I was slightly too young to have even been to the Hacienda but it had a huge impact on the Manchester music scene and collective memory.
We arrived with an open mind, Kath was working tomorrow so opted to drive there. Walton hall is a bit out of the way near Warrington so no easy train commute (maybe one day if the new Manchester Liverpool line is built, if ever! It turned out there were a lot of middle age people like us the event clearly going for the nostalgia factor rather than attracting the youth audience.
It seemed like a lot of people must have been in the same boat considering that the bars sold out of alcohol free beer before 9pm. I bought tickets a while ago and opted for the VIP experience. This proved to be a great idea as it was much more chilled out than the main event and had posh toilets rather than porta-potties. We managed to grab a couple of the deck chairs dotted about pointed ourselves at the stage and enjoyed the atmosphere.
The VIP area also had a VIP section at the front which was really fun though some people were super hardcore.
The line up
- Justin Robertson
- Peter Hook
- Jon Dasilva
- Erol Alkan B2B DJ Paulette
- Mike Pickering
- Danny Tenaglia
- Leftfield
- Orbital
My stand out moment was Danny Tenaglia playing Blue Monday which got a huge crowd reaction. Overall it was a really fun event and lucky with the weather it would have been awful in the rain!
