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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Beloved British boy band Five are BACK in FULL for the first time in 25 years
Danny Jones
No, your eyes don’t deceive you: all five members of the beloved British boy band Five are set to reunite for the first time in a quarter of a century.
Formed way back in 1997 and dominating the charts throughout the period in and around the millennium, the iconic pop group was the UK’s answer to the Backstreet Boys and NSNYC, as well as a much-needed replacement for Take That just after their split.
And they did exactly that for a number of years, with hit tracks like ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Keep On Movin”, ‘Everybody Get Up’, ‘If Ya Gettin’ Down’ and more still firmly stuck in our memories.
It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, we still remember all the words and the dance moves to go along with them – and we’ll be able to prove it when the Five UK reunion tour comes to Manchester.
Although the London-formed group has reformed every now and again in different configurations over the years for special occasions, anniversary events, etc., this is the first time that the original lineup has been together for 25 whole years.
That’s right, Abz Love, J Brown, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson and Sean Conlon will all be reuniting on stage for a limited UK arena tour – because anything less simply wouldn’t be enough to mark this throwback celebration.
More importantly, if you don’t think every single one of these massive rooms is going to sell out in a flash, then you clearly can’t count to five.
As for the Manchester crowd, fans will be welcomed inside the equally legendary AO Arena for the ‘KEEP ON MOVIN’ 2025’ Tour later this year and we can’t wait.
Fellow domestic DJ and producer Naughty Boy will also be joining them as the main support act. We’re rolling back all the memories this autumn.
You can see the rest of the tour dates below, including equally massive shows at The O2 in London, the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, a First Direct Arena date in Leeds and more.
We really can't wait to get back on stage together and see you all in person, it's gonna go OFF!! Let's goooooo! International fans, make sure to sign up there so we know where in the world you are too 👀
Scott says: “This has been a long time coming and it really does feel right for all of us now – 25 years on and we’re so ready for it. Reconnecting as a 5 over the last year has been special and I know I speak for all the boys when I say we can’t wait to do this all over again. Hope you’re ready!”
Another fifth of the throwback boy band, Abz, added: “We really can’t wait to get back on stage together & see the fans, it’s gonna go OFF! Buzzing to have Naughty Boy on tour with us too… 5 bad boys and a naughty boy, that sounds like a lot of fun. Let’s gooooo!”
General admission for Five’s 2025 UK reunion tour goes live on Friday, 7 March from 10am but die-hards can access the exclusive pre-sale window on Wednesday, 5 March by signing up for the mailing list.
2000s indie rock icons The Enemy continue comeback trail with must-not-miss UK tour
Danny Jones
For fans of old-school indie and noughties contemporary rock, you do not want to miss the one because The Enemy are not just back making music but they’re heading out on a pretty big UK tour and, of course, they’ll be stopping right here in Manchester.
The Enemy first reformed back in 2022 for a limited run of shows, but it turns out the Coventry-formed trio were satisfied with a one-off reunion and a fifth studio album officially being worked on, the fierce Brit rock throwbacks have announced a series of pretty large UK tour dates.
Following on from some hugely successful comeback performances at TRNSMT, Isle Of Wightand a headline slot at Godiva Festival 2023, not to mention the instantly hit ‘Indie Til I Die’ shows last year – including an absolute stormer at Victoria Warehouse – they returning for more.
One of the few bands to make their way back to the live music circuit fully intact, with all three members still performing together, nothing has changed other than a few more grey hairs.
If you weren’t there at the outset, The Enemy’s debut LP We’ll Live And Die In These Towns (2007) was one of the most seminal domestic releases of its time, with songs like ‘You’re Not Alone’ going on to become indie anthems of the era.
To be honest, we’d argue their sophomore outing Music For The People just two years later is the better album, with tracks such as ‘Be Somebody’, ‘Elephant Song’ and ‘No Time for Tears’ still in plenty of our playlists to this day – but, you know, each to their own.
The point is, we’re very glad these lads are back and having played with everyone from Oasis and The Killers to even The Rolling Stones, we’d wager lots of other music lovers are too.
Set to play New Century Hall in Manchester as well as the legendary Leadmill in Sheffield, Beckett Students’ Union in Leeds, Rock City in Nottingham and more, it’s going to be a big tour.
We're absolutely buzzing to be back on tour & in some of our all time favourite venues.
We'll be trying out new material for the first time in years ahead of the new album we're making, we're all really excited to try some new tunes and see what you think whilst we finish it!
Frontman Tom Clarke, who has put out two solo records of his own in past years, said of the announcement: “We’ve been working long days in the studio recording new material, so we’re really excited to get out on the road again.
“The plan is to experiment with some of the new tunes, maybe different ones on different shows to see how the crowds react and which ones connect with fans, and let that guide the track listing on the record which is nearing completion.”
Co-songwriter and bass player, Andy Hopkins, added: talking about the upcoming tour: “My favourite part of being in a band is having those nights with the fans where the atmosphere is electric – I think this tour is going to be really special for the 3 of us.
“It’ll be the first time we’ve been back to some of these cities in a long time, in venues we absolutely love and have been really important to us on the way up – Electric Ballroom was the first venue we ever played in London supporting The Fratellis, I drove us there with all the amps & guitars in my Fiesta!”
The Enemy come to New Century, one of our favourite live music venues in all of Greater Manchester, on Saturday, 1 November.
Pre-sale has already been snapped up in the blink of an eye, which is no surprise whatsoever, but general admission will go live from 10am this Friday, 28 February.
The Manc -
4th January 2021 
