Divine: Live at the Hacienda

In the early 1980s transvestite actor/singer Divine toured England's gay clubs with his live act: basically singing along to Hi-NRG backing tracks, telling dirty jokes and answering questions from audiences who had never seen the like of him before on this side of the Atlantic. This is a short film documenting one such show, recorded at Manchester's legendary club The Hacienda in February 1983.

Divine, sweating profusely in a skin tight lycra dress (apparently 'rejected by the Queen'), performs a selection of his raunchiest numbers including 'Shoot Your Shot', 'Gang Bang' and the seminal 'Born to be Cheap', but try as he might the English audience here seem dazed and confused by his act, defiantly standing in front of the stage with their arms crossed and looking distinctly miserable.

'You filthy English people' Divine screams, trying to goad them into life, but the unresponsive audience just look embarrassed. Eighteen months later the reaction would have been somewhat different as by July 1984 Divine had crossed over into the mainstream in the UK with his top 20 dance track 'You Think You're a Man' and he was a bona fide star. However, in this film Divine has to put up with a complete lack of enthusiasm from the club-goers who heckle him with comments like 'What does sh*t taste like?' Divine replies with crude one-liners, but it's amazing that he just doesn't storm off stage.

Despite being crudely made and directed 'Divine: Live at the Hacienda' is actually quite funny in an awful kind of way. It proves beyond doubt that, in the face of adversity, Divine was a true professional.