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808 State: Castlefield Amphitheatre, Manchester

Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 24 June 1996

THINK OF A free open-air gig on the first day of summer and you'd probably imagine hippies, loud rock music and lots of mud. All credit, then, to 808 State. Seven years ago this innovative Mancunian electronic dance combo rescued the arenas from hoary old rock beasts such as Simple Minds by playing huge, DJ-led gigs; this time around, they tackled the hoariest of Spinal Tap clichés with equal aplomb.

Total word count of piece: 338

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