22 countries. 23 performances. 24 hours.United We Stream’s NYE Hacienda House Party was an online party completely unrivalled in scale or success.
Four million viewers from all over the world tuned in for the occasion on December 31 – as United We Stream briefly brought the famous Mancunian nightclub back to life and beamed live gigs into living rooms right around the clock until 10am on New Year’s Day.
The marathon show – which featured a mixture of DJ sets and live performances – raised an incredible £115,000 during its run; with money split between The Mayor of Greater Manchester’s new campaign oneGM; Save The Children UK; Peace Meal in Hulme and The Frankie Knuckles Foundation.
Katie Hall / United We Stream
Legendary acts such as Carl Craig, Moby, DJ Woody, DJ Paulette, Todd Terry, Peter Hook, K-Klass, Norman Jay and Soul Central all raised the roof across the event – bolstered by an astounding set from orchestra Hacienda Classical.
The show also featured a special tribute to legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles: With one of his final sets reproduced through virtual reality in a digital recreation of the Haçienda.
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Former Hac resident Graeme Park stepped up to the decks for the GMT midnight slot – ringing in the New Year with the perfect track: The groovy, upbeat Doorly remix of House of Virus’ ‘Better Days’.
Hacienda House Party trended no.2 in the UK on Twitter on NYE, with views also pouring in from The Balkans, New Zealand, Romania, Poland, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, Japan, Hungary, Germany, Singapore, Portugal, Thailand, Norway, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
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Katie Hall / United We Stream
FAC51 The Haçienda manager Paul Fletcher said: “The idea of these special event streams was to not only raise much needed funds for some good causes but to also to raise people’s spirits during these very testing times.
“To go for 24 hours was certainly a challenge especially with the Haçienda Classical show and the Frankie Knuckles Virtual Haçienda, but as always we wanted to do things differently.”
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the DJ’s, acts, the team at United We Stream GM and everyone behind-the-scenes who came together to make this such a great success.
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“A tremendous amount of work and effort goes into these events and everybody involved deserves great credit! I just hope we can do it all for real soon!”
DJ Paulette added: “What an honour, a thrill and an absolute joy to be a part of the FAC51 The Haçienda show.
“I’ve never played to so many people in an empty room and it is crazy thinking about how many lives, homes, eyes, ears and hearts my messages of love, positivity, support, recognition and music have touched – including mine.
“So much work went into this production before anyone played a record, so big ups to everyone on the team behind the scenes and in front of the camera for creating such a beautiful 24-hours viewing.
Katie Hall / United We Stream
United We Stream GM was set up in April in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, running more than 30 shows totalling 207 hours before wrapping up in summer.
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The platform rebooted in December for a special programme of festive entertainment, culminating in the NYE Hacienda House Party.
In total, United We Stream has raised an incredible £583,000 in nine months for 30 good causes and supplied ‘United We Stream’ solidarity grants to 130 night time economy and hospitality freelancers and businesses.
Lola Young shares first public statement since cancellations and stepping away from the spotlight
Danny Jones
UK pop star Lola Young has shared her first public statement since cancelling the remainder of her tour and stepping away from the spotlight.
Lola Young, 24, took a break from her still-burgeoning career after numerous concerning incidents on stage, including throwing up and even passing out in the middle of a performance.
The BRIT School graduate announced the unfortunate cancellation of her upcoming shows “for the foreseeable future”, including a gig here in Manchester, at the end of September.
Breaking her silence after the best part of three months, the London-born singer-songwriter took to social media in a fairly brief but heartwarming statement.
As you can see, the time away from the public eye certainly seems to have been beneficial, telling her followers that “it has helped more than you will ever know”.
In addition to embracing ADHD – even labelling her hit song ‘Messy’ as an “ADHD anthem” in multiple anthems – she was also diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at just 17.
The latter can include symptoms such as psychosis, hallucinations, intense mood swings, bipolar mania, depression and more.
All that being said, we’re glad to hear that she’s on the mend; we saw her back in March, and you could tell from the crowd that she’s already got a very passionate cult following.
Both conditions and their associated obstacles have obviously affected her, but have equally helped influence her music and lyrical material, certainly, too.
Responding in the comments, fellow artist SZA wrote: “Love you, starfire angel. Your music is FULL of longevity and substance! We’re so grateful for you”.
Joining in support, ‘dark pop’ musician Carter James added, “Your wellbeing comes before anything. So excited for your next chapter whenever it arrives!”
We hope she’ll be doing better enough soon to get back on stage when she’s ready.
Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It's the funeral of Mani of the Stone Roses on the 22nd. He lived locally. This poster is asking people to line the route of his funeral cortege to "show that he truly was adored". pic.twitter.com/X0DYHl10Hp
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
The Manc -
4th January 2021 
