Former Joy Division and New Order bassist, and Hacienda co-owner, Peter Hook was his usual motormouth self at HOME Manchester last night, following the premiere of the BBC’s new documentary The Hacienda: The Club that Shook Britain.
In conversation following the screening, Hook was reminiscing about how working with record label and fellow Hacienda owner, Factory Records, was like having a job somewhere that told you “Here you are, then. Just do what you want.”
Hook added that the laissez-faire attitude of Factory had a lasting effect on Manchester’s cultural scene, claiming that generations of blaggers, movers and shakers since had grasped Factory’s can-do (but probably shouldn’t) spirit with open arms.
Noting that Manchester’s high-profile, upcoming arts and culture space, Factory International, could be the latest beneficiary of the label’s cultural legacy, Hook deadpanned: “That white elephant down the bottom end of Deansgate? It isn’t called Factory for nothing. They’ll be bankrupt before we were. That’s just what Manchester needs – another bloody venue.”
Hook, along with Hacienda designer Ben Kelly and DJ Kath McDermott, was among an audience of around 200 people who had managed to secure tickets for the red-carpet premiere at HOME, although the BBC revealed on the night that 8,000 fans had applied for seats after it put out a call to win tickets on its Shows and Tours website.
The doc tells the story of Manchester’s legendary Hacienda from its opening in 1982 as a moderately successful alternative music venue providing a home for Factory’s roster and associated post-punk, indie and alternative acts, incongruously including Madonna’s first UK appearance, through its late 80s/early 90s spell as the global nexus of club culture and home of acid house, to its eventual inauspicious and insolvent closure in 1997.
If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to get a ticket, you don’t have to wait long to watch the documentary for yourself. The film will screen on BBC 2 this Saturday, November 5, at 10.15pm, and thereafter on BBC iPlayer.
The Hacienda: The Club That Shook Britain was produced by Wise Owl Films, the Leeds-based factual label of Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures, and makers of previous BBC 2 music documentaries including When Bob Marley Came To Britain and When Nirvana Came to Britain.
