Well it’s been far too many years since I was last in the holy house of the North; that’s the Haçienda for the uneducated. And when it too had succumbed to the housing development of Manchester, I thought I’d never have the opportunity to tread the most famous boards in clubland again.

I’d been a patron from the late 80’s to the mid 90’s even though we would venture elsewhere; Shelly’s in Stoke, Legend’s in Warrington, Le Palis in Sheffield and the notorious Quadrant Park in Liverpool to name but a few.

The Haç was king though and you could never stay away for long, if you’ve ever heard anybody spouting on about Glastonbury (no doubt you have) that they go religiously year in year out well that’s what the Haç was like to us. It’s where it started really for us anyway.

The Haçienda had been going since the very early 80’s but was more to do with rock, indie than the genre it is famous for. We had to wait until the summer of 88 for that.

History is for books and books are for people who don’t sleep at night.

- Jon McCready

When I heard that the Haçienda had been rebuilt for the sole purpose of a staring role in the new Michael Winterbottom (Welcome to Sarajevo, Jude) movie 24hr Party People, my heart skipped several beats and I instantly rushed to my wardrobe and dug out my 1990 Haç hoody and original (now knackered) shell toes, promptly put them on and started an insane quest for nostalgia searching through shoe box after shoe box for any thing relating to the Haç .I must have listened to old tapes ’til the early morning ’cause when I awoke the next day I was still dressed and laying spread-eagled on my bedroom floor surrounded by memorabilia. Well, you’d probably call it junk, but to me it’s like a family heirloom and I’m the first to hand it down.

I found out that they would be in need of Haç patrons like myself to attend a film shoot reconstructing one of the many legendary nights had under it’s roof.

After sending of the letter required (stating I’ve been to the Haç and all that), I received a reply from none other than Dave Haslem, Haç DJ from the era. He said thanks for my letter and supplied me with a ticket for the shoot, along with details of what to wear i.e. they wanted people to turn up dressed between the 88 to 92 years, which suited me down to the ground.

So Friday came and I made my up North for the first time since going back for Christmas. As I pulled into Pollard Street I was amazed at the size of the queue. As I drove down the length of the queue I was amazed at the effort people had gone to. Normally at revival do’s nobody really bothers with the old school attire and it kind of leaves me with a feeling that people aren’t into it that much (or maybe I’m just sad).

As I walked from the car park and down the length of the queue wearing my hoody, baggies and shell toes I was greeted with praise from other Haç top owners and floppy hatted Mancs.

The venue was a factory building not unlike the Haç but looked nothing like it on the outside. When I walked through the doors I nearly fell over it was nigh on identical that funny arch thing as you walk in the café the cloakroom all in the same place, no gay traitor though, or the other bar at the top of the balcony steps but “woa” was and is all I can say. It was like going back in time, well back to the last time I was there, probably in 96.

Everyone who had been to the Haç, at what ever stage in their clubbing career, was exactly like; me gob smacked, aimlessly walking around, staring in amazement at this factory building that had been turned into the place we loved so much. It was like meeting somebody who was the spitting image of one of your best mate. It wasn’t really them but it gave you that weird feeling that it was. The things you expected to be there were and in the right place; the balcony, the DJ booth, the main bar at the end of the stage and the seats under the balcony. But it was the attention to detail that really blew me away, the road bollards surrounding the raised wooden dance floor and the painted factory pillars with the words:

NO DRINKS ON THE DANCE FLOOR.

After the bar had opened, for which we’d been given 2 tokens before the music started and people stopped staring and started dancing, the music was sublime from start to finish; every classic house, acid, hip-hop and dance track you could think of even some of the rare tunes you only hear at the Haç. (See below)

By about 11pm they were just giving the booze away, it didn’t matter if you’d used your tokens, they just gave you booze.

I was by now well away, the only thing that slowed down the process of me dancing myself into oblivion was the interruptions by the film crew shooting in different parts of the club. The one other thing that completely knocked me sideways was when I went to the toilet (Yes they were in the same place: at the end of the stage and on the right) but as I pushed the door open I didn’t walk into what I thought was the Haç toilets. I walked into a completely empty factory building and, being slightly pissed, for a second I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I’d been having such a good time I really forgot that we were on a film set.

The highlight of the evening was when Mr Graham Park turned up unannounced and took over from Mike Pickering and Jon Desilva and played Orange & Lemon Dreams by Santa Anna - just amazing.

There wasn’t really a low point but I was annoyed at the “Oooh maybe I’ll get on film if I wear some Liz Hurley kinda skimpy revealing number” girls who insisted they dance on the stage but I was having none of it.

The one other thing I apologise for is not informing any of my friends in Harrogate as they deserved to be there more than me but I was quite shocked not to see some of them there.

TRACKS: Joe Smooth - Promised Land, A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray, T Coy - Carino, Young MC - Know How, Alison Limerick - Where Love Lives, Ritchie Rich - Salsa House, Loietta Holloway - Love Sensation, Rhythm Is Rhythm - Strings Of Life, Shalor - I’m In Love, L’il Louis French – Kiss, Happy Mondays - Step On. The list goes on…