The Legacy of Manchester’s Most Iconic Club: Interview with Rebecca Hook

Music and Clubs Editor Millie Cain speaks to Rebecca Hook, author of The Hacienda:Threads, discussing the nights, people, and music that made Manchester’s most iconic club.

Late last year, Hacienda: The Threads was announced to release, perking up ears of every 50-year-old ex-raver in the North, and their daughters. Not just a very well-timed Christmas present but a really genuine, evocative insight into the culture the Hacienda created from the eyes of those who built it, with a foreword by Peter Hook. Remembered for its Acid House revelations, subcultures, and less remembered for its financial struggles and the patron’s rising drug use.

Celebrated with a huge launch party hosted at New Century Hall, with Peter Hook on the decks and also in conversation. Joining him on the panel were Noel Gallagher, Ang Matthews, Angela Murray, David Hoyle, Graeme Park, Greg Wilson, Ian Griffiths, and Paul Cons. Described by Rebecca as “A really good night! It was very well received; I was so grateful for the people that turned up and we didn’t expect that. We thought, you know for a book launch, we expected 500, but I don’t know how many were there, my daughters told me 900 people which was incredible. It was fun as well, perhaps these people have known each other for years, so it was just like a load of friends sitting around the kitchen table having a moment really.”

The event supported 3 incredible charities that are close to Rebecca and her family’s hearts, as well as the wider Hacienda community. Mind, Sacoma UK, and the Albert Kennedy Trust all do incredible work with mental health, cancer support, and LGBTQ+ people who are doing amazing work for the homeless. More information for each charity is available at the bottom of the page, and Rebecca mentioned how they highlighted the work they do and helped out as much as they could, please take the time to read at the end.

For myself, my thoughts on the Hacienda are solely shaped around my parents’ experiences that they passed down to me, and Rebecca shared her own memories. “It’s, it’s funny because all, everybody’s got different memories of of the club. Everybody went to different nights. So, it’s actually interesting that the stories in the book were taken fromdifferent experiences and different viewpoints.”

“I like the fact that Andrew O’Hagan and Irvine Welsh did a piece because they’re great friends together. And they went on to write some really interesting books about clubbing and the friendships that people gain from clubbing. And I think with that has to actually be the reason that they they stick out to me is that there were different people that, that we interviewed, obviously are synonymous with the club. And it was nice to hear of other people that are creatives about their experiences.”

“Some were actually quite touching. There were so many places before The Haç where everyone clubbing. So actually, for people to say, The Haç was the only place that they actually felt safe, I thought that was really, really lovely. I mean,the thing that resonates with me most about The Haç was it was label free, I think. Now, everybody, I think everybody feels they need labelling which I agree is important. But, you know, with those labels we had, there was a bit of a label freedom in The Haç. So, it didn’t really matter. People gay, straight, black, white, where you came from, everybody just got on with it and just had a great time. You’re all there the same reason to have a fantastic night and to meet your friends. And I think, I think that was such an important part about The Haç but it doesn’t get that mention, everybody’s so busy talking about the nuttiness and all the madness that went on, which not disputing that it did go on. But people went there for for the right reasons.”

Rave Culture itself has certainly changed though in the years since the Haçienda closed in June 1997, with obviously social media playing a huge role in that. “I personally i think through social media we all kid ourselves, me included. I sit my pjs at 9 at night and think that I’m actually catching up with friends through Instagram or Facebook or on the end of the phone. And I think what we’re all lacking is physical contact. On the night of the book launch, the first thing we did was come up to each other and give each other a hug. That doesn’t happen anymore. Don’t get me wrong, you know, life is so international so you can be, you can be living in Spain or America, and you can catch up with somebody. But, you know, with your general friendships, I think it’s such a shame that we don’t spend more time physically with each other. You know, we all shop online. In the old days, on a Saturday afternoon, Manchester was massive, people getting excited about getting dressed up for the weekend, and that was the beginning of your weekend. You catch up with people, you know, go out for a drink and go to your favourite shops, be it Top Shop, or high-end Vivian Westwood, or all these different places inside Afflecks Palace. But that in itself was a social activity, it was all part and parcel of the night, really. What do you think friendship wise is now? You know, the friends that I made clubbing are still my closest friends, 30 years on. They are, and they come from all different walks of life. The people that I probably wouldn’t have met stay level. They’re of all ages and they’re all, you know, from different backgrounds. I wouldn’t have met those people had I not been out clubbing. What about you? How do you feel about it now?”

Rebecca span the conversation on myself here, with a genuine interest in how clubbing negates our friendships as young people, in a completely different environment. I mentioned my housemates, my best friends, the people I met through university and those I lost connections with through a lack of contact. Andrew O’Hagan’s own book, Mayflies, was one that really resonated with me last year, and the way he intimately described friendships and the people you love really stood out. My friends and I do have a habit of going out and keeping to ourselves, staying in our own group, and there can be a really distinct lack of chatter, especially on University Club Nights. And for clubs outside of these, there can be a real weight to them sometimes an intensity that isn’t always the most comfortable.

“I agree with you i think that that there is a heaviness about clubbing now that they never used to be. There’s there’s a lot more oh god be it spiking and there’s just not that freedom that I feel I had when I used to go clubbing. I used to spend a lot of time in the Gay Village because it felt so safe, and it was really free. And I love the fact that we could dress up and feel however we wanted, and it was just fun. It was like peace of mind. Sometimes we just have such a lovely time, and I suppose, going to other places now, the big warehouses and stuff like that, it is I feel, a totally different atmosphere. At The Haç we’d do the big nights, they’d sell out, everybody seemed to love them, and they seem to be relatively trouble free which I’m delighted about. But lots of people that went to the house in the in the beginning, actually come to the events now with their kids. And I think that’s actually really nice. I think probably the parents are more misbehaved than the kids.” Agreed Rebecca, from experience. Hi dad if you’re reading this!

“I’m a fan of a smaller venue. That’s my bag. I just love a smaller venue. But that’s just me.  I’ve always been the same. I’d like to say it’s just an age thing, but it isn’t an age thing for me personally. Some people love going into these mad, big places.  How do you think we should change it? Because, you know, at the end of the day, you guys are the people that we need to please.” From going out in Manchester as a teenager, to now being over in Leeds, I think we could all agree that smaller rave venues like Eiger Studios or White Hotel have a shine that The Warehouse Project wouldn’t begin to find. Majorly because they’re catering to a hugely different capacity, but there’s an intimacy in the smaller venues that I think we as a generation are still drawn to.

“Well, watch this space chicken. I really will get these events going. We need to listen to you guys, because, at the end of the day, you’re only as good as your audience. Because, to start with, we had high hopes of doing all sorts of things for the launch. We were gonna do a fashion show. But then the only problem with that was because in the old days, everybody used to be up on the podiums on the stage. Everybody used to be dancing everywhere. And I wanted to recreate that feel with the podium, with the the catwalk. Now, because of health and safety, unfortunately, you’re not allowed to, and you have to have barriers.  I just thought that’s gonna totally take away the feel of what we wanted, I mean we were lucky on the launch night that we didn’t have to have anything around the panel table.”

“It was really important for me that everybody felt included but then you have to realise that you’re only as good as your audience. Everybody was so lovely, nobody trying to be big or clever. It was just a really, really lovely night. People coming up from everywhere asking questions, and everybody was just there to have a nice time. And that’s what you really need.”

With Ian Griffiths on the panel of the launch, and in the book, the once punk, now creative director of Max Mara brought in the huge aspect of fashion for The Haçienda, and Manchester’s culture.

“That’s actually what I was wanting to do the book about, because, as I say, fashion was such a massive part of Manchester’s heritage, really, some really great designers came out of Manchester. If you think the first meat dress was made by a girl called Alison Night. She actually made the meat dress downstairs in the, in the basement of The Haç before a club night. And Linda Sterling is a very famous artist, and she was a performer and wore this dress. And I actually said, what did you make it out of? And they’ve been in Chinatown, and they made this dress up with chicken feet, so it was like a tutu. And you just think, my God, it must smell. But afterwards, that’s why Lady Gaga did the meat dress she’d actually referred to it years later as as the dress that had been born in The Haç. She had it made, but obviously in a different way.”

“But people like Ian Griffiths, he was a student in Manchester, and he decided that he wasn’t that good. So, he was gonna leave, fashion, but a guy called Kevin Cummins, the photographer came up to him one night and he had one of his creations on. Kevin said, ‘ I love this, look can I photograph you?’  So, when Ian got the photographs from Ian he thought, you know what? I can do this. I’m gonna carry on. And thank God he did so. And he was only 17 at the time. So, if you think that he was 17, Kevin was the same age too, all these different people, all of them were students when they started out at The Haç. The thing about they were kids. They were young. There were students. So, it’s sort of it, there’s nothing better than somebody that you care about, someone that inspires you going ‘you can do this’. And I think that’s the thing. Again, through contact. You can’t do that over Instagram. So, we carried on.

“People, even like Paul Smith refer to The Haç as inspiration. Matthew Williamson, Henry Holland, John Richmond, all these people. It used to be that anything went at the time, you could walk in with next to nothing. It was a massive place, and everybody was, was happy to get dressed up, and now I think sometimes people seem to wanna just melt into the background?  I think a lot of the time you’re going out in clothing and you’re just like trying to just dress like what everyone else is dressed as. I feel like people just judge so harshly and can be quite personal about it. Especially with people being so label-oriented with brands. But it’s cool to see their spaces starting to appear, where you can dress a bit more freely.”

“But in the beginning, it was quite funny because I never went out with a handbag ever, so i used to have my best friend Dan as my handbag. So, he used to have my eye drops, my lipstick and that was it. And now, obviously you get designer handbags and you designer trainers and all those types of things. It was never, ever important in those days. The Exchange used to have 49 different designers underneath it. So, at the weekend, it used to be mad. Everybody comes to get the club in gear. It was a really, really important part of town, if not the most important part town. And, and I think that’s what’s missing in Manchester.”

For the future of The Haçienda’s legacy, Rebecca described their club night ambitions “to bring back the new, the heart, the flash, all these different nights and see how they work, and see if you guys wanna come, really. Flash nights well they were gay night, but they were wild. They were very dressed up. It was just mental and there were all sorts of wild things going on. Paul Kong was in charge, and some of his ideas were wild. But again, it was just so free and just so evocative. It was a night of of madness,  always on a Wednesday. And we wanted to get a late license but if you  going to the village then you probably would have loved it.”

Leaving our conversation on a promising “watch this space, darling” was a true pleasure, there’s hope for the future of The Haçienda, and that hope is for us.

The Haçienda: Threads is available online and in bookstores now, a brilliant read with excellent photography, anecdotes & a foreword by Peter Hook.

Mind is a UK Charity fighting for mental health. For support, respect, and for you. For information and advice to help yourself or someone else, visit https://www.mind.org.uk

Sarcoma UK is a national charity that funds vital research and offers information and support to anyone affected by sarcoma https://sarcoma.org.uk

Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) helps LGBTQ+ people aged 16-25 find safety, security and new pathways to fulfilment who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness https://www.akt.org.uk

Words by Millie Cain, in conversation with Rebecca Hook.

Role Model at Manchester O2 Ritz – ‘No Place Like Tour’

On November 13, Role Model (Tucker Pillsbury) took to Manchester O2 Ritz, bringing a splash of the US over to the UK, for the third appearance of his world tour, No Place Like Tour.

Self admittedly, before the gig I had only heard bits of Tucker’s music, the odd song here and there whenever they made appearances on my Spotify shuffle. With ‘forever&more’ and ‘Oh, Gemini’, being just a couple of notable mentions as some of his most well-known tracks, I wouldn’t have exactly called his music style ‘my kind of thing.’ Excited but unexpecting, I set off on the hour-long drive from Leeds, travelling to the background hum of the night’s support act, Matilda Mann, and getting myself ready for the night ahead with Role Model. 

Matilda Mann opened up the evening, setting the tone with her stripped-back vocals, conveying delicate and raw emotions throughout several one-of-a-kind acoustic tracks. Mann treated the audience to several unreleased tracks from her upcoming album release, Roxwell, with audience favourites including ‘Say It Back,’ and ‘Dazed & Confused.’  With anticipation for the evening already building, Matilda’s performance was the foundation for what was gearing up to be one extremely magnificent live experience.

On this cold, rainy Manchester night, Role Model set the room ablaze with what can only be described as an unexpectedly confounding stage presence, surpassing all expectations. The energy from his bouncy, countrified pop tracks (and an abundance of heartbreak-induced ballads) perfectly reflected his most recent 2024 album release, Kansas Anymore. A fun take on The Wizard of Oz, the tour radiated nostalgia and comfort, creating a space and an environment that is unique to any live performance that I had previously experienced. If there’s one thing that he knows how to do well, it’s making the audience feel valued, present, and completely indulged in the intimacies of the performance.

His well-known live performance-bit of announcing himself as numerous different artists garnered amused laughs from the audience, from The 1975, to an unexpected (and very random) Ed Sheeran, with an especially loud outcry following a ‘hey, we’re Ross Lynch,’ if you know, you know.  With a little pinch of all-American flair, the evening’s energy was palpable, seen in a sea of cowboy hats, bows, and a happy-go-lucky attitude from the crowd. You felt grateful to be there, and lucky to be in the moment of such a beautiful, magical experience.  The evening’s energy was palpable, and gave Role Model’s music a whole entirely different meaning, tied to an evening that surpassed all expectations.

In fact, if the gig had been one month earlier, I can almost guarantee that ‘a little more time,’ would have made it into my Wrapped Top 50. Right there, standing in a room with hundreds of other strangers, Role Model found a fan in me.

Role Model is set to continue his tour February 2025, in Australia. Matilda Mann is also set for an exciting month, as her new album, Roxwell, is due to release on February 28, with pre-save now available.

Words by Mia Stapleton

Smitten: An Album You’ll Fall Head Over Heels For

Joseph Nozedar reviews the Manchester indie-pop band’s 4th album as Smitten captures the hearts of fans with their nostalgic return to an 80s jangle pop sound.

Smitten (2024) is an ambush to the ears, a genre bouncing haze of nostalgia. The album harks back to past lives and past loves in both lyrical content and artistic pastiche. Somewhat nostalgic, yet refreshingly modern, with a lot of things I love sprinkled into the mix. Initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but on my second listen, the infectious, euphoric energy radiating from the record took hold and a smile crept onto my face that stayed for the entirety of the album.

Written between the US and UK over a two-year period, Smitten finds Pale Waves reflecting upon their Northern roots and adolescent memories. Deviating from the rebellious pop punk sound of the 2022 album Unwanted, this new record is a melting pot of past influences. It draws inspiration from the synths of the ’80s, jangle pop of the ’90s, and the pop-rock scene of the mid-2000s.

The album begins with the explosive and hypnotic single, ‘Glasgow’, a track that singer Heather Baron-Gracie has proclaimed her personal favourite from the album, it offers a glimpse of the nostalgic energy and artistic growth present throughout the album.

But Smitten isn’t purely a walk down memory lane. Modern pop hooks on tracks ‘This Is Not a Love Song’, ‘Gravity’ and ‘Kiss Me Again’ showcase the definite influence of contemporary pop. It manages to marry the catchiness of modern pop with intimate and personal lyrics and instrumentals that speak to you.  Smitten does not dip into modern pop’s soulless sheen; songs like ‘Thinking About You’ offer a warm, authentic humanity that feels ingrained in the album’s DNA. 

Image Credit: Kelsi Luck

This emotional depth is encapsulated by lead single ‘Perfume’.  An excellent choice for the band’s first single and a personal favourite. Lead vocalist Heather sings about being totally enamoured with a person: “My mother says that when I want something I never let go / Call me obsessed but I don’t mind just as long as it’s all mine”.  ‘Perfume’ is an infectious 1980/90s-leaning anthem reminiscent of bands like The Cure and The Cranberries. 80’s synths and 90’s jingle jangle guitars pull at the indie heart strings to create a joyous sound bath for the listener.  

Encapsulating a beautiful, fleeting, youthful summer in under four minutes, ‘Last Train Home’, is a homage to the sound of The Sundays and The Cranberries. Heather’s bewitching siren-like vocals transport the listener back to the nineties. It’s indie pop at its finest, showcasing the album’s transportive power and reminding me why I first fell in love with indie music as a teenager. 

While the band has deviated from their earlier sound, there are still shades of their pop-punk prestige and fierce attitude in track ‘Miss America’. This defiant attitude coupled with the honesty of Heather’s openly queer lyrics and the band’s increasing visibility within the LGBTQ+ community, serve to deepen the emotional resonance of the record. When interviewed on the album, Heather stated that Smitten aims to capture the excitement, euphoria, and even confusion that come with early queer relationships. The band integrates their personal experiences into the music in a way that feels empowering for their LGBTQ+ fans.

With Smitten’s melting pot of influences, Pale Waves have crafted a multifaceted sound that can only be considered their own.  Smitten will add further depth to their live setlist and another edge to an already sharp and versatile band. As Heather has said: “These will be the best Pale Waves shows to date. The UK is home for us, so these shows are even more special and we’re so excited to get to play songs from Smitten live.”

Yard Act conquer Manchester Albert Hall

Leeds post-punk titans Yard Act have been unavoidable on both a local and national scale since they first started releasing music in September 2020. Their initial singles ‘Fixer Upper’, ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’, ‘Peanuts’ and ‘Dark Days’ received critical acclaim from the likes of BBC 6Music – and the legions of 6Music dads who flocked to Brudenell Social Club like flies around an up-and-coming post-punk outfit. The release of their Mercury-nominated debut album, The Overload, propelled them to a number two spot in the album charts, extensive tours of the UK, Europe and the US (with a quick stop off to perform live on Jimmy Fallon), and even a collaboration with rock royalty Elton John. It has been over a year since the release of The Overload, and its twenty-five different vinyl variants, and the band are working hard on new material. In an interview conducted with The Gryphon last year, bassist Ryan Needham (previously of incredible Leeds-based psych outfit Menace Beach) and guitarist Sam Shipstone (who is also making music with Holodrum) affirmed their commitment to recording new music – also suggesting that these new tracks have more no-wave and disco influences, owing to the influence of a lot of ESG. 

Before this new era of Yard Act begins, though, The Overload deserved a grand send off. After all the countless mosh pits, festivals, Brudenell appearances, fifty pence pieces collected from the audience, and with the infamous golden Rover in the garage; the final Overload gigs were announced. These were five dates in some of the most beautiful and well-regarded independent venues that the UK and Ireland have to offer, accompanied by a stellar line-up of support acts including old friends Baba Ali, rising groups Deadletter and Fat Dog, and Leeds contemporaries English Teacher and Thank. Kicking off at Vicar Street in Dublin on the 26th April, then to Glasgow’s Barrowlands, the Albert Hall in Manchester and finishing with two dates at The Troxy in London. It was at Manchester Albert Hall that I caught the band. It was the eighth time I had seen the band and it was undoubtedly one of their finest performances to date. 

Before Yard Act took to the stage, though, it was the turn of fellow Leeds band, Thank. Those who have been lucky enough to see Thank in action should already be aware that they represent one of the most interesting, innovative and exciting bands to have come out of Leeds in a very long time. Their experimental influences of Theo Gowans – who you may recognise from his experimental projects under the name Territorial Gobbings, or the ‘Heinous Whining’ experimental music nights he hosts at Wharf Chambers – are complimented by the dark yet often humorous lyrics of frontman Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe and the intense, violent performance of drummer Steve Myles, who often appears to be beating the drums into submission, to great effect. Although the group’s unique brand of noise rock is perhaps more well-suited to the small, sweaty rooms of Wharf Chambers of Mabgate Bleach, seeing them shout “Tonight Matthew, I will shit in my own hands and clap” inside a stunning Grade II listed building, was certainly a sight to behold and it seemed to go down well with the sold-out crowd. 

At nine o’clock, it was time for Yard Act to take to the stage. Flanked on either side of the room by huge stained-glass windows and an ornate baroque-inspired ceiling above them, the band entered onto the stage to rapturous applause and cheers before erupting into ‘Rich’. It was immediately apparent that the four-piece was on top form and the audience at the sold-out Albert Hall seemed to be instantaneously enthralled in the performance. Though this was billed as an Overload show, the audience was further treated to some extra tracks, including the early single ‘Dark Days’ as well as two brand new songs early on in the setlist. The new songs, ‘Petroleum’ and ‘The Trenchcoat Museum’ sounded immense, particularly the latter. The Overload will certainly be a difficult album to follow up, but these new tracks seem to confirm that Yard Act are more than up to the task. Frontman James Smith, by this point in the setlist, had the crowd in the palm of his hand and seemed to be controlling them effectively throughout the performance of ‘Tall Poppies’ and into the latter half of the set. Although notable Overload tracks The Incident and Quarantine the Sticks (which featured Billy Nomates) were absent from the setlist, the crowd was not really in a place to complain – the band rattled through a sterling setlist ending with an encore of ‘100% Endurance’ (a version of which was recently released on Record Store Day as a 7”, featuring Elton John) and their first single, ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’ to finish the night off. 

The only remaining 2023 gigs for Yard Act, aside from a handful of festival appearances, comes in the form of their five-day residency as Brudenell Social Club – a venue close to the heart of the band. Afterall, one of their first ever shows took place at Brudenell, supporting fellow Leeds band Mush, the band played there the night before it was announced that their album had reached number two in the charts, and their golden Rover was parked there for months before being moved. Their residency starts on the 8th May and will feature incredible special guests such as Rose Matafeo, Nish Kumar, Lole Adefope, and Harry Hill. Tickets for these dates have long since sold out but, if their Albert Hall performance is anything to go by, they are certain to be unforgettable!