HACIENDA HYPE

March 16, 2012

HACIENDA HYPE

So the boys keep banging on about this "Haçienda" and shouting at me for not knowing what it is so i thought it was high time I looked into it.

 

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The Hacienda was designed to be a slap in the face for established night clubs. The stark industrial design from Ben Kelly was utterly unlike anything club goers had seen before. The first experience was unforgettable.

You entered through large metal doors into a vast interior space supported on steel girders of black with yellow safety stripes. It was functional, hard, almost overwhelming, like a set from the yet to be released movie ALIEN. The music was rolling out and here we were , a thousand or more poor clubbers trapped in the hold of the mothership of an Intergalactic fleet.

via manchester.com

From my research I have gathered that 'FAC 51 - THE HACIENDA" was a club developed on the back of Factory record company in the 80s. It rose to fame very quickly being the place to hear what was worth hearing. It is associated with the rise of rave and acid house and was succesful right through the 80s, falling from grace a little with the incoming of ecstasy when one girl died on site!

All this sounds quite intense and perhaps a little intimidating... but I think what the boys are getting at is the vibe that the Hacienda exuded. It didn't matter who you were or what music you liked or how you dressed, you were welcomed in to dance, to play, to take part. It brought people together.

That's the sort of event that I want to create for this unit... even if i'm still not sure how.