Party Lines: Ed Gillett in conversation with Fergal Kinney.

Sorry, this event is now cancelled.

Picador Press, Blackwells Books and Manchester Libraries are excited to invite you to the book launch of Party Lines.

Ed will be in conversation with Manchester based journalist Fergal Kinney. 

Ed Gillett is a writer, film-maker and communications professional from London, telling innovative and attention-grabbing stories about the points where politics, music, communities and technology meet.

His highly-acclaimed documentary work and writing have appeared on the BBC, Channel 4, The Guardian, Frieze, DJ Mag and The Quietus amongst several others.

From the illicit reggae blues dances and acid-rock free festivals of the 1970s, through the ecstasy-fuelled Second Summer of Love in 1988, to the increasingly corporate dance music culture of the post-Covid era, Party Lines is a groundbreaking new history of UK dance music, exploring its pivotal role in the social, political and economic shifts on which modern Britain has been built.

Taking in the Victorian moralism of the Thatcher years, the far-reaching restrictions of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994, and the resurgence of illegal raves during the Covid-19 pandemic, Party Lines charts an ongoing conflict, fought in basement clubs, abandoned warehouses and sunlit fields, between the revolutionary potential of communal sound and the reactionary impulses of the British establishment. Brought to life with stunning clarity and depth, this is social and cultural history at its most immersive, vital and shocking.

A fascinating deep dive into dance music’s uneasy relationship with the establishment.

Jeremy Deller

A truly thrilling journey through the politics, culture and successive social revolutions of British dance music: a landmark book, and a reminder that the dancefloor is always political.

Dan Hancox

A passionately argued and intensively researched addition to the ever-evolving narrative of UK dance music culture.

Matthew Collin

PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis.They range from £2 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.

All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.