Paul Cons joins *Manchester Scene Stories* to talk about the Haçienda, Flesh, Manchester’s gay club scene, New York, Paradise Garage and the changing face of the city’s nightlife through the 1980s and 1990s.
Originally from London, Paul moved to Manchester in 1981 to study drama. His first experiences of the Haçienda came a few years later, including appearing in a fashion show at the club before becoming involved in a benefit for Lesbian and Gay Support the Miners.
That connection eventually led to a job at the Haçienda, where Paul worked in promotions, distributed flyers and began developing his own club nights.
He talks about early attempts to create gay nights at the venue, including Gay Mondays, before moving on to nights such as Zumba and Hot. Those experiences eventually led to Flesh, launched in 1991 with Lucy Scher.
Flesh became one of the Haçienda’s most distinctive nights, bringing around 1,500 LGBTQ+ clubbers into a venue that had become increasingly associated with violence and gangs.
Paul remembers the impact of the first night, the queues, the performers, the atmosphere and some of the famous faces who appeared over the years, including Pet Shop Boys, Take That and Leigh Bowery.
The conversation also explores Manchester’s wider gay club scene, including Manto, the Number One Club, Paradise Factory and the growth of the Gay Village.
Paul talks about promoting events in Blackburn and Blackpool, the rise of house music and rave culture, and a period of Haçienda history that he feels is sometimes overlooked between the mid-1980s and the explosion of acid house.
One of the most memorable stories concerns New York.
Paul began travelling there regularly after Tony Wilson paid for him to spend time in the city. In 1986 he visited Paradise Garage and took ecstasy for the first time while Larry Levan was DJing.
He returned to Manchester with a completely different understanding of dance music, club culture and the possibilities of ecstasy — around two years before the drug transformed Manchester nightlife.
Paul also reflects on the deeper side of clubbing: why dance floors can create a sense of connection, belonging and community, and the similarities he sees between those experiences and meditation.
We also discuss the long-term impact of ecstasy, finding a tribe through club culture, and how many friendships formed on dance floors survived long after the drugs and clubs disappeared.
The interview ends with Paul choosing a record that takes him straight back to Flesh: Dan Hartman’s *Relight My Fire*.
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