An evening of film and music will be held on Monday the 21st of May to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Manchester’s legendary Hacienda club. The event, called ‘Ghosts of the Hacienda’, will feature rare concert footage from the venue’s first two years, including some material from the opening night. The evening, organised by Factory Records' in-house video company IKON FCL, will take place at One Central Street, Manchester, and will feature music from ex-Hacienda DJ John Dasilva. Tickets are £5 (£3 NUS), available from Ticketline Peter Hook has announced that New Order has split. Speaking in an interview on Xfm, the band’s bassist confirmed that he and Bernard Sumner were no longer working together. Hooky has also posted a message on his myspace site expressing his relief that the news has finally broken. He said that he had “really hated carryin (sic) on as normal with an awful secret”. Of course, the band has split before, so time will tell whether this really is the end, or just another extended break.

In the meantime, Hooky has been working with his new group, Freebass, which also features Andy Rourke (The Smiths) and Mani (Primal Scream and Stones Roses). The three bassists have been working on their debut album, utilising a number of guest vocalists, including Oasis’s Liam Gallagher, the Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, Ian Brown and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. A new internet radio station has been launched in Manchester. Openshaw Radio began broadcasting on 1st April, and features local DJ James Stannage. The controversial DJ was sacked by Manchester station Key 103 in 2005 after a making a series of contentious comments and insulting callers on air.

Staying with local radio we’ve been lovin’ Urban Fm 106.5 recently. The breakfast shows are easily the best way to start the day! A Manchester man is to travel to the Amazon rain forest to teach the locals to play the organ. Peter Waite will arrive in the remote Bolivian village of Ojaki in early July, where he will spend five weeks coaching villagers to play hymns. The village’s small chapel doesn’t even have an organ, so Peter will be taking one along as a gift, transporting it over 250 miles from the nearest airport with the help of 30 volunteers. Peter, who can usually be found playing organ at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Mulberry Street (known as Manchester's Hidden Gem), paid £2,500 to take part in the trip. The expedition, led by the explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell, will also undertake a number of other projects to assist the people of the Amazon. (Metro) A teaching assistant from Didsbury will be playing the main stage at this summer’s Glastonbury Festival. Liz Green won the opportunity after beating thousands of other hopefuls in the festival’s annual Emerging Talent Competition. She will be playing with her band on all three days of the festival weekend (June 22-24) after winning the acoustic category and the overall prize. The blues-influenced singer, 24, is signed to Withington-based label Humble Soul and will release her first single, “Bad Medicine”, next month. As yet she has no plans to give up her day job, but just in case she does become the next singing star, you might want to catch her now, so check out her website for details of her Manchester gigs this month. http://myspace.com/lizgreenmusic (MEN) Fans of electronic music will be enjoying the Futuresonic festival in Manchester this week. Starting on Thursday 10th, the three-day festival will feature over 300 artists performing at venues across the city. As well as music, there will be events and exhibitions focusing on multi-media, audio-visual and digital technology. Among the musicians will be legendary German experimental group Faust, ex-Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flur, and French hip-hop sensations TTC. For details visit futuresonic.com (MEN) Ex-boy band singer, Simon Webbe, will be playing the MEN Arena in Manchester on June 9th. The pop star was brought up in the city’s Moss Side area, and went on to fame with Blue. Since their split in 2004, he has released two solo albums, bringing him success across Europe and Asia. Known for performing covers of rock songs, Simon has promised to perform Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, as well as old Blue favourites, for his home town gig. (MEN) How would you like an invite to the wedding of Happy Mondays’ dancer/percussionist Bez? Seems unlikely, but you might get the next best thing: watching the ceremony on TV! The legendary Manchester musician will be getting married next year to Monica Ward, the singer in his other band, Domino Bones, and the couple are in talks about starring in a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their lives, culminating in their wedding. Should be compulsive viewing! (MEN) Radio Two DJ Mark Radcliffe won a prestigious prize at the Sony Radio Awards last week. The Bolton-born DJ triumphed in the best music programme category, overcoming opposition including Radio One’s Zane Lowe and Radio Three’s ‘Discovering Music’. Radcliffe, who broadcasts his shows from Manchester, won for his 10.30 to midnight programme, but has recently joined up with Stuart Maconie to co-present an early evening music show. They can be heard on Radio 2, Monday to Thursday, 8 till 10, or go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/radcliffemaconie/ (MEN) Britain’s oldest professional symphony orchestra, the Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra, have announced some forthcoming concerts. In June they will celebrate the 150th birthday of composer Edward Elgar with a weekend of performances at the Bridgewater Hall (June 2-3), followed by adaptations of popular music at the Hallé Proms in June and July. The orchestra will officially celebrate its 150th anniversary in January next year. If you have heard an interesting Manchester music story this week, or have been involved in something please email it to us and we'll stick up here for posterity. >