The Durutti Column > Video of rehearsal at FAC 51 The Hacienda 16 August 1987 < FAC 51 The Hacienda

This video (Structure Moderne SM 16) comprises 68 minutes of footage of The Durutti Column in rehearsal at FAC 51 The Hacienda on 16 August 1987. The band have their gear set up on the dancefloor rather than the stage. On this occasion the Durutti Column were Vini Reilly (Guitars, Keyboards), Bruce Mitchell (Drums and Percussion) and John Metcalfe (Violin, Xylophone and Drums). The 'setlist' which centres on material from 'The Guitar And Other Machines' was as follows.

Setlist

Arpeggiator
What Is It To Me
Jongleur Grey
When The World
Miss Haymes
Jacqueline

Commentary

For many years it was thought that the video was shot by Claude Bessy (of Bessy Talks Turkey fame). However, it came to light in 2008 that it was, in fact, shot by two Parisians, called Pascal and Sophie, who were connected with the Structure Moderne label. The tell the full story:

"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!"

Indeed, aside from the Hacienda rehearsal footage you'll find further rehearsals with A Certain Ratio and Happy Mondays, plus New Order live in Paris, plus much more.

Thanks to Pascal and Sylvie for getting in touch and sharing those good memories and the photos.

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According to the official Section 25 website 'Structure Moderne' was a French outlet which shot a professional video of Section 25 in Minneapolis which was released in 1989 and is responsible for the SECAM edition (presumably for the French market) of the Fact 37 Here Are The Young Men video by Joy Division.