ESG play Factory 251 in Manchester on Sunday 19 January 2014 as part of their last ever UK tour which features dates at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, London's Koko and Think Tank in Newcastle.

Support comes from Stonelove DJs plus further bands to be announced. This date also forms part of 251's 4th birthday celebrations.

Tickets are on sale now via TicketWeb and Piccadilly Records.

Full January 2014 itinerary

Fri 17 - Koko, London [Buy tickets]
Sat 18 - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds [Buy tickets]
Sun 19 - Factory 251, Manchester [Buy tickets]
Mon 20 - Think Tank, Times Square, Newcastle-upon-Tyne [Buy tickets]

More info at ESG's official website and Facebook.

Labels: ESG, FAC251_The_Factory, gigs

The last day of the Factory Records' office at One Charles Street in Manchester is documented in a new dvd entitled 'Black Monday' (as the fateful day became to be known).

The first part of the dvd is a rough but compelling film by Tosh Ryan shot on hand-held video outside the Factory Records office on 23 November 1992 following a tip-off that something was afoot. We see all the comings and goings, including the Factory workers, managers (Phil Saxe, ex-Happy Mondays manager) and the directors (Rob Gretton, Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus). As the day progresses, it becomes clearer that something is going down...

In part two we see inside the newly-vacated offices. Be amazed (but perhaps not surprised) to see loads of now-priceless posters and artefacts strewn over the floor and the FAC 331 Temporary Contemporary Table is in the boardroom in a very broken state.



The extras comprise a piece on the subsequent conversion of the building many years later into the FAC 251 The Factory club plus an excellent short film showing the making of the cast iron FAC 73 anvil (to commemorate 500,000 sales of Blue Monday).

Tom Hewitt and Chris Hewitt put the whole 'Black Monday' project together in conjunction with Peter Hook and with thanks to Tosh Ryan, Aaron Mellor and Tighe Grainger. A donation has been made already from the future sales proceeds of the film to Peter Hook's favoured charity NSPCC.

The 'Black Monday' dvd is available as a pre-release version by mail order only. Paypal GBP 12.00 + 2.00 postage and packing to hawkethos@which.net or telephone +44 (0)1565 734066 to make an order by card.

Total running time: 2 hour 40 minutes
Format: DVD NTSC Region 0

Labels: Alan_Erasmus, artefacts, FAC251_The_Factory, Factory_Records, Tony_Wilson, Tosh_Ryan, video

Almost two years to the day since Peter Hook and The Light debuted their live reworkings of early Joy Division, centered around Unknown Pleasures, and a year since Closer et al was replayed, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th May 2012 saw Hooky complete the tri-cycle with Still - performed "in its entirety for the first ever time" at Factory 251.

The set matched the disjointed original album perfectly: powerful and previously unreleased/overlooked Joy Division tracks (The Only Mistake, Something Must Break) were added to The Light's now-enormous repertoire whilst earlier Warsaw tracks (The Kill, Walked In Line) and the Velvet cover version (Sister Ray) were added for completeness.

But it's the crossover points, when tracks from the Unknown Pleasures and Closer shows - now honed to powerful near-perfection through constant touring to obscure, surprised and eternally grateful foreign audiences - drop almost randomly into the set, that the band comes alive and the place explodes in mass catharsis.

The best is saved for last, though, with an excursion into New (Order) territory - 12 bass strings combine for The Him, Dreams Never End and a sublime Doubts Even Here.

The Light are alternating Unknown Pleasures and Closer around the UK in the next few weeks, then beyond. Festival headline/own tent stuff. Must see.

Labels: events, FAC251_The_Factory, gigs, Joy_Division, New_Order, Peter_Hook, The_Light

Hooky returns to FAC 251 The Factory on Fri/Sat 18/19 May 2012 to play Joy Division's final album 'Still' (itself a recorded document of Joy Division's last gig). The concert is presented in association with Mind and Forever Manchester. The special guest for both nights is Kevin Hewick who is shortly to release All Was Numbered via Hacienda Records.

Tickets priced £20.12 (including charity donation) available now via fatsoma.com or call 24 Hour Credit Card Hotline People on 08444 77 10000 or in person at Piccadilly Records / Gaffs in Manchester

--

The Factory
112–118 Princess Street
Manchester M1 7EN

Labels: events, FAC251_The_Factory, gigs, Kevin_Hewick, Peter_Hook

FAC 251 The Factory celebrates its second birthday this and next weekend with a series of films, gigs, DJ Sets and more.

Part 1 kicks off today Saturday 4 February will a free Rebel Cinema film screening, a first come first served free gig featuring The Covelles and then a club event with Peter Hook, Tim Burgess and Norman Jay.

The second weekend on Saturday 11 February will feature another free gig from Reverend and The Makers followed by Zane Lowe, Doorly, Dave Haslam and the NME Awards Aftershow.

Tickets for the free cinema screening are limited and for tickets email liam@factorymanchester.com [may still be some available]

Part 1 Saturday 4 February 2012

7-9pm Rebel Cinema Screening – 24 Hour Party People [Free Entry with ticket]

Intro and Q&A Session from: Peter Hook, John Robb & Clint Boon

9pm-10:30 The Covelles + Super White Assassin Live) - Free Entry
10:30-3am Club Lineup:

Room 1 Tim Burgess (DJ Set)
Room 2 Norman Jay (Good Times Set)
Room 3 Peter Hook (DJ Set)

Part 2 Saturday 11 February 2012

7:30-10:30pm Reverend & The Makers Full gig – Free Entry

10:30-3am Club night

Room 1 ‘In New Music We Trust’ Zane Lowe & Doorly
Room 2 Dave Haslam
Room 3 NME Awards Tour After Party Tribes (DJ Set) + Guests

More info at: factorymanchester.com / Facebook/factorymanchester

Labels: Clint_Boon, FAC251_The_Factory, John_Robb, Peter_Hook, Tim_Burgess

Live review by Paul Pledger - Section 25 @ FAC 251 The Factory, Manchester, 8 October 2011

I'll be honest, this was my first visit to FAC 251, opened within the building of the iconic ex-Factory head office, turned three-storey nightclub and venue - a bare-bricked environment perfect for live music, with possibly the scabbiest toilets this side of Deansgate, but a live room that does a decent job with a low ceiling and capable soundsystem. Most importantly, it's all about the atmosphere and tonight there was plenty of it, with good reason – it was the Blackpool band's first return to the venue since their 2010 Retrofit gig. But what made this show a bit special was the business of launching a new Section 25 EP, Invicta, their first new material since 2009's Nature + Degree and their first single since 1988's Jonathan King-upsetting Bad News Week 12".

It also marks a significant step forward for a band already unsteadied by founder-member Larry Cassidy's death in 2010 – this is the brand spanking new Section 25, still loud and still melodic but with a confidence and energy, most of which exudes from live-wire new vocalist, Bethany Cassidy. The more masculine vocals are supplied by limping bassist Stuart Hill (he nearly cracked his ankle a few days previous to the show) and the rest of the band, Stephen Stringer on guitars and bleeps and Vin Cassidy working hard to provide a human percussive element to the setlist's demanding rhythms. Where once there was brashness, there is now beauty with a bite. You could be listening to a new band, such is the shift in direction on some of the older offerings tonight.

From The Hip favourite The Process opened proceedings, presented in its Retrofit finery, before the set quickly shows signs of lifting off with a tough electro rendition of early single, Beating Heart. It's songs like this that benefit from the feminine touch of Larry's daughter, although she does display some gutsier vocal-skills on other songs. The only perplexing change to their catalogue is a slow, almost lounge, version of Rememberance. As an album track, it's a definite techno-pop highlight, but slowed down misses the mark somewhat – it sounds better when pepped up. Thankfully, it's all uphill from here with new electrodisco favourite, Inner Drive and the totally-revamped New Horizon holding sway with the by now busy, loyal and partisan crowd. The new song is a bit of a firestarter when played ‘live, gearing the band up for a boisterous brace of older tracks.

Later on, Beth's sweet-as-toffee tonsils turn into a far grittier soundbase for the always-snarly Wretch, a song from The Key Of Dreams that still surprisingly stands out in the dry-ice haze of a recession-gripped Britain. "You snivelling wretch", she spurts in a barbed manner that belies her approachable and friendly demeanour. The band gamely keep time, before unleashing more post-punk vitriol with Girls Don't Count – it doesn't sound like a sound that recently celebrated its 30th birthday.

Composure remains throughout the last two songs, Garageland and the cracking new single, Colour Movement Sex and Violence, the latter a contender for being the prettiest and most melodic song of theirs since Crazy Wisdom. Or Desert. Or Inspiration. It sounded great on the radio a few weeks back – it sounds even better piped out of a proper rig.

The encore predictably (but thankfully) consists of Looking From A Hilltop, a signature song of sorts and, with my eyes closed for a few seconds, a veritable reminder of how much Beth sounds like her mum occasionally. Absolutely nowt wrong with that – the newcomer has clearly made Section 25's key songs her own, even pausing to dance her arse off throughout the show. They'll be installing mirrorballs next. As an aside, it's a shame they didn't have any nice merchandise installed – people would have coughed up a few quid for an Invicta EP afterwards.

The band have a couple of key live slots coming up, including a support role for Peter Hook and the Light at the Salford Lowry and a stint at Antwerp's BIMFest – you really should make an effort to turn up early to see them.

9/10.

Setlist

Process
Beating Heart
Remembrance (Slow version)
Inner Drive
New Horizon
Wretch
Girls Don't Count
Garageland
Colour Movement Sex and Violence
Dirty Disco
--
Looking From a Hilltop

Labels: events, FAC251_The_Factory, gigs, review, Section_25

Commissioned by Tony Wilson, designed by Andy Woodcock and Ed Jackson and broken by Happy Mondays, the FAC 331 Temporary Contemporary Table created for the FAC 251 HQ boardroom almost perfectly sums up the excesses of Factory Records' latter days with its thirty grand price tag. Well, it would do if that was true. The actual cost was two thousand pounds and it was all put together in two weeks.

Designer Andy Woodcock tells all to Cerysmatic Factory:

FAC 331 The Temporary Contemporary Table - full story and pics.

Labels: Andy_Woodcock, design, FAC251_The_Factory, Happy_Mondays

Mark Holt (ex-8vo) is selling a few items from his Factory collection including FAC 2 A Factory Sample, FAC 6 Electricity by OMD, FAC 86 Hacienda model kit, FAC 235 Blue Monday flicker book, FAC 245 Madchester postcard set and FAC 251 Factory HQ opening invitation plus cd.

He is also selling a copy of the mega-rare Sordide Sentimental SS 45005 Enigma / Danny by The Durutti Column.

Mark's eBay ID is yellow_mark and you can find a complete listing of all his items here.

Labels: 8vo, artefacts, Christmas, FAC251_The_Factory, Joy_Division, New_Order, OMD, The_Durutti_Column

Section 25 regretfully announce that their upcoming show at The North Bar, Blackburn on Oct 22nd has been postponed due to unfortunate circumstances outside their control.

Details of a rearranged show will be made available as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the band look forward to the FAC251 gig on Sat Nov 20th.

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Section_25

To coincide with the launch of her book Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl: The Story of Tony and Lindsay Wilson, Lindsay Reade will be joined by a celebrity panel - including Peter Hook and Elliot Rashman - to discuss her book’s perspective on the life and work of Tony Wilson at FAC251 The Factory on October 13th 2010.

"This heartfelt and searingly honest memoir details the relationship between legendary music impresario Tony Wilson and his first wife, Lindsay Reade.

In 2007 Manchester figurehead and music-industry veteran Tony Wilson passed away at the age of fifty-seven, following a battle with cancer. Thirty years earlier, he married his first wife Lindsay Reade, and the couple’s passionate, volatile but indelible bond was to endure until the very end, played out against the ever-shifting backdrop of a city whose musical legacy defined generations.

Here, for the first time, Lindsay tells the full story of her and Tony’s marriage, divorce, and subsequent lifelong connection, giving a candid and moving account of two lives lived in the midst of a musical and cultural revolution; of two people who went their separate ways but never truly separated.

Through a frank examination of her own memories and those of the people with whom she shared the experience, Reade details pivotal moments in Manchester’s history, from the birth of the seventies punk scene to the founding of Factory Records, from the recording of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures to her role in the discovery of the Stone Roses, from the opening of the Hacienda and the subsequent emergence of the ‘Madchester’ scene to the making of 24 Hour Party People.

A poignant chronicle of love and loss, Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl also presents an incisive portrait of the unique individuals and often fraught relationships that shaped the life of a modern legend."

Labels: books, FAC251_The_Factory, Lindsay_Reade, Peter_Hook, The_Stone_Roses

Did the (current) custodians of the Factory marque really put on a night 'welcoming' this year's influx of students to Manchester last weekend and call it FAC A Fresher?

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory

A Certain Ratio launch the album Mind Made Up with a gig at The Factory in Manchester this Saturday 17 July.

Tickets priced £14.50 are still available via factorymanchester.com and the price includes the aftershow party until 4am.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, FAC251_The_Factory

An extra date has been added to Section 25's previously announced autumn tour and it's at The Factory in Manchester on Saturday 20 November.

The full tour itinerary is:

Thu 16 Sep - The Musician, 42 Crafton Street, Leicester, LE1 2DE
Fri 22 Oct - The North Bar, Town Hall Street, Blackburn, Lancs, BB2 1AG
Sat 20 Nov - The Factory, Manchester
Sat 11 Dec - The Beat Club, 22 Corporation Street, Blackpool, Lancs, FY1 1EJ

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Section_25

A reminder that ("the long awaited Mancunian supergroup of rockstar bassists") Freebass play a short stint of dates across the UK this week:

Mon 31st May - York - The Duchess
Tue 1st June - London - 100 Club (Sold Out)
Wed 2nd June - Manchester - The Factory
Thu 3rd June - Glasgow - King Tut's
Fri 4th June - Carlisle - The Brickyard
Sun 6th June - Middlesborough - Town Hall

featuring Gary Briggs (vox), Mani/Hooky/Rourke (basses), Nat Watson (guitars), Phil Murphy (keys) and Bo Walsh (perc).

Listen to tunes at the new Freebass website, purchase them from www.fac51thehacienda.com.

See you there!

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Freebass, Peter_Hook

Check out Kevin Hewick's photos taken at The Factory on 18 May during the soundcheck for Peter Hook and The Light and in the boardroom at the Ian Curtis / Joy Division exhibition.

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Ian_Curtis, Joy_Division, Kevin_Hewick, Peter_Hook

Anyone who thought Hooky's centre stage antics have always been the strutting of an over-inflated ego and that his Unknown Pleasures set would be a glorified cover version band tribute look away now.

From the evidence of the residence, The Light poured and Hooky found his voice - and what a voice!

The set was (almost) chronological: At A Later Date ("He's bound to do that - it's one of his!" - Terry Mason), Ideal For Living, Factory Sample, Unknown Pleasures, Transmission, LWTUA.

Bang bang bang: the band were tight, immense and clearly well rehearsed. The set was punched out with very little space in between. Every tune benefitted from a slight re-work - intros shortened, superfluous bars dropped, drop-downs and build-ups accentuated, grunge applied wherever possible. Rowetta did her bit on Insight, Simon Topping even joined in the air punching on Transmission. But, unlike the free-n-easy set on the reopening night of The Factory, this was serious.

The star of the show, though, was the voice. Belting out from start to finish - no mean feat over two consecutive nights - H's vocal strength and depth was remarkable, recalling Ian Curtis's own vocal development at the hands of Hannett (I checked with Di: no harmoniser).

Rumour has it this show is about to be taken to the road. Given that this set represents the first half of Joy Division's finite output - will there be a Closer?

--

Setlist [18 + 19 May 2010]

At A Later Date
Warsaw
No Love Lost
Leaders Of Men
Failures
Digital
Glass
--
Disorder
Day Of The Lords
Candidate
Insight
New Dawn Fades
She's Lost Control
Wilderness
Interzone
I Remember Nothing
--
Transmission
Love Will Tear Us Apart

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Peter_Hook, review, The_Light

Thanks to moist for the excellent images of the Ian Curtis exhibition now running at The Factory until Wednesday 19 May which are now in a photo gallery.

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Ian_Curtis, Joy_Division

This Saturday 8 May, Hewick Haynes & James will play the Allstars night at Firebug on Millstone Lane in Leicester. As is traditional, local acts pay tribute to bands that have influenced them, this time including tributes to Iron Maiden, Biffy Clyro and Porcupine Tree. Kevin Hewick and the boys are doing Joy Division. They will be onstage at the shockingly un-rock'n'roll time of 7.30pm.

Kevin says "I've resisted the idea of trying to do a full set of Joy Division for years. I did 'Transmission' guesting with a band called The Freed Unit once in the 90s but I always felt like I'd get panned for it if I did any JD songs on a serious basis. I'd seen stuff people had said about me doing 'Haystack' with New Order and it was like I'd killed a puppy or something."

Kevin is also now supporting Peter Hook and The Light for their Unknown Pleasures gig at The Factory in Manchester on 18 May.

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Joy_Division, Kevin_Hewick, Peter_Hook

Wednesday 19 May is now confirmed as both the debut gig for Sum Ratios, the new band featuring Jez Kerr, Peter Terrell and Simon Topping and a second date (following on from the 18th) for Peter Hook and The Light who will be performing Unknown Pleasures live at The Factory.

Furthermore, Hooky revealed last night on his spoken word tour that Simon Topping is replacing Crispy Ambulance's Alan Hempsall on vocals and that he will also be joined by Rowetta (who sang with The Light at the opening night of The Factory).

Meanwhile, check out the new Sum Ratios page on Facebook.

In the light of the recent cancellation of the Ian Curtis exhibition in Macclesfield due to a funding shortfall, further details have emerged of the exhibition of Joy Division artefacts which will run in the boardroom of The Factory on and around 18/19 May. There will be at least six display cases of Joy Division artefacts. Scenes of Joy Division in rehearsal and in the recording studio will be recreated using original equipment including original items belonging to the late Martin Hannett.

Update: The exhibition will run from 12 noon on Sunday 16 May until 6pm on Wednesday 19 May.

Labels: Alan_Hempsall, artefacts, FAC251_The_Factory, Joy_Division, Peter_Hook, Sum_Ratios

Graham Massey (Biting Tongues / 808 State / Toolshed) brings his mindblowing organ rock combo Sisters Of Transistors to The Factory in Manchester on Saturday 8 May. Featuring his four Sisters on vintage transistor organs and Graham himself on drums expect plenty of the transcendant juggernaut disco/rock workouts from debut album At The Ferranti Institute and much more.

Support comes from upcoming Manchester band Humanizer and the ticket price includes admission to the Stonelove / Hacienda Presents afterparty until 4am.

--

The Factory Presents
Sisters Of Transistors & Humanizer
Saturday 8 May – 8pm to 10.30pm
Tickets: £7 from www.factorymanchester.com

More info from The Factory on Facebook

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, Sisters_of_Transistors

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