It’s a strange twist of fate that Joy Division never actually played a gig in Macclesfield.

That’s despite legendary frontman Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris both spending most of their lives here.

But Macclesfield did go on to shape the future of the band, and its successor New Order.

No more so than when Ian killed himself in the town aged just 23.

So it’s fitting that their songs are finally set to ‘come home’ when bassist Peter Hook plays both Joy Division albums back to back as part at a special concert for this summer’s Barnaby festival.

Ahead of the historic event, which sold out in a matter of days, ‘Hooky’ has revealed his latest project would never have come about had it not been for events in the town three years ago when plans for a 30th anniversary memorial fell through.

And he says it will be a bitter-sweet moment when he steps out on stage at Christ Church on Sunday, June 23.

“I’ve always had a very unusual relationship with Macclesfield,” he said.

“Me and Barney (Bernard Sumner, former Joy Division guitarist) used to make fun out of Ian and Steve.

“We were from Salford, which was a much grimmer place, and we always had this funny feeling that they were from the countryside.

“But we never got to play there.

“Ian used to arrange the gigs but he never managed to get us one in Macc. We used to rehearse at a pub called The Albert and I remember writing Leaders of Men there.

“And we also played a gig as New Order at the Leisure Centre which was a very, very odd.

“Barney got into the habit of giving our equipment away and gave Gillian’s keyboard away, so we had engineers scrambling around to replace it just before we went on.

“But Macclesfield is also the reason I got The Light together.

“There was a big exhibition planned at the Silk Mill for the 30th anniversary of Ian’s death.

“They had the funding but it fell through at the last minute.

“But I thought ‘I’m not going to let it go, I’ll do the celebration myself’ and played Unknown Pleasures at my club in Manchester.

“In fact, it’s always struck me that Macclesfield doesn’t do much to celebrate on of its most famous sons. I don’t really know anyone more famous than Ian who comes from Macclesfield.

“He is an international icon, but it seems to me as if Macclesfield is missing the chance to celebrate that, and that’s a shame.

“So it will be great to bring the music back here.”

He said the fact it is being held in the historic surroundings of Christ Church will simply add to the occasion.

“I did a show at Manchester Cathedral in January so I think maybe I might have found my niche, doing gigs at religious venues,” he said.

“And it’s strange, I bumped into Ian’s best friend the other day and he was telling me Ian used to go to Christ Church, as you had to go to church to get into the youth club.

“My sound guy went to check it out a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic and I have already been inundated with requests from people to come.”

Hooky split from New Order in 2007 and is currently in the middle of a bitter feud with his ex-bandmates after they reformed the group without him in 2011.

He has since also begun playing New Order’s first two albums Movement and Power, Corruption and Lies live with The Light and is taking the show around the country.

And despite criticism from his former band mates about playing the old material, he is adamant it is the right thing to do, and says he feels it is a richly-deserved tribute to Ian.

“Barney’s motto was always ‘it’s not about the past, it’s about the future’.

“And the others have been very critical of me playing Joy Division. But they actually play more Joy Division than I do now.

“So in the funniest possible way, we have both taken back the music. But it’s nice to be able to play Joy Division songs, because people love them so much.

“And I am so proud of what we achieved and the cultural significance we have had is incredible. But I am always looking for different things to do.

“We’ve now played every Joy Division song live so playing the New Order stuff is great for me. There is a lightness to them that Joy Division didn’t have.

“But you can still hear that grain running through them.

“And I love playing as many of the songs as possible as the fans get so much out of it.”

The concert at Christ Church, Macclesfield on Sunday June 23 has now completely sold out.

However tickets are available for the show at the Junction 16 festival in Crewe on Sunday August 11.

Peter Hook will be signing copies of his new book ‘Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division at Macclesfield Visitors’ Centre on Sunday, June 23 at 3pm.