RAIN& CO

TTON

MUSIC

& & GUNS

TRANSCENDING THE STRUCTURE

BIBLIO

GRAPHY

TRANSM

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I AM TH

E RES

URRECTIO

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HALLEL

UJAH

CONCL

USION

INTR

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APPENDIX

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Transcendence is only possible when your presence is not required. As soon as you are acknowledged your actions are in some way symbolic – transcendence witnessed becomes transgression, defiance escapism. If it is possible to rise above something then the act of transcendence becomes proof of the unchartered causing accumulation at the margins. The margins must then be redefined.

The ‘STRUCTURE’ determines the margins by choosing focal points. We attempt to transcend it when we feel our presence is obsolete. The structure is an abstract concept that organizes society’s relationships – it is a form of social determinism that requires relativity. We can only relate to what we can imagine which is why the structure adopts the physical: the physical’s definition provides examples for comparison. Therefore exposure of what can potentially be seen, felt, experienced results in its adoption into the structure meaning that it must be an ever evolving concept, its classification of what is important and equally unimportant must be constantly revised in order for it to remain relevant.

The structure is a personal construction based on perception, which is why the margin exists, but not the edge – the edge implies something beyond. If there was something beyond it would be identifiable, imaginable and would exist. Beyond the frontier is the unimaginable. The magnitude of the structure increases with improving communication: the greatest structure we live in is the greatest structure we can imagine.

The development of communication over the past 200 years has stretched the structure as more practices become referable. Manchester exemplifies our structures’ expansion. The city’s rapid growth in the nineteenth century was generated by an increased availability of the physical that was transportable and the abstract that was transferable. However, it was Manchester’s availability to provide a place for this collision that was crucial to the city as well as its industry. Manchester’s agency caused the progress in industry that meant it could be transplanted abroad, abandoning Manchester with the physical remnants that the city had developed to further its creation. This structural system would repeat itself around a century later when Manchester identified its void.

Youth subculture’s discovered affinity with Manchester as overlooked entities culminated in the attempt to reify the ‘hacienda’ and the rebranding of the city as ‘Madchester’.2 Factory Records, a Mancunian independent music label was largely responsible for changes to the structure starting from the late 1970s as they adopted the young desperate to transcend the rain. Taking an active role in the regeneration of youth culture in the city this company created the physical to fill the void, the greatest example of this was the superclub, the ‘Haçienda’. This club opened in 1982 and eventually closed in 1997 with a reputation that would ensure its abstract continuation.

2. THIS IS NOT A TYPO - the city aquired this name through its hedonistic reputation

1. ‘You’ll never see the hacienda. It doesn’t exist. The hacienda must be built.’ Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.1

ANTI-STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE

TRANSMISSION

‘Staying in the same place, just staying out the time. Touching from a distance,Further all the time.’1

1. ‘Transmission’ by Curtis, Ian; Hook, Peter; Morris, Stephen; Sumner, Bernard

The antithesis of the structure cannot be outside of it because it is then simply an alternative - it is therefore part of the structure. It must be the disregarded: a characteristic which is not meant to be noticed but is vital for the maintenance of the focus. The anti-structure is found at the margins of the structure. In this abstract space the concrete space is insignificant but it is this lack of importance which reinforces what is supposedly important.

Manchester was located in the anti-structure in Britain’s structure in the 1970s. Industry had been moved out of the rainy Northern city, undermining the reason for the city’s rapid expansion in the nineteenth century. Manchester could not offer the structure a reason to embrace it, to make it central to its socio-economic-politic ideology - therefore it was relegated to the blurred periphery. The structure must seem to benefit those who abide by it or else it will not be able to sustain order.

However, it was this lack of national and global attention

that meant that Manchester’s youth, (youth is an inhabitant of the anti-structure as well) could develop their own agendas.

The concrete demonstrates our position in society - it dictates where we belong physically and abstractly. We draw these definitions by regarding the physical that we associate with and then relating that to the physical promoted by the structure.1

As more mills closed the rate of unemployment soared2- Manchester became littered with empty factories and warehouses and hopeless youth.3 The city had been defined by its industry but the machines had overheated - it suffered an identity crisis.4 This explains why the concrete (or rather steel and brick) was now irrelevant to society - it had been discarded.

1. ‘By embodying intelligibility in spatial forms, the individuals in a society create an experiential reality through which they can retrieve a description of certain dimensions of their society and the ways in which they are members of it. These descriptions are essentially abstract in nature, although they are drawn from a concrete reality.’ Hanson, Julienne; Hillier, Bill: ‘The Social Logic of Space’; Cambridge University Press; 1988; p.199

2. Unemployment through deindustrialisation was a depressing aspect in the 1960s and ‘70s Peck, Jamie; Ward, Kevin; ‘Placing Manchester’ in, ‘City of Revolution: Restructuring Manchester’ ed. By Peck, Jamie; Ward, Kevin (Mancheser; Manchester University Press, 2002), p. 1

3. ‘The remnants, derelict working-class housing zones, empty redbrick mills and warehouses and a sense of self that included loss and pride in equal measures.’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002; p.14

4. The town hall by Alfred Waterhouse is a neo-gothic celebration of wealth profiting from Manchester’s textile industry- not only is the scale of the architecture grand but it is encrusted with imagery of the bee (the bee is associated with an industrious work ethic) and the cotton flower.

In ‘the industrial ruin’ disuse means possibility.5 Manchester’s disassociation with accepted society, or rather the structure’s dissociation with Manchester provided a hiatus of potential where lack of status gave the opportunity to imagine new statuses.

‘We are bored in the city’6

There was no sign of salvation. Escapism in 1970s Lancashire meant having to dress up in costume or to submit to the role of an awe-struck audience member. The carpeted ex-ballrooms and the dress codes implementing the hairdresser look defined the clubs: acts such as Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie’s fantastical alter-ego, removed themselves from the everyday resulting in an exaggerated distance between performer and audience.7 This gulf ultimately meant that the fans were at the bottom of another hierarchical structure, unable to participate in performances and incapable of applying this dream to their current Mancunian routines.8

There was no sign of salvation until punk intervened. Participation was definitely part of the Sex Pistol’s act- spitting, hitting, violence in general. Their aim was to shock the structure, pollute it9 - immediate defiance. They excluded any ceremony that the structure had imposed on leisure,10 questioning the empty rituals practiced by Manchester’s youth- they demonstrated that anyone could be in a band.11 Punk imported the DIY ethos to young Mancunians.

5. Gil M. Doron describes ‘the industrial ruin’ as ‘an indeterminate and volatile place’, Doran, Gil M.; ‘Badlands, blank space, border vacuums, brown fields, … SLOAPs’ in ‘Field: A Free Journal for Architecture’, 1 (2007), 10-23, p.17

6. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.1

7. Albiez, Sean; ‘Print the Truth, not the Legend. The Sex Pistols: Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, June 4, 1976‘ in ‘Performance and Popular Music: History, Time and Place‘ ed. By Inglis, Ian (Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2006) p.94

8. Plus, in the back of the audience’s mind the knowledge that Bowie wasn’t born with bright orange hair or a lightning-bolt striking the right-hand side of his face must add to the fantastical nature of this ‘glam’ era

9. ‘dirt is that which has no place ’Douglas, Mary; ‘Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo’; London; Routledge; 1966, p.18

10. ‘it was an age when ceremony was abandoned as bogus and rotten’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002; p.34

11. We learn to participate in society’s rituals before we even develop any emotional connection with them- as our awareness of what we are doing awakens we start to question what is being imposed on us. Hendry, Joy; ‘An Introduction to Social Anthropology: Other People’s Worlds’; London; MACMILLAN PRESS; 1999; p. 121

‘We have a world of pleasures to win, and nothing to lose but boredom.’12

Existing identities were questioned; young punk witnesses had been shocked and impressed.13 The indeterminacy abhorred in post-industrial, pre-punk Manchester could be reinterpreted as a reason for self-determinism.14 Furthermore, their position at the margins of the structure became an advantage- it is the most malleable region of the structure.15 This communitas of post-punks, where communitas is Victor Turner’s ‘communion of equal individuals who submit together to the general authority of the ritual elders’,16 seized the opportunity to restructure their surroundings united through lack of status. Creativity through indeterminacy.17

12. Vaneigm, Raoul; ‘The Revolution of Everyday Life’; London; Rebel Press; 2003, p.98

13. Victor Turner observed that in the Ndembu culture of Zambia ‘a formless state of pure potential’ was achieved by showing initiates of tribal rituals ‘fearful and mysterious sacred objects’ in order to provoke them into ‘reconsidering the world, its nature and relations; so that it and they became objects of their own reflection and fantasy.’ Overing, Joanna; Rapport, Nigel; ‘Social and Cultural Anthropology: The Key Concepts’; London, Routledge; 2000, p.232-233

14. According to Sheridan ‘indeterminate territories are spaces the city chose not to identify within itself’ and this effectual lawlessness creates opportunity for self expression. Sheridan, Dougal; ‘The Space of Subculture: Getting Specific about Berlin’s Indeterminate Territories’ in ‘Field: A Free Journal for Architecture’, 1 (2007), 97-118, p.104

15. ‘All margins are dangerous, if they are pulled this way or that the shape of the fundamental experience is altered. Any structure of ideas is vulnerable at its margins’ Douglas, Mary; ‘Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo’; London; Routledge; 1966,p.150

16. Turner, Victor; ‘The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure’; New Jersey; Aldine Transaction; 2008, p.96

17. Young people’s interventions in tower blocks created personalised contexts and ‘spaces for hanging out’ Willats, Stephen; ‘Beyond the Plan: The Transformation of Personal Space in Housing’; Chichester; WILEY-ACADEMY; 2001, p.27

Relating themselves to the structure could now only reinforce their union and the affront the revolting punks had demonstrated towards the structure inspired what were now post-punks to transcend the structure18 - to imagine a pseudo-structure.19 Ignored Manchester’s despondency meant that this communitas could promote themselves to a higher status in the pseudo-structure as their existence did not seem to matter to the structure. These boys,20 bored of wallowing in their raincoats, squinting to see the sun behind the grey clouds, wanted ‘presence’ and not to merely be ‘present’- they wanted to be part of the action.21 The rejected became the select and indie22 music labels thrived as they related themselves to the south of England’s established music scene by disregarding ‘the prosperous South’.23 The pseudo-structure is realised in the anti-structure.

18. Interestingly- the Sex Pistols did not have the same immediate reaction in America- the structure over there was not as stratified, a lot of American ‘kids’ who attended the gigs did not feel the same frustration. Whalley, Ben; ‘How the Brits Rocked America: Go West’ ‘We’re the kids in America’; BBC; 2012

19. ‘As for those who are normally at the bottom of the pecking order and experience the comradeship and equality of joint subordinates, the liminality of status reversal might provide an opportunity to escape from the communitas of necessity (which is therefore inauthentic) into a pseudostructure where all behavioural extravagances are possible.’ Turner, Victor; ‘The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure’; New Jersey; Aldine Transaction; 2008, p.202

20. Obviously there were girls who are overlooked in this sentence.

21. ‘Presence is here ( and not up there or over there). With presence there is dialogue, the use of time, speech and action. With the present, which is there, there is only exchange and the acceptance of exchange, of the displacement (of the self and the other) by a product, by a simulacrum.’ LeFebvre, Henri; ‘Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life’; London; Continuum; 2004, p.47

22. Indie- short for independent

23. ‘widely felt alarm and sense of crisis produced by the steady rise in unemployment by the return of the spectre of Disraeli’s two nations: the prosperous south and the decimated north, by the accelerated decline in social services, education and the heavy industries.’ Hebdige, Dick; ‘Hiding in the Light: on Images and Things’; London, Routledge; 1998, p.45

The post-punk pseudo-structure centred itself in the action that they created in disused Manchester, appropriating the abundance of industrial relics. Characters like Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, vital in the agglomeration of post-punks, encouraged the group’s recognition of their location - they weren’t just resigned to staying in Manchester. This was manifested in nights hosted in the Russell Club in Hulme24 named ‘Factory’; the name inspired by a sign reading ‘factory closing’: there could now be a ‘factory opening’.25 These appropriations carry further significance as the technology and typologies that were adopted had been designed to speed up production and increase profit for the structure which were no longer relevant - they polluted the structure26 and, in a similar way to the precedent punks, detached sentiment associated with these objects.27 This [re]combination, accentuated that moment but it was also a transcendence of convention.28

Wilson acted as a bridge between the pseudo- and the structure propagating the popularity of the bands like Joy Division. Imperfections in the structure allowed him to commute between states. His day-job with Granada as a broadcaster and his middle-class background connected him to the structure but simultaneously he affiliated with regional Mancunian post-punk. Presenting ’So it Goes’, a program showcasing new music, meant that post-punks could be exposed. The consequences of this role made the pseudo-structure ephemeral.

24. Hulme is a n area of Manchester just south of the city centre

25. Wilson and Erasmus’ record label eventually adopted this name, ‘Factory Records‘- a rather Situationist statement. Nice, James; ‘Shadow Players’; London; Aurum Press; 2010, p.36

26. ‘social pollution’- ‘dangers from transgressing the internal lines of the system.’ Douglas, Mary; ‘Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo’; London; Routledge; 1966, p.150

27. The Sex Pistols’ song ‘God Save the Queen’ together with cover versions which payed no respect to their previous performers did not sentimentalise the what had gone before- ‘it was clear that nostalgia had no part to play in these references to the past’ ‘Performance and Popular Music: History, Time and Place‘ ed. By Inglis, Ian (Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2006), p.98

28. Peter Saville was commissioned to design the posters for the first Factory night- the infamous ‘Wear Hearing Protection’ graphic was inspired by a sign in his university‘s workshop. Saville wanted his graphics to ‘to find analogous moments… to resonate with the now’. Nice, James; ‘Shadow Players’; London; Aurum Press; 2010; p. 145

An element of Manchester’s post-punk scene that was not exposed was the situation in Hulme. Youth began to inhabit the abandoned deck-accessed void called ’The Crescents’, a mass housing complex constructed in 197229 and typical of the aerial runway utopias implemented after a slum demolition.30 The family units that were intended to live in these ‘streets in the sky’ requested to be rehoused elsewhere leaving the flats free for students and other young people to move into.31 The impracticalities and the hollowness that the families despised facilitated the rise of the post-punk community that gathered there32 but they remained rejected by the structure and therefore remained a pseudo-structure until the later gentrification of Hulme.

An Ideal for Living.33 Joy Division congregate in the middle of a bridge, a collection of bleak figures in the snow penned in by rails and guarded by lamp posts: a photograph taken in Hulme 1979 for NME magazine.34

29. In a ‘World in Action’ documentary from 1978 a probation officer for Hulme states that one of the reasons for anti-social behaviour in the Crescents was a lack of sense of belonging- ‘your home is just one cubic unit situated in the midst of a thousand others‘.Malcome Kirk, Hulme Probation Officer Lapping, Brian; ‘World in Action: There’s No Place Like Hulme’; Granada; 1978

30. http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/gone/crescents.html

31. As a way of keeping the Crescents occupied the council happily let the accommodation out cheaply to these young people and their neglect allowed for easy squatting. Hatherly, Owen; ‘A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain’; London; Verso; 2010, p. 117

32. This was not restricted to Manchester- Stephen Willats notes a similar situation in London where the families that did stay in the units locked themselves away and were not actively a part of the concrete community.

33. The Title of the band Joy Division’s debut EP

34. At the time of this photo shoot Kevin Cummings was a student, he has since worked for NME, Vogue, The Face… http://www.nme.com/photos/joy-division-by-kevin-cummins/197280/1/1

‘there is no longer any Temple of the Sun’35

As the sales of Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ mounted Factory Records decided to ‘pay royalties to Manchester’, using the profit to open up a new club.36 The Russell Club in Hulme previously mentioned already had an identity, it was a Caribbean club owned by Don Tonay37- Wilson, Erasmus et al. wanted a place to define, or rather for the people to define. They settled on the warehouse that transformed into the ‘Haçienda’.38 It was not one of the most opulent examples of Manchester’s remaining collection of industrial discards, and it was not in the commercial centre of the city39- the resulting journey became a symbolic threshold between the grey mundane and a real fantasy, a fantasy that Manchester’s youth could participate in.40

35. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) pp.1

36. Wilson, Gretton (Rob Gretton- Joy Division’s and New Order’s manager), Erasmus and New Order acknowledged the city’s influence and ‘were horrified by the Beatles model’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002, p. 109

37. The similarity of Tonay and Tony are used to comic effect in 24 Hour Party People (film) to demonstrate TonY Wilson’s ego. Winterbottom, Michael; ’24 Hour Party People’; Revolution Films; 2002

38. A cinema was also considered as a venue however ‘the dimensions were a little too defining’. Also- inbetween Factory Records’ possession and it fulfilling its intended purpose as a warehouse it had been a yacht showroom. The yachts decamped to Salford- a more appropriate, waterside venue. Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002, p.113

39. The Hacienda was located in between Hulme and the city centre.

40. Stephen Willats talks about the journey between the Glue-sniffers’ camp and the tower blocks they lived in being symbolic in the same way. Willats, Stephen; ‘Beyond the Plan: The Transformation of Personal Space in Housing’; Chichester; WILEY-ACADEMY; 2001; p. 29

The exterior of the club only minimally deviated from its industrial heritage41 however, the interior was a translation of the clubs that they had experienced in New York.42 The building’s visible structure was highlighted in the hazard-dash motif that Saville had introduced to Factory Records, and which became synonymous with the club- this ironic reinterpretation cautioned against the possible encounters you could experience on the dancefloor/stage43 - reified situationism. The idea of unpredictable social collisions was also expressed in the Hacienda’s agenda - the vast, undefined space44 could be used for various events. The absence of a VIP area forced further interaction.

The indeterminacy became defined with the importation of house music brought back from Chicago and Detroit and implanted into the Hacienda‘s schedule. The only specific spatial attributes Acid House required were concerned with size- being able to cram as many bodies as possible together and elevated turntables in order to worship the DJ.

The Hacienda had found its niche - it was no longer a pseudo-structure in the anti-structure - it was part of the structure itself. The disregarded had provided a mix of statusless elements to be combined and redefined. The exposure of these appropriations consequently shifted the focus of the structure which adopted Madchester’s success.

41. The window frames were painted in pastel shades, ‘51’, the club’s catalogue number (all of Factory Records‘ artefacts were assigned numbers), was emblazoned on the door and ’Hacienda’ plaque was built into the brick

42. The association with a foreign city rather than London was a further statement against the structure- ‘it’s just that not even thinking about London SAYS fuck London’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002, p.111

43. ‘the line of steel columns was colour coded to warn you: take care- you never know who you might bump into on the dance floor’ Hook, Peter; ‘The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club’; London; Pocket Books; 2010, p.34

44. Wilson’s description of the warehouse- ‘toy box waiting to be filled’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002, p. 114

HALLELUJAH

‘Not here to praise ya,Just here to raise ya,Fill you full of maze.’1

1. ‘Hallelujah’ by Happy Mondays

As soon as we physically realise something it becomes abstractly, as well as literally, structural - it must obey laws. It would be practically impossible for something concrete, occupying a once empty space to retain negligence. An object’s relationship to its context is mutual - the object gains its identity from definition prescribed to it by its context: context only appears as context if it has something to define.

The universal understanding promoted by the structure means the physical can be adopted as a symbol for an identity which is then able to be referred to when considering self-placement in the structure. We associate with the physical in order to provide a reference point for others to relate themselves to but equally as a reaction to the previous classification of others.

The physical has the power to become popular. If the structure associates with this object it maintains power, it reviews its centre, its focus. The increasing accessibility of the Haçienda’s identity meant that anyone from anywhere could associate themselves with the club. However, to be authentic they had to visit, or at least that’s what the structure promoted. Soon it wasn’t just the Haçienda that had to be experienced- the landmark brought commerce to the whole of Manchester’s city centre.

Manchester thrives on exchange- links in and out have traditionally meant prosperity for the city.1 Chicago and Detroit’s house music, the Balearic sound from Ibiza and the sudden explosion of ecstasy all converged at the Haçienda.2 The very place that aimed to provide a preferenceless venue in which to discover new music became defined by the popularity of dance music- it was the Haçienda’s ultimate collision of cultures that the structure could consume.3 Just as the canals and railway had brought raw materials into the city to be translated into purchasable goods Manchester became a place to experience the Mancunian interpretation of dance music.

‘pure plasticity, inanimate and storyless, soothes the

eye’4

The transportability of dance music combined with the mental suspension induced by ecstasy meant that the raves experienced in the Haçienda could translate to other industrial architecture- this was one of this movement’s only hopes to remain outside of the structure. The vast spaces designed for storage of goods could now be employed to contain thousands of hedonists throwing their hands in the air to the latest sound of technology.5 These events did not have to routinely take place in the same warehouse: their absence of an anchor meant that they could maintain their existence in the blurred periphery. It was the Haçienda’s fixed location that allowed the structure to adopt it.

1. Manchester ‘grew as a collection point for a system of towns, villages, and farmsteads engaged in hand weaving primarily cotton textiles’ Soja, Edward W.; ‘Postmetropolis:Critical Studies of Cities and Regions’; Oxford; Blackwell; 2000, p.79

2. ‘The [Happy] Mondays’ associates were now doing their Amsterdam run on a serious level’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002, p.211

3. ‘Provide a setting, make it flexible, let the people decide’- Ben Kelly quoted in Shadow Players Nice, James; ‘Shadow Players’; London; Aurum Press; 2010, p.184

4. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.2

5. Drum machines, synthesizers, 808s replaced the noisy machinery

The Haçienda is often quoted as being ‘a blueprint’ for modern super clubs - innovation was vital in making the club a noninterchangeable attraction.6 The site-specifity of being the first club of its kind could be profitable to the structure which could then use this attraction to revitalise the whole of Manchester,7 but rather sadly, also for Factory Records who frankly needed the income that popularity and tourism could offer.8

Tourists are potentially everyone and anyone - they merge together losing uniqueness to form a crowd.9 The interchangeability of the clubbers demonstrates how the pseudo-structure had merged into the structure10 - there was no temporary reversal of status, the hedonists were inferior. Although their power didn‘t change they did become statusless as they entered the Haçienda which could have provided the potential to assemble another communitas however this would have required some awakening to their situation, just as the punks had provided a decade before.11

6. If ‘an object with a strong non-interchangeable category will often tend therefore to be associated with a lack of other objects in its immediate vicinity’ then its inability to be substitute makes it special and can therefore be sold.Hanson, Julienne; Hillier, Bill: ‘The Social Logic of Space’; Cambridge; Cambridge University Press; 1988, p.2177. ‘convincing visitors of the authentic nature of a place’s musical heritage’ Connell, John; Gibson, Chris; ‘Sound Tracks: Popular Music, Identity and Place’; London; Routledge; 2003, p.2498. The Hacienda’s books, published in Peter Hook’s book ‘How Not to Run a Club’ are diabolical from a capitalist view point- over spending money they didn‘t have had begun with Ben Kelly‘s elaborate design‘s for the club‘s interior and ended in bankruptcy. Hook, Peter; ‘The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club’; London; Pocket Books; 20109. ‘in peak season anywhere between 25,000 and 85,000 revellers were estimated to come to Manchester on Friday nights, to visit famous clubs and take part in sub-cultural dance activities’ Connell, John; Gibson, Chris; ‘Sound Tracks: Popular Music, Identity and Place’; London; Routledge; 2003, p.248 10. ‘an ephemeral, site-specific installation shown at the Venice Biennial, for instance, is sure to be seen by a very large public within a few weeks of time’- the temporality of the Biennial induces visitors, knowing it will soon be gone, makes it popular: the heritage of the Hacienda made it a destination. Navak, Anja; ’The Site of Installation Art: Hovering Between Inner and Outer Places’ in ‘Take Place: Photography and Place from Multiple Perspectives’ ed. By Westgeest, Helen (Amsterdam; Valiz; 2009) p.14911. This was now ‘an opportunity to strip themselves of all outward tokens and inward sentiments of status distinction and merge with the masses.’ to create a new communitas but these clubbers had no reason to question this situation. Turner, Victor; ‘The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure’; New Jersey; Aldine Transaction; 2008, p.202

It is changeability rather than INTERchangeability which has the potency to revolutionise.12 Clubbers all shared the same agenda - to lose themselves in the house music, music that mixed and remixed synthesised sound- new configurations but no new combinations. In order for the ‘distribution and shuffling’ of people to create ‘novel situations’ there would have to be a congregation of people whose identities were unique yet relative and meaningful which is not possible when meetings are unrepeated.13 Where there is anonymity and no ‘relational identity’14 there is little force to the social collision. Impact was dissipated in the exposed Hacienda’s crowd- it submitted to the structure.

‘reasons for becoming impassioned disappear’15

Escapism complies to the structure, there is no transgression. The major flaw of transcendence is that it involves a return to the structure - it is practically impossible to sustain this separation, even 24 hour party people had to come down.16 Someone artificially awake and alive could not deny that their bodies were still obeying laws of everyday life.17

12. The impact of configurations is linked to how novel it is, this is demonstrated in the Situationist International principals of detournement- ‘[Marcel Duchamp’s] drawing of a moustache on the Mona Lisa is no more interesting than the original version of that painting’ Debord, Guy; Wolman, Gil J.; ‘A User’s Guide to Detournement’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.15

13. This concerns the comparison of playing cards and shuffling- ‘card playing invariably involves material events, such as card distribution and shuffling, whose material randomness continually creates novel situations’ but there can only ever be a maximum of 56 cards. Hanson, Julienne; Hillier, Bill: ‘The Social Logic of Space’; Cambridge; Cambridge University Press; 1988, p.207

14. Hanson, Julienne; Hillier, Bill: ‘The Social Logic of Space’; Cambridge; Cambridge University Press; 1988, p.209

15. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p. 6

16. The Happy Mondays’ song- ‘24 Hour Party People’ claims ‘you can’t beat ‘em’, Shaun Ryder goes on to sing ‘press the pause on the self destruct’ which implies escapism.

17. Although ’heads were not mentally in the realm of the everyday gravity still acted on them, and their bodies continued to function- in fact if their bodies didn’t function as expected then drugs wouldn’t work Goffman, Erving; ‘Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organisation of Experience’; Dartmouth; Northeastern University Press; 1986, p.5

For the majority of visitors to the Haçienda at this stage the club represented a diversion from work, a leisure activity. There was an evident comparison between the two states of self:18 there was a future in the structure and the present was simply a trance.19 This categorisation of the club as a leisure destination furthered the Haçienda’s role as an inconspicuous reference point, it was now associated with spare time, spare time that the structure could profit from.

As the function of the club remained unquestioned it became another venue in which to perform social processes. The door serves as an example of this- the threshold was the most culturally regulated aspect of the club. Opening and closing, entering and exiting marked when the ritual of transcending commenced and adjourned. Furthermore it was a manifestation of socially measured cycles of time demonstrating when leisure is allowed20 - generally taking place at the weekends and at night, clubbers were acknowledging these accepted systems.21 Escape if you can afford to: in order to supposedly transcend the structure it was necessary to pay a fee. By heightening the gap between work and leisure the structure could imply escapism - make it seem like clubbers were leaving the structure behind at the door when they were in fact sustaining it.22

18. ‘notions of the spiritual were derived from the apparent existence of a dual self. There was the self of the waking world and the self of dreams, trances and death, Spencer imagined the primitive person reasoning. Hendry, Joy; ‘An Introduction to Social Anthropology: Other People’s Worlds’; London; MACMILLAN PRESS; 1999, p.120

19. Melechi, Antonio;‘The Ecstasy of Disappearance’ in ‘Rave Off: Politics and Deviance in Contemporary Youth Culture’ ed. By Redhead, Steve; Aldershot; Avebury; 1993, p.33

20. the concept of leisure was invented by modern industrial society according to Victor Turner Carlson, Marvin; ‘Performance: A Critical Introduction’; London; Routledge; 1996, p.25

21. Weekends are remnants of biblical authority and nights are when we traditionally can’t work because we have no natural light. Virilio, Paul; ‘The Vision Machine’; London; Indiana Press; 1994, p.61

22. ‘difference is often fabricated in the interest of social control’ Foster, Hal; ‘Recodings: Art, Spectacle, Cultural Politics’; Seattle; Bay Press ; 1985, p.166

‘the police station on Rendezvous street’23

In fact the Hacienda’s relationship with hegemony demonstrated further acceptance into the structure. As soon as authority recognises something’s existence it is no longer underground, deviance has been identified24 - it would be practically impossible for a totem such as the Haçienda with its ever extending queue to exist in the anti-structure.25 Exposure leads to the structure’s reconsideration of what exists- new licensing laws were introduced after Claire Leighton’s fatal reaction to ecstasy.26 The implications of this review meant the club had to pledge to work with the police if they wanted to stay open however, it must be noted that use of ecstasy and other stimulants was still customary amongst visitors. The club’s compliance and the clubbers continued drug use demonstrates possible reactions to authority- you follow regulations or you fight against them. In fighting the opposition you appear to contradict the structure, however really it is just a reinforcement of the relationship- providing new reasons for interaction.27

23. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.1

24. ‘identification id usually linked to the processes of incorporation, registration and control’ Sheridan, Dougal; ‘The Space of Subculture: Getting Specific about Berlin’s Indeterminate Territories’ in ‘Field: A Free Journal for Architecture’, 1 (2007), 97-118, p.105

25. ‘the totem was a sacred symbol which stood for the clan that it represented’ Hendry, Joy; ‘An Introduction to Social Anthropology: Other People’s Worlds’; London; MACMILLAN PRESS; 1999, p.121

26. Clare Leighton, a 16 year old girl collapsed the Hacienda, later dying in hospital from a rare reaction to the drug in 1989. Redhead, Steve; ‘The Politics of Ecstasy’ in ‘Rave Off: Politics and Deviance in Contemporary Youth Culture’ ed. By Redhead, Steve; Aldershot; Avebury; 1993, p.16

27. In ‘Style Wars’ authority reinforces its relationship to the graffiti artists every time they clean graffiti off the trains- the artists wouldn’t paint over someone else’s work, therefore every time it is cleaned off the authority produces a new surface to work on. Chalfant, Henry; Silver, Tony; ‘Style Wars’; PBS; 1984

Post-punk Hulme remained unexposed as it continued to be dissociated by the structure and forced into the anti-structure. An after-hours alternative to the Haçienda was established in the Charles Barry crescent by knocking three flats together.28 The club was called ‘the Kitchen’, although it had a more mundane name than ‘the Haçienda’ it was, at this time, more exciting. The comparison between the titles of the ‘Kitchen’ and the ‘Charles Barry’ Crescent is also important to note29 - the structure had applied aspirational, formal names to their constructions, names which would doubtfully inspire their residents where as the ‘Kitchen’ embodies an accessible meaning. Charles Barry sleeps silently in his tomb: the Kitchen is alive with various exciting, dynamic activities. Extraordinary social collisions were possible in the dark interior of this club- a formal introduction was not necessary.30 The crescents managed to maintain their pseudo-structure until their demolition; they were forcibly discarded by the structure and a communitas of Mancunian youth subculture was still a ‘presence’.31

28. Hatherly, Owen; ‘A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain’; London; Verso; 2010, p.128

29. All of the Crescents were named after famous neo-classical architects: Robert Adam, Charles Barry, William Kent, John Nash. The crescents’ shape had been inspired by Bath’s Crescent.

30. When Noel Gallagher was still a Roadie for Inspiral Carpets he encountered Mani at one of these illegal parties http://www.nme.com/news/the-stone-roses/44054#13

31. LeFebvre, Henri; ‘Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life’; London; Continuum; 2004, p.47

The Haçienda closed suddenly in 1997.

Although the Haçienda’s closure appeared premature and devastating it enabled the club to remain legendary, it could continue its existence abstractly.32 After definition the club’s institutionalisation could only have increased to cause further acceptance and adoption which would have eventually rendered the Hacienda insignificant33 - the club’s experience did not have the chance to seem structural, established, banal before its closure.34 However, it is the acknowledged warehouse on Whitworth Street West.

By producing a concrete space the post-punks founded a concrete crystallised place, a static entity to be associated with but also to be remembered.35 The definition of the Haçienda added further clarification to Manchester‘s definition. Links in and out of the city had exposed its products (cotton and music predominantly)- reducing Manchester’s identity through simplification and stereotyping by external bodies aware of the city‘s exports. It is impossible to interpret the abstract that cannot be imagined.

32. In 24 Hour Party People ‘So It Goes’ premature end facilitated the introduction of Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson when a fan of the TV program told Wilson how it shouldn’t have finished- Gretton asserts ‘He doesn’t want it to come back. He wants it to be gone forever. Then it can grow into a legend.’ Wilson, Tony; ’24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You’; London; Channel 4 Books; 2002, p.41

33. In some cultures ‘suicide is considered a normal act’ where it can ‘be a means of insuring that the soul is in good condition and not weaken or mutilated.’ Van Gennep, Arnold; ‘Rites of Passage’; London; Routledge: 1960, p.161

34. Ian Curtis’ suicide has had a similar effect to this- his young death has meant that his life has been much contemplated in books, films… and events leading up to his death fascinate many therefore he has become a mysterious figure whose future can only be speculated about. For more information see: Corbijn, Anton; ‘Control’; Momentum Pictures; 2007

35. ‘space is a practiced place’- in order for the ’intersections of mobile elements’ there must be a fixed element to be interpreted. De Certeau, Michel; ‘The Practice of Everyday Life’; London; University of California Press; 1988, p.117

I AM THE RESURRECTION

‘I am the resurrection and I am the light,I couldn’t ever bring myself to hate you as I’d like’1

1. ‘I am the Resurrection’ by Brown, Ian; Squire, John

Time construes an object’s relevance in the structure. The very fact that something has existed means that it is less likely to be forgotten particularly with the emphasis we now put on archiving and preservation. Objects can remain reference points to relate ourselves to, however this relationship alters with reclassification determined by context. Stability in the past attempts to ensure a predictable future, similarly we romanticize the past to qualify the present.

Relating at a distance to Madchester- the concrete Haçienda no longer exists but its life has been extended with the continuation of paraphernalia and the myths broadcast by those whose relevance in the structure relies on their association with the club. Madchester has become a reference point in the history of the structure meaning that it retains significance. In fact, the club would no longer be important if it had not disappeared. Our capitalist structure can play on our emotional attachment to the past, profiting from nostalgia and retaining attention.

The Haçienda’s disappearance was emphasised by what it had left behind. The club’s physical remnants were reinterpreted- the once interchangeable (small, disposable objects such as membership cards) could no longer be reproduced resulting in a revaluation of importance: the once non-interchangeable (larger scale objects with symbolic warehouse reuse) could be reconsidered superficially to become common practice.

Factory Records‘ ability to successfully appropriate the redundant industrial inspired the spread of property development and the redevelopment of post-post-punk Manchester:1 the structure had transformed the DIY into a reproducible consumable product.2 ‘The Northern Quarter’ of the city exemplifies Manchester‘s gentrification- it was once the area containing the greatest amount of abandoned mills, it seemed truly exhausted until Factory Records opened Manchester‘s first modern bar - ‘Dry Bar’.4 A sister project to the Haçienda: its success spawned further development in this area just north of the city centre. Previously empty shops were converted into alternative clothing and music outlets as well as a new influx of Dry style bars.

1. Tony Wilson openly enthused that Factory Records played a vital role in the regeneration of Manchester, and even Nick Johnson of Urban Splash ‘dates the beginning of his company to the sex pistol’s gig at the free trade hall’ Hatherly, Owen; ‘A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain’; London; Verso; 2010, p.120

2. Subversion of the capital structure is possible by adopting its products, however this defiant meaning can then be expropriated by profiting from the creativity of the margin. ‘The personalisation of capital, a theoretical error, can lead to practical (political) errors’ LeFebvre, Henri; ‘Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life’; London; Continuum; 2004, p.54

3. M.A.P. (Manchester Are Psychogeographic) describe this reinvented capitalist culture in the Northern Quarter ‘very seductive’, they preferred the ‘sordid decrepitude’ although- how could ignoring this area encourage any revolutionary action? It’s very romantic. http://www.uncarved.org/turb/articles/map-int.html

4. The opening of the bar seemed to ‘represent a shrewd investment opportunity’ Nice, James; ‘Shadow Players’; London; Aurum Press; 2010, p.361

‘Stars and rain can be seen through glass ceilings’5

By titling this region of Manchester ‘The Northern Quarter’, a previously unnamed area, it has been ascribed an identity.6 This differentiation is an additional example of how the structure encourages distinction within itself as a method of control, however in this case, identity must be applied as this gentrification has instigated a sense of sterility in the area.7 We should fear numb psychogeographical8 walks around Manchester induced (or rather not induced) by a levelled city of assigned characters. Ultimately it was Manchester’s exploitation that caused the disparity essential for the unconscious perceptions of space vital to psychogeography, the natural author of identity.9

5. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.3

6. Other examples which are not physically spatial but temporally spatial, mapped onto an abstract timeline are ‘Cottonopolis’- Manchester’s caricatured title of its state in the Industrial Revolution and even ’Madchester’- referring to city’s music and partying scene.

7. The application of Abraham’s Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ is evident in parts of Manchester such as the ‘Northern Quarter’ and the newly developed ‘Spinning fields’ (a business district which appears to be grafted into the city- it retains little Mancunian distinctness) where ‘clean and safe’ are the fundamental priorities of the city. Minton, Anna; ‘Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First-Century City’; London; Penguin Books; 2009, p.41

8. Psychogeographically crudely explained is the combination of psychology and geography- how a place makes you feel.

9. ‘Pauperisation’ meant necessary migration to city centres in order to find work and provoked ‘the formation of intentional urban slums’. The dense amalgam of people created segregated, definite communities of poor around the centre. Wealth was demonstrated by distance from the city centre. Soja, Edward W.; ‘Postmetropolis:Critical Studies of Cities and Regions’; Oxford; Blackwell; 2000, p.503

Identity prescription also allows the structure to reinterpret its negative effects: squalor and filth can be glamorised by its sanitisation. Manchester’s smog is well documented- it is its irrefutability and position in the past which means that the structure can profit from it. By emphasising the history of something, such as a formerly disreputable area of a city, not only can a comparison be drawn between what something was and is now to enhance the present (the area was filthy but look at it now) but it also allows the inhabitant to remotely associate with the sordid.10 Our separation from the past generates sentiments of nostalgia and romanticism which Manchester has used to promote its continuation of the alternative - its place in the structure.11

Connection to the past and the apparent subversion of the structure’s architecture through reuse are strategies to sustain Manchester’s place in the structure. The warehouses and mills, once work places for the proletariat are now the homes of the ‘young professionals’12 - the overt industrial appropriation permits current inhabitants to believe they are involved in a case of detournement. How alternative! The recognition of this reuse is however a shallow recognition - both systems of inhabitation facilitate the preservation of some form of industry in Manchester’s city centre.13 By transforming the routines practiced in Manchester’s industrial shells its need to be structural is qualified and can continue unquestioned.14

10. This ‘remote association’ is similar to the fantasy surrounding Ian Curtis’ death- in ‘Joy Division: Under Review’ John Robb states that ‘there’s a huge investment in the Western world in self-destructive young men. We need to have these tragedies acted out as much in front of us because we want to imagine what it must be like without actually having to do it ourselves.’ Davies, Christian; ‘Joy Division: Under Review’; 2006

11. Manchester is now connected to the industrial by name and no longer by nature- the industrial’s physical legacy is still partially present in the city but because we no longer experience the smoke from the chimneys and other abhorrences we can sentimentalise the remnants- ’we don’t want to tear the old water-powered mills down’ Hayes, Brian; ‘Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape’; New York; W.W. Norton & Company, 2005 , p.50312. ‘The old entrepreneurs built the mills where workers toiled at twelve hour shifts and died before they were forty, the new entrepreneurs sold the same mills to young professionals as industrial-aesthetic luxury housing.’ Hatherly, Owen; ‘A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain’; London; Verso; 2010, p.120

13. use never does anything but shelter meaning.’ Barthes, Roland; ‘The Eiffel Tower’ in ‘Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory’ ed. by Neil Leach (London; Routledge; 1997), p.243

14. This transfer can seem more socially acceptable- ‘sublimation substitutes another set of unreal aims and ends by providing the self with another kind of false escape from loss, separation and death.’ Douglas, Mary; ‘Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo’; London; Routledge; 1966, p.146

The presence of industrial architecture is Manchester’s ultimate reference point- its maintenance implies continuity. Warehouse and factory typologies invite reuse- they can be simplified in description to a structure and a façade which provide a general space containing few interior limits. The exterior stability and the interior flexibility allow Manchester to retain a sublimated industrial identity with the ability to evolve and update itself. Abstractly, Manchester’s warehouses are a metaphor for the structure.15

‘everyone wavers between the emotionally still-alive past and the already dead future’16

The physical presence of history generates the illusion of a shared structural identity and shared space. The continuity of the warehouses’ presence and even Factory Records’ use of industrial imagery emphasises Manchester’s foundation as an expansive manufacturing and commercial town, simultaneously encouraging a form of attachment to the concrete- the physical seems ordinary until it is compared with an exterior equivalent resulting in a common but local celebration.17 The structure has developed to a point where it must be legitimised with evidence and witnesses’ accounts rather than the fanciful and unverifiable mythology; our current rituals are enforced by the thinking and production of the past.18

15. Adding to and subtracting from the physical means that the concrete can maintain relevance- ‘sublimation is alloplastic compensation for loss of self’ Douglas, Mary; ‘Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo’; London; Routledge; 1966, p.144

16. Chtcheglov, Ivan; ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’ in ‘Situationist International Anthology’, ed. By Knabb, Ken (Canada: Bureau of Public Secrets, 1995) p.2

17. The continued existence of industrial architecture reinforces Manchester‘s identity by reminding inhabitants of the city‘s roots but also development as the industrial embodies a sense of progression- the people who live surrounded by this architecture must also be progressive- look how far we‘ve come. -‘official historiography- history books, television news reports, etc.- nevertheless tries to make everyone believe in the existence of a national space’ De Certeau, Michel; ‘The Practice of Everyday Life’; London; University of California Press; 1988, p.125

18. Myths traditionally explained and justified our actions and our rituals however- ‘History has replaced mythology and fulfils the same function, that for societies without writing and without archives the aim of mythology is to ensure that as closely possible- complete closeness is obviously impossible- the future will remain faithful to the present and past.’ Levi-Strauss, Claude; ‘Myth and Meaning’; London; Routledge; 1978, p.43

This shared space is defined by the collection and classification of artefacts. By accumulating the physical we construct a greater understanding of the singular19 - each artefact can be explained by its position in the archive and equally, each artefact provides further context for other objects to be related to.20 Although there are many examples of the formal and institutional collection of the historical in Manchester, it is now also possible for cyber-spatial practices of this nature to exist.

The availability and almost effortless space that the internet provides is ideal for the rediscovery of former pseudo-structures, such as Manchester’s post-punk structure, allowing them to reinvent themselves. In this instance however, temporary status is gained through the amount of knowledge contributed.21 The transpatial convergence of objects such as photographs, tickets, posters, and other memorabilia combine to form an abstract place qualified by non-interchangeable physical objects. The irreplaceability of the object is defined by the object’s trajectory, its original uniqueness is inconsequential (although the ability to date the evidence is essential) as it is the fact that this specimen, this photograph, ticket, poster… has been preserved and has remained in material existence.22

19. ‘preservation means accumulation, and accumulation to the increased possibility of incremental knowledge’ Goody, Jack; ‘The Interface Between the Written and the Oral’; Cambridge; Cambridge University Press; 1987, p.7

20. ‘in perception knowledge is formed slowly; in the image, knowledge is immediate.’ Sartre, Jean-Paul; ‘The Imaginary’; London; Routledge; 2004, p.9

21. Manchester District Music Archive (MDMA) is an example of this- it invites anyone from fans to bands to contribute http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/

22. This specific origin that makes each artefact significant is the combination of the objects origin within Manchester, when the object was procured, and where the artefact has been sent from (the owner’s current location).

The classification of the object is critical to its preservation. We effectively become tourists as soon as we decide to save something- objects become souvenirs when we deem their place of acquisition extraordinary.23 It is the unrepeatable nature of the souvenir that we cherish the most because our association with it makes us unique- this is partially why the Haçienda’s legend could survive. The clubbers who made the pilgrimage to Madchester classified the mundane and transportable as something great unlike the locals, however this would change when the club closed, when separation was acknowledged.24

The production of the transportable physical means that future convergence is possible but also future propagation- a resurrection of what seems to be lost in an instant.25

23. Souvenirs are subjective- different cultures value them differently. They ‘stand for the place they were acquired’ to the visitor but are often just part of everyday life to the local. Hendry, Joy; ‘An Introduction to Social Anthropology: Other People’s Worlds’; London; MACMILLAN PRESS; 1999, p.17

24. Before the warehouse was demolished a large proportion of the contents of the building and even parts of the structure were auctioned off- some fanatics even bought bricks for £5 each!

25. One disparity in 24 Hour Party People is when Wilson tells the crowd on the last night at the Hacienda to loot the place- this would have meant that artefacts could be taken away to one day be brought back together. It also means that parts of the club can continue without reinterpretation. Winterbottom, Michael; ’24 Hour Party People’; Revolution Films; 2002

The hiatus that separates Madchester from current Manchester has encouraged the divinisation of the Hacienda and its immediate context. If Manchester’s relevance in the structure is sustained by Factory Records’ legacy then such techno folklore as ’24 Hour Party People’ (film and book)26 and Anton Corbin’s ‘Control’ can only serve to reinforce the city’s relevancy. However- it is vital to note that these sources do not provide completely accurate accounts of this scene.27 These reference points are blurred by personal agendas and fantasized abstractions- authors’ structural positions are renewed in the reification of their accounts.28

These consolidated and compressed narratives, bound in black and yellow stripes or other recognisable images from Factory Record’s graphical catalogue offer a distraction from other equally potent aspects of Manchester’s post-punk youth subculture. Throughout this paper there have been references to Hulme and the youth subculture that appropriated the structure’s void- it should be made apparent there are very few sources which refer to this subject. This is perhaps due to the structure’s complete disassociation with the failed ‘streets in the sky’- Hulme remains distinguished as a pollutant.29

26. Bizarrely Tony Wilson wrote the book post-film

27. This point questions this whole discussion as I have used such references to construct the narrative. However it would be impossible to narrate without bias

28. Van Gennep gives the example of the incomprehension of African ‘struggles for the corpse’ where ‘the living do not want to lose one of their members unless forced to do so, for the loss is a diminution of their social power.’ Van Gennep, Arnold; ‘Rites of Passage’; London; Routledge: 1960, p.164

29. There can be no acknowledgement of something that does not enhance the structure- ‘dirt is that which must not be included if a pattern is to be maintained’ Douglas, Mary; ‘Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concept of Pollution and Taboo’; London; Routledge; 1966, p.41

Everything leaves a trace but it is the attention we pay to residue that classifies it as such. Manchester will never be separated from its industrial past nor its musical heritage as long as there is something concrete to refer to. Manchester’s infrastructure is now defined by an aesthetic use of structure rather than its industrial use. It is the combination of industrial grime and intense music that has given the city its sense of rawness but, for this image to last, these industrial and intense elements must remain attached to something that is able to propagate.

Although the Haçienda no longer has any physical foundations in Manchester, it is not extinct. It is still relevant to the city, and this status will endure until its relevance is no longer structurally maintaining.

ANTI-STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE

CONCLUSION

The Haçienda has found its ultimate place- in the memories of those who visited and in the imaginations of those who didn’t. The stories and evidence of how the club looked, eagerly provided by those who were present, serve to reconstruct the interior and exterior. Further speculation can be made by applying experiences had in modern clubs to this imagined structure. It is in this imaginary space that the club can remain seemingly untouched.

The Haçienda is a concept that can never be physically realised because the unimaginable will always exist. The physical is also influenced by forces beyond our control, it does not morph at the same rate the structure does. It is a conceptual place and not a space- an abstract destination that is constantly modifying because our perceptions change over time. Definition of the physical must remain vague so it cannot be marginalised.

The mutability of the structure demonstrates how it is a personal construct making it impossible to transcend permanently- transcendence can only be achieved by ‘losing oneself’, by revaluating what we surround ourselves with. Efforts to reify the pseudo will always become adopted into the structure.

Infact the structure can not just formed from our perceptions but our perceptions of others’ perceptions- this is why it is anthropomorphic, why it adopts, discards, ignores, celebrates… The physical can be related to by all so we are aware of what others think of it whereas the undefined means self-definition.

Limitations cause this creativity.The abandoned physical becomes a raw object open for reinterpretive use. The marginal generally don’t have a choice in the material that surrounds them- they use what is available to create new space without considering its significance. Significance can then be applied by the remote who can see the appropriation at the same time as context. This removal can be generated through spatial distance and temporal distance.

As soon as something is transported away it becomes extraordinary- Mancunian accents are common and undetected in Manchester but in the south of England they are very particular however the further away you go, perhaps not empirically but structurally the less definable they become because they are associated with something greater. There is a lack of immediate context for comparison so it is classified into a greater category. Specific, refined details are lost at a distance. Exposure produces a generic definition for what is going on over there, unless you are there you distil an image from what is the most spectacular. This is why Manchester’s industry is so famous- it provides an identity that translates on different levels.

The micro and macro reinforce each other meaning that they also belong together. It would be impossible for the spectacular to exist without its context, equally context would not be context if it had nothing to situate.

Exposure is sad but it is inevitable to any creative community. There can be no doubt that as Manchester falls further away from its grimy past Hulme will be uncovered as an attempt to recover something more alternative. It is in this sterile environment where Manchester’s next void will be found and appropriated. This discussion ended by focusing on what those who were young 30 years ago are doing now- the lack of attention paid to Manchester’s youth will evolve its own subculture in the disregarded space forming at the margins.

APPENDIX

A Walk to the Hacienda

It is obviously a typical Northern rainy day and I am obviously ill-prepared to walk through this wet stereotyped climate. Although I have never been a sensible dresser, I have owned very few hooded coats and my tights have always been laddered, today my fur coat is a particularly daft, Southern choice. I am planning to visit the Hacienda’s grave, a journey I have never made before and a journey I have frankly never imagined making- in previous visions I have always found myself looking down onto its dance floor or in the middle of a crowd of baggy-trouser wearers, my shoulders acting as a superfluous metronome to the mechanised music the club became infamous for.

I don’t really know when my journey begins but I guess the ordeal of unbolting and then bolting our back gate is a start- it is a truly interactive task, an intervention in my passage between outside and inside our property.

I share my street with Ian Curtis’ ghost and occasionally a selection of his die-hard fans who insist on seeing the terraced house where he hanged himself the night before he was due to tour America with his post-punk band ‘Joy Division’. I know this happened for a fact because it defines the climax of the film ‘Control‘, a biographical story based on a book by his widow and filmed on location. We were asked to leave the set, our street, when Samantha Morton had to perform the discovery scene- or atleast that is what the older people who were aware of this story speculated by the degree of wailing we could hear in the confines of our backyards that she’d just found her fictional husband dead.

I walk in parallel to Ian’s fictional path down the tarmac coated cobbles towards the station and bid him farewell as his fictive route leads him to the job centre. I have made this journey countless times and it is only ever interesting when I have just returned from a break from Macclesfield: the repeated terraces suddenly seem rare and alien. When the sight of the damp bricks are common I can only think about what is beyond- probably which shops I want to visit in town (I call Manchester town because it is much better than our local high street of derelict shops plastered in the false smiles of kids and their nans holding signs up declaring how great the schools are and how lovely it is to ramble around the reservoir).

I am early again- I have reached the station with too many minutes to spare which means that after I have bought my ticket from the boy whose age is indeterminable (he could be my age, he could be years older than me) I sit down on the metal bench and wonder what the old ladies who are obviously out for a day-trip think of my holey tights. I don’t really mind sitting in the station for a bit longer than necessary- I always like to think about how the station’s faded colour scheme of previously brilliant red and grey is actually very beautiful but spoilt by the presence of some green panels advertising local stately homes.

My time spent on the train is negligible to this journey. I spend 25 minutes watching out for the same suburban houses and golf courses that represent impending arrival in to the city. As soon as the Hilton (otherwise know as the Beetham Tower) is in sight it is time to stand up and get ready to wade through the other anonymous visitors towards the southern side of the city centre.

Mapless but with a vague idea of where I can find the demolished club and warehouse I wander past a range of unfamiliar yet familiar Victorian and Labourite buildings using the same hotel that realised my arrival into the city to orientate myself. I pass the central library, the grand neo-classical rotunda rumoured to potentially becoming a conference destination; then the G-mex, a former railway station transformed into a conference venue and finally the railway arches that have been converted into alternative bars at the bottom of Deansgate.

I find the Hacienda apartments vacuously inhabiting a corner of Whitworth Street West. I only know it is the Hacienda’s former site because the plaque inside the estate agents on the ground floor tells me it is. I take a few photos of the black and yellow stripped height restriction signs pointing into its basement car park but I am reticent to look like another tourist trying to capture something that has gone so I leave, heading towards Deansgate- the most straightforward route back into the centre.

On my way back into town I notice a sign reading ‘WARNING - anti-graffiti paint’ - someone had snapped the sides off the sign in sarcastic protest.

Just before I reach the fanciful, neo-gothic town hall built off the profits from Manchester’s exploitatative industrial revolution, a man stops me to say ‘yerv got a hole in yer tights luv.’

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Hall, Stuart and Jefferson, Tony; ‘Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain’; Oxon; Routledge; 1993

Inglis, Ian; ‘Performance and Popular Music: History, Time and Place‘; Hampshire; Ashgate Publishing Limited; 2006

Knabb, Ken;‘Situationist International Anthology’; Canada; Bureau of Public Secrets; 1995

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Peck, Jamie; Ward, Kevin; ‘City of Revolution: Restructuring Manchester’; Mancheser; Manchester University Press; 2002

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Sheridan, Dougal; ‘The Space of Subculture: Getting Specific about Berlin’s Indeterminate Territories’ in ‘Field: A Free Journal for Architecture’, 1 (2007), 97-118

Chalfant, Henry; Silver, Tony; ‘Style Wars’; PBS; 1984

Corbijn, Anton; ‘Control’; Momentum Pictures; 2007

Davies, Christian; ‘Joy Division: Under Review’; 2006

Lapping, Brian; ‘World in Action: There’s No Place Like Hulme’; Granada; 1978

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Dry Bar, Manchester- http://www.drybar.co.uk/dry.php

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MDMA (Manchester District Music Archive)- http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/

Situationist International Archive- http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/index.html