David Vincent Interview: The Revival Of Acid House And Dance 88/89
| 24th March 2016
The man behind the acid house reunion talked to us ahead of his new Dance 88/89 parties. David Vincent is reviving the acid house scene with a party kicking off at Victoria Warehouse, Manchester Easter Sunday, followed by a string of parties every Wednesday taking place at Sankeys Ibiza. Ahead of all this, David took the time out of his hectic schedule to chat with VIVA and talk all things sunny Islands, DJ’s and glow sticks, as he say’s “Get your bandanas and your smiley t-shirts ready party people, and say can you feel it MADCHESTER?”
VIVA: Hi David, thanks for talking to us, how are you?
DAVID: I’m ok, thank you very much.
VIVA: Exciting news about the Dance 88/89 events, how did the idea come up?
DAVID: How did the idea come up? Erm, I was in Ibiza last Summer, and I was seeing that there was events like flower power and Ushuaia were doing Children of the 80’s, and I thought you know you’ve got the 60’s/70’s period and you’ve got the 80’s , but no ones done the acid house experience. So I thought there’s been enough years since the birth of acid house, I thought it would be good to do something like that you know.
VIVA: So tell us what us what the scene was like back when it all began?
DAVID: Completely opposite to what it is now; real, anti-thatcher, rebellious, illegal, chaos. Completely the opposite to what we expect from clubbing now. I was speaking to a colleague the other day about, you know, clubbing today is very formulaic, back then people would go “right I’m going to an illegal warehouse party” on the day or a few days before. Now, people plan to go on nights out like 2 months in advance. Clubbing’s become like when you’re planning to go on holiday.
VIVA: So how do you think the Dance 88/89 parties will be different today, than how they were?
DAVID: Well people back then didn’t know where they were going, where they would end up, it was illegal, it was totally anti-establishment. Now the establishment are part of the whole thing, you know you’ve got police on the front of the door. But before, we’d push them out, or run away from them. We had to work out a way of raving to the acid house without getting caught, whereas now the police are a part of the whole operation. There was less restrictions back then, the sound systems were a lot louder, I think the quality of the parties were a lot better.
VIVA: What crowds do you think the events are gonna attract?
DAVID: I don’t know, you know, ask me that on Monday after the event. A cross section of people probably (laughing)
VIVA: The first Dance 88/89 event is taking place in Manchester at Victoria Warehouse, are you gonna be there?
DAVID: Of course, I’m gonna be there.
VIVA: Getting your rave on?
DAVID: Gonna get my rave on, find my bandana and my acid house smiley t-shirt.
VIVA: So do you think this will be the start of an acid house craze?
DAVID: I don’t know, I do think Ibiza could possibly create that. Ultimately, Ibiza is a trend-setting place. Who knows? But I’ve got a good feeling, cause a lot of the DJ’s today are actually remixing a lot of that genre, the music back then was so much better than it is now, and when you get people remixing old classic samples, it can recreate a new craze, I don’t know, let’s see, but I’m pretty hopeful.
VIVA: So what have Sankeys Ibiza got up their sleeve for this Summer?
DAVID: We have got, Mondays; Redlight, we’ve got people like EZ and Sam Devine, Todd Terry. That was absolutely massive last year, so it should be even bigger this year. Tuesdays, we’ve got a hip-hop night, people like Coolio, Snoop-Dogg. Wednesday’s of course is Dance 88/89, Thursdays a night called Unusual Suspect which is more of a techno affair, people like Paco Osuna, Nina Kraviz and many more which is gonna be a really cool night. Fridays, is Abode which is like the hottest event in London at the moment. Saturday, is Tribal Sessions with an alien theme, were gonna turn it into an alien avatar jungle. Then Sundays is VIVA Warriors with Steve Lawler. So we’re doing 140 events and we start the Summer season on 1st May and finish on Halloween, so it’s gonna be an eventful Summer for us at Sankeys.
VIVA: So you’re going to be in Ibiza all Summer?
DAVID: Course, I wouldn’t be in Manchester all Summer, you mad? Only joking (Laughing.) This year’s the year, you know 24 hour party people, 7 days a week. I’m really looking forward to this Summer!
VIVA: Do you have a lot to do with the Manchester Sankeys?
DAVID: Erm, a little bit but not much, more Ibiza now. I’ve kind of retired out of Manchester, I’ve done my time there. I loved the city. At the end of the day, the city made me, I’ve got a lot of respect for it. I was in Manchester for nearly 20 years, on and off. But when you’ve lived somewhere like Ibiza, you wouldn’t wanna live anywhere else in the world. I’m not gonna miss the rain in Manchester.
DAVID: What’s the weather like in Manchester now?
VIVA: Raining!
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