Music / Bristol Sounds
Review: Haçienda Classical, Lloyds Amphitheatre
The Haçienda club in Manchester will forever be associated with the birth of rave and acid house in the UK. The former warehouse saw its fair share of controversy during its fifteen years and had iconic Manchester band and club directors New Order not sold records by the lorry-load in the 80s and 90s, it’s unlikely it would have been able to maintain its reputation as the place to be for all things rave and Madchester.
Haçienda Classical is a project dreamed up by two of the club’s most influential DJs, Graeme Park and Mike Pickering. Infamous dance bangerz famously played at the Hacienda (and indeed across the UK, but the Haçienda broke them) now have full orchestration courtesy of the Manchester Camerata.
is needed now More than ever
But could it work in a live setting? Many of the crowd were there first time round. They remembered the Joe Bloggs jeans, the lurid hoodies, the bucket hats, travelling across the country to a field in the middle of nowhere using good old fashioned pirate radio information, landlines, public call boxes or someone in the know and raving all night, all weekend and still getting to work on a Monday.
Thankfully Haçienda Classical worked fantastically well live. Fresh from opening the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, the orchestra, Graeme Park and master of ceremonies MC Tunes (hands up who recalls The Only Rhyme That Bites) projected an infectious sense of euphoria right from the start of the gig.
The orchestra highlighted the musicianship and compositional skills inherent in many rave and acid classics which may not have been apparent when they were first released and added an extra emotional depth and impact. Admittedly D Mob’s We Call It Acieed did bring a smile to the faces of many people once they recognised it (and remembered the ridiculous video) and Ride on Time by Black Box will never be the most profound song ever, but with an orchestra at full pelt playing along, it easily swept everyone away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHvbxCO5Ok4
Standout tracks during the main set were Strings of Life by Derrick May, Big Fun by Inner City and Chime by Orbital – all of which saw the amphitheatre become a sea of hands in the air encouraged by the insanely active and very, very Manchester MC Tunes. Another highlight was New Order’s Blue Monday with Graeme Park on vocals rather than Peter Hook (who it appears may have been missing in action somewhere in a field near Glastonbury). Park’s singing was good and very close to Bernard Sumner’s, though even if it had been a bit duff the crowd were unlikely to have cared. They were having such a good time a stunned mullet could have been singing and they’d have carried on dancing.
The encore of You Got the Love was when Rowetta, queen of Madchester, had the opportunity to shine, and shine she did. She brought passion and sincerity to a simple song which saw lighters and phones aloft throughout. And, perhaps it may have been the preceding 90 minutes of joyous, uplifting retro tunage, but you almost felt that things may well be all right, and maybe we’ll start thinking about doing things for the many not the few. And I guess that’s what the second summer of love was all about.
Photos by Luke Palmer, video by Anthony Huggins
Read more: Interview: Haçienda Classical’s Graeme Park
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