTFL!!! Yeah, I had no idea that the playing would happen, so I took the video with a pocket camera. I tried to clean it up a bit, but it's really rough. I was standing on a temporary staircase at the foot of the stage (later replaced with a security barricade). I thought I'd just get a quick snap of Owen and Hooky, but he started playing and I quickly switched to video mode. I was standing pretty close to him while I was shooting because he actually seemed pretty nervous. I also thought if I walked away to get a different shot he might stop playing! The whole day was an exercise in trying to be low key and not attract attention to ourselves. This was particularly difficult when Billy Corgan next to us in the balcony!

Thanks for all the kind comments. Owen is showing the video in his 4th grade class today. He really does love Joy Division, which is a delight to me. I listen to just about everything, so you never know what the kids are going to pick up on. Due to my vintage, a lot of the stuff we listen to is from the post punk era. His newest discovery is The Minutemen, and he is trying to learn a couple of those bass lines.

Does anybody know Mike Watt?

Thanks again.

--Steve