Seven-hour daytime disco by Mutant Movement celebrating 1981, with tracks from The Human League, Depeche Mode, New Order and others.
Mutant Movement is back at The Backroom on Saturday 24 October, with a seven-hour daytime disco that runs from 3pm through to 10pm. This one is a 1981 special, marking 45 years since the year the project takes as its touchstone. For Mutant Movement, 1981 was the year clubs really discovered the synth, and when Record Mirror ran a Futurist chart with input from DJs across the UK. One of those DJs was Marten Read, who first played The Human League at The Precinct in 1978 and helped build the Leeds scene while at Leeds Warehouse. Since the very first Mutant Movement in 2017, a huge part of every set has circled back to 1981.
The format is a long, slow-burn afternoon that starts with the more underground tracks and builds towards a climax later on, so the DJ encourages people to arrive later to catch it. The selection is drawn from more than 350 tracks voted in by followers as the best of 1981, spanning Futurist, New Wave and post-punk. You'll hear The Human League, Soft Cell, Visage, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Japan, Bauhaus, New Order, The Cure, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran. It's a broad sweep of the year, from the synth-pop that was just starting to take over the charts to the darker, more jagged edges of post-punk.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Leeds and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
There's a personal side to this one, too: the DJ bills the afternoon as an invitation to his 60th. It's a long day of dancing, so you can drift in whenever suits you best. Doors open at 3pm and it runs until 10pm at The Backroom, 50a Call Lane, LS1 6DT. Super Early Bird tickets are £5.40, provided they haven't sold out, with door prices much higher.
