Madchester
Madchester was the music and club scene in Manchester in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which mixed indie guitar bands with acid house and dance culture. Bands such as the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays, and the Haçienda nightclub run by Factory Records, made the city the centre of British youth culture for a few years.
In practice
The scene grew out of Manchester's post-punk bands and the Haçienda, which opened in 1982 and became famous as one of the first British clubs to embrace house music. By the time the term spread, through music papers and a 1989 Happy Mondays record title, Manchester had baggy clothes, a distinctive sound and a reputation that drew students to its universities. The Haçienda closed in 1997, and the building was replaced by flats that kept the name.
Why it matters to newcomers
Madchester is part of how the city still sells itself: in tours, exhibitions, the music on in Northern Quarter bars and the stories older colleagues tell. Manchester's music scene today is broader, but the confidence of that era - the idea that the city can lead rather than follow London - is still around.
Related
- Northern Quarter - where the record shops and bars are now
- Mancunian - the identity the scene amplified
- Our kid - phrase made famous by a later Manchester band
Source: Wiktionary: Madchester.