Ha! I can imagine he would have called them miserable bastards even when he was in the band. Same old Hooky really.

This may be controversial, but the Hacienda name is one bit where I tend to take Hooky's side. When the name was sold off by the liquidators, presumably anyone in the world could have bought that name, even me. So if say, Ministry of Sound or Mecca Bingo (or, I) had bought it, no one previously involved had the right to complain. If I had bought the name and set up a chain of super clubs for mums & toddlers, and the previous owners moaned about it, I would tell them it is literally not their business. I'll wager that the other members of NO weren't actually bidding for the name, but even if they were(!) there's nothing to moan about. The new owner of the name is the new owner, no matter who they are.

As for the Royal Albert Hall thing, I went to that.
Hooky wheeled himself out for Blue Monday (though the rest of the night was all '88 and '89 House classics). His vocals and particularly his bass were thunderously loud, and the orchestra which should have sounded great during the closing stages of BM could hardly be heard. Shame, it could have been great.

Indeed for the rest of the 'gig', when you could actually hear the orchestra over the backing tracks, it was a bit special. Strings of Life was particularly good. I couldn't tell if the orchestra was actually mic'd up, but if they were, then someone needed to push their levels up in the mix. Despite this, it was actually very enjoyable, and the live vocals from the 'choir' enhanced things. Funnily enough Black Box's commercial hit Ride On Time was one of the biggies of the night, as all the middle aged ravers (and some 20-somethings) could sing along to that.

Awful concept. I think acid house should be enjoyed in basements and clubs.

Ha and unlike most clubs it will have finished at a sensible time. Home in time for the baby sitter and all that.

It's just not my cup of tea but fair play if you enjoyed it.