Thunderdome Rebuilt Review Manchester UK

September 26, 2021 Off By Editor

Words Phil Greenwood

Words, Editing, Page Design Mike Mannix

Last night Of The Thunderdome 1990 Jay Wearden

Steve Williams wasn’t available to play that last night. I asked Sasha to join me and I know we rocked the arse off it but it was all a bit of a blur. It got to 2AM and it was time for the last tune. It was never our choice to finish, it’s the doorman that pressure you not play anymore tunes. They want to finish and get everyone out so they can knock off work.

Sasha turned to me and said very graciously, “It’s your club, you should play the last ever track”. I looked to him and said, “I don’t need to, you play it”. I am not a sentimental person, I am not materialistic. I am outward looking, it’s never about me and The Thunderdome was not about me. It was about everyone and what it brought to all who fell in love with it. How it changed them as it did me. For the best memories we now have glowing in our minds of lost youth and that complete utter pure emotion. It wasn’t for me to own that moment, it was for me to stand back and be in that moment with everyone else on the dance floor. It wasn’t a predetermined decision, just a gut reaction and I am so glad I did. ⚡️💛

A massive part of Manchesters burgeoning and infamous Acid House scene was the Thunderdome, which reigned on the edgier side of the city in the late 1980s until it was forced to close like so many bastions of dance music in that era! Fast forward 3 decades and ……..

The long-awaited Thunderdome Rebuilt event certainly lived up to expectations in 2021.

All plans were thrown into turmoil due to COVID and the lockdown restraints so everyone was eagerly awaiting the special night to take place!!

I was privileged to be a part of the event with The Rebirth Project doing the first live stream on the Twitch TV channel.

Jay Weardens efforts certainly made an impact with 800 like-minded revellers encapsulated throughout the night.

Jon DaSilva, Jay Wearden, Nicky Tunes Lockett (MC Tunes), Darren Partington (Daz 808), Jam MCs…

Legends of the Acid House scene in Manchester and the foundations in building the renowned Manchester music scene

The venue “Hidden” was ideally chosen by Jay for this historic event… Heading to the venue in the taxi we turned off from the main roads and onto what appeared to be a small industrial estate… Hidden indeed, from the outside it appeared to be a disused building, with no big signs or even sign of life at this time…

Being the first to arrive well before the crowd was due to converge we entered the building and I was immediately awestruck.

Like a time warp, we had entered a scene from the late 80’s early 90’s .. a huge open-plan warehouse space, graffiti on the walls, a maze of enlightenment, I felt like a child in a sweet shop.

The sound system was something else, the sub was moving all my equipment, you could feel it resonating inside you and at one point it actually blasted the RCA’s out of my Audio Interface, unbeknownst to me the live stream had no sound until I realised.

The crowd was awesome, all like-minded, all there for the same purpose, and all taken back to their young years of revelling in The Thunderdome…

Take a bow Mr.Jay Wearden you created something special…

After the craziness of the past near 2 years, I wanted to bring some positivity to people and came up with The Rebirth Project.

In its early stages, I’m gradually building relationships with DJs, Artists, Producers, Promoters, and Venue Owners.

The project aims to document the revival of the music scene and nightlife industry by way of interviews, video footage from events, and live streaming from events.

Links available for the Twitch TV Channel, YouTube channel, and Facebook page…all in the early stages of development but progressing and generating lots of interest so far.