Original-style flyer for The Smiths at Manchester’s Haçienda on 24 November 1983, with James supporting during the band’s early rise.

Vintage concert poster advertising The Smiths at FAC 51 The Haçienda, 11-13 Whitworth Street West, Manchester, on Thursday 24 November 1983, with fellow Manchester band James appearing in support. The stark green-and-white design identifies the venue by its Factory catalogue number FAC 51 and documents an important moment in Manchester’s early 1980s independent music scene. This was The Smiths’ third appearance at The Haçienda during 1983 and came as their profile was rapidly increasing following the release of This Charming Man. The Haçienda records that the band had performed the song on Top of the Pops in London earlier the same day before travelling back north for the Manchester concert. The show sold out, one of relatively few Haçienda concerts to do so during the venue’s first eighteen months, and has become one of the better documented performances from the group’s early career. The Smiths set included Handsome Devil, Still Ill, This Charming Man, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Reel Around the Fountain, Miserable Lie, This Night Has Opened My Eyes, What Difference Does It Make?, Hand in Glove and several encores. James, themselves at an early stage in their career, provided support. Opened in 1982 and closely associated with Factory Records, The Haçienda became one of Manchester’s most influential music venues and later played a major role in the city’s club and dance culture. This poster predates that later acid-house era and records the venue functioning as an important live stage for emerging Manchester bands. Its restrained typography, FAC 51 identity and Whitworth Street West details make it a piece of Manchester music ephemera linking The Smiths, James, Factory Records and one of Britain’s best-known former nightclubs.