Last Friday saw FAC 51 The Hacienda return to Manchester’s Albert Hall with an inimitable line-up, including house legends Kerri Chandler and Derrick Carter.
If you’ve ever strolled past the Albert Hall whilst an event is taking place, you will probably notice the bewildering sight of sporadically flashing lights canvasing a mural onto the grand Victorian windows of the venue. This novelty is fully realised inside with the gallery and high ceiling which give a feeling of being in a bright an open space – a nice change to the often dark and claustrophobic spaces found elsewhere for these sort of events.
Inside, the baroque structure was lit up with the Hacienda’s famous industrial black and yellow stripes, with its enormous concert organ providing the perfect backdrop for a fine selection of respected DJs.
Warming up proceedings was legendary Hacienda resident Mike Pickering, with a set that showed he’s still very much at the height of his game, and still as current and relevant in today’s music culture as he was in the late eighties.
Next, it was time for the Derrick Carter to take centre stage launch one of his famous musical assaults on the dance floor. Relentless Chicago house Chuggers, with blends of re-cycled disco samples and even a jazz oboe at one point, kept the crowd grooving throughout his 90 minute set. Having seen Derrick a number of times, I still struggle to find words that can truly express the riotous brilliance that he brings to each and every performance. I can only begin to describe what happened; few breakdowns clawed their way out of the sweat drenched speakers, as an impossible number of tracks thundered momentarily into ear shot. Treating the place like his underground house play park. he delivered those funky Chicago beats the crown were craving. As always, Derrick showed his love for classics without spoon-feeding us too many widely known tracks, drawing excitement from the crowd regardless.
Following on from Carter was Delano Smith. As far as protégés of house music go – a Chicago native, brought up in Detroit and taken under the wing of the legendary Ken Collier, Smith is one of the most respected names in the brood. Mastering the art of DJing in the underground parties that laid down the foundations for the music we know today, his set was one we were very much looking forward to.
Detroit’s Delano gave jackers a hot ‘n heavy masterclass in motor city sounds, blurring the lines between house and techno like a true legend. His set was one that fed off the venue’s industrial aesthetic, pushing the crowd into a frenzy that clearly made Delano feel right at home, encouraging him to go full throttle for the duration of his set. After rapturous applause he then gave way to Kerri Chandler, undoubtedly one of the evening’s biggest attractions.
Hailing from the suburbs of New Jersey, Chandler has built himself a reputation as one of house music’ most defined producers and DJ’s. A true master in his field, he has time after time demonstrated to crowds all over the world his ability to select tracks with precision.
Kerri took us on a 90 minute journey through some of the classic edits we have become accustomed to over the years, marrying them perfectly with some of his more recent music and, as always, enhancing his set with the use of his keyboard.
Despite his status as one of the biggest names in underground house music, Kerri Chandler was humble from the off; sticking around for photos for 30 minutes after his set.
What made this night so special, was that it drew in crowds from all backgrounds. As with all the Hacienda nights, they are purely focused on the music, which is why the quality and energy is almost always second to none.
The DJs, and the acoustics coupled with an audience who clearly came for an appreciation of good music, made for a great night all round.
