The Haçienda Rehearsal Footage

The Durutti Column in rehearsal at FAC 51 The Haçienda [Bruce Mitchell and Vini Reilly]

On 16 August 1987 a full rehearsal by The Durutti Column was filmed on video at FAC 51 The Haçienda in Manchester. The 68-minute video was not released commercially but is attributed to the French label 'Structure Moderne'. Unofficial copies exist.

The Durutti Column on this occasion comprised Vini Reilly on guitars & keyboards, a sprightly Bruce Mitchell on drums & percussion and John Metcalfe on violin, xylophone and drums. With all kit set up on the dancefloor of the Haçienda rather than the stage, the video makes for interesting watching as the band run through a selection of mainly Guitar and Other Machines-era material (Arpeggiator, What Is It To Me, Jongleur Grey, When The World, Miss Haymes, Jacqueline).

Up until now, it was always thought that the video was filmed by Claude Bessy who was Factory's in-house "video dude". The (FAC 2.26) The Durutti Column - Vini Reilly site run by Rob Stanzel states it was "allegedly filmed by Claude Bessy" and I followed this through on Cerysmatic Factory (which also has video stills). However, Rob and I were recently contacted by two Parisians called Pascal and Sylvie who informed that it was they and not Bessy who made the film.

It is therefore only right that Pascal and Sylvie, aged respectively 48 and 51, and fans of the Factory Records label since its earliest days, tell the true story of The Haçienda Rehearsal Footage:

"In August 1987, Pascal & I travelled by car thru the UK with three friends. We went to London, Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool and Glasgow. All of us were fans of the Factory label, so while in Manchester, we obviously made what we used to call "The Magical Factory Tour". Both Pascal & I had Sony V8 cameras, so we filmed a lot of places such as the old Factory club in Hulme, the 86 Palatine Road house & Marie-Louise Gardens in Didsbury, etc, etc, etc... and of course the Hacienda.

"Back then, our friends' project was to create an independent video label, called Structure Moderne. They had the idea, the project, but no cameras. Pascal & I had. So, with them or only for us, we filmed a lot of bands, both in UK and France. About a year and a half after this trip, we've lost contact with these guys, for various reasons too long to explain here, but in Aug 87, thanks to the various local contacts our then friends had managed to get, we got special authorisation to film, amongst many other things, the empty Hacienda in full daylight, and The Durutti Column, who happened to be rehearsing there on that day.

"I, Sylvie, had already met Vini Reilly twice before: in Paris at the Bains-Douches Club where I had interviewed him for a local fanzine, and briefly in London, after a DC concert at the Venue. I don't exactly remember how the whole discussion went on that afternoon at FAC51, but the band was OK for us filming their rehearsal. So, I shot their whole performance from the upstairs balcony, and Pascal from downstairs, walking all around them. Thus, in our archives, we have 2 x 68 min of rushes footage, which has never been edited since. Of course, the overall quality of this recording is not very good, especially the sound (80's analog cameras with built-in microphones...) but it's obviously a gem for any DC fan.

"Recently, we have started to transfer all our old 1980s V8 archives onto DVDs, and also created a YouTube channel so as to share them. Yes, these are good memories!"

It remains to be seen whether there will yet be a more official release for the video. Watch this space for further developments. Meanwhile, many thanks to Pascal and Sylvie for getting in touch and sharing those good memories.