A treasure trove of early ’80s concert footage shot at New Order’s legendary club FAC51 The Haçienda soon will make its way online thanks to a deal by Ikon — Factory Records’ video spinoff — to provide its remaining archive of performances to Peter Hook’s site fac51thehacienda.com.
According to a post on the Haçienda site — which reports “we will begin uploading the footage soon” — the film archive is mainly from the club’s early, pre-Madchester period, from 1982 to 1985. Footage includes performances by Echo & The Bunnymen, A Certain Ratio, Bauhaus, Orange Juice, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and more.
Manchester’s Haçienda famously filmed many of its gigs, and some of those shows, including concerts by the likes of The Smiths, have been bootlegged heavily over the years. As for what’s in the archive, Ikon founder Malcolm Whitehead reports many of the original tapes “have been lost, stolen or are no longer available.”
As for what’s being provided for uploading:
“Footage which remains within the archive, and which we now have access to, include very early concerts from the first months the club was open including ESG from the opening night on 21st May 1982, the secret Teardrop Explodes concert the following week, early A Certain Ratio gig footage, Echo and the Bunnymen’s appearance on 14th July 1982, Jah Wobble and The Invaders Of The Hearts and fully edited live tracks from internationally known artists such as Gregory Isaacs, Orange Juice, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Divine, Bauhaus, Culture Club, Gil Scott Heron, Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, The Violent Femmes and many more.”
Whitehead, who founded Ikon in 1979 to put out Factory video samplers and full-length concerts, says the footage is “now part of history.” He adds, “I’m sure most of the bands either had no idea they were being filmed or have forgotten about it. … I hope it gives some pleasure and sheds insight into the early and best days of the Haç.”
Oh God – I just wet myself a little… new 1982 Teardrop Explodes footage…!