Review: Hacienda 30, 10/11/12

When Mint Warehouse announced that they were to host legendary night Hacienda, as part of the night's sequence of 30th Anniversary celebrations, an immediate excitement spread across all ages around the city of Leeds. Those who were lucky enough to have been a part of the Acid House era back in the 90s (when The Hacienda was the most famous club in the world) were back to re-live the magic and those of the younger generation who aren't so lucky took the rare opportunity to grab a taste of the experience for themselves. We went down to join in.

808 State were already smashing out some serious acid techno in the second room and we were able to get stuck in straight away. The fast paced beats warmed up the body and led to a surge of weird and wonderful shapes thrown across the room. Downstairs in the main room, Allister Whitehead, a regular guest at The Hacienda back in the good old days, was warming up with some decent house music for the huge headliner that was to follow, Frankie Knuckles...

The crowd was a little older than that which you would usually find in Mint. The vibe was perfect; relaxed and friendly people, all with an undying love for the feel good house that was pumping out of the Funktion Ones at the front. The crowd roared in appreciation as ‘The Godfather Of House Music’ took over the reigns and immediately began to shower us with top quality house music which was to span over a four hour extended set to mark the bulk of the celebrations. It was a very quick four hours – we were having so much fun, and you know how time flies...

From start to finish everybody was smiling as we danced to an array of vocal led house complete with old school hits alongside more recent productions of the electro and disco tinged dance that Knuckles is so well known for. It was a rather special moment when he dropped his much loved classic ‘Your Love’ to a very happy crowd! He kept the feelings of happiness high throughout the rest of his set with more of the same led by vocals from Candi Staton and the like, mixing to perfection.

When Frankie Knuckles’ four hours were up, he stepped down as long time Hacienda resident Graeme Park took to the decks. It was now past 5am and a number of people had left, all danced out from the Frankie Knuckles show. Park was left with an intimate and energetic crowd as he gave us a true taste of the old days, dropping a range of classics that kept us locked into the moment. After what had been an incredible night we left on a high. Just as we were getting into our taxi, we heard Degrees of Motion’s ‘Do You Want It Right Now’ blasting out of the Mint Warehouse front doors. Of course, we ran back in for one last dance and left the club much higher! Cheers Graeme!

What a night it had been. The era of the 90s was a long time ago, but Frankie Knuckles and the Hacienda team certainly do a good job of keeping the vibe alive, which is exactly what they did tonight. It’s not often The Hacienda comes to town but when they do, it’s bloody brilliant!

Words: Jack Law

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