Photographer Francesco Mellina at the opening of his exhibition, Last Night at The Casino, photographs of the last Northern Soul night at Wigan Casino in 1981. The outdoor exhibition on Standishgate, Wigan town centre, features images taken by Liverpool-based photographer Francesco Mellina, who was commissioned by NME to document the last all-nighter at Wigan Casino in September 1981, eight years after the club first opened its doors. Part of a variety of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Wigan Casino.
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00:00 Hello, my name is Francesco Molina and I'm here in Wigan Town Centre
00:06 to attend the opening of my exhibition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Wigan Casino.
00:17 The exhibition will run from 21st of September until the 21st of October 2023.
00:27 I took these photographs on the very last night, or at the very least the official last night,
00:35 because subsequently there were a couple more.
00:39 But anyway, this was the official last night. I was sent to Wigan, to the casino,
00:44 by the famous newspaper called New Musical Express, better known as the NME.
00:50 And they commissioned me to come and do some photographs.
00:55 I arrived here and upon arrival I realised that this was going to be a major event
01:01 and I decided to stay all night.
01:04 And the photographs that I took that night have ended up in my book called Last Night at Wigan Casino
01:11 and now they are part of this wonderful exhibition here in Wigan Town Centre.
01:17 Can you tell me about the last night? What was the atmosphere like?
01:20 Well, the last night, upon my arrival I realised, as I said, that there was something very special happening.
01:27 I could see all these coachloads of people arriving.
01:30 And it's just the atmosphere. Once I got inside it was clear to me that I had to stay there all night
01:37 because I thought this is a historical moment and I need to stay here to witness it and to record it.
01:43 Which fortunately for myself I did and I'm so glad that I did stay.
01:49 Did you like the music and can you dance?
01:52 I cannot dance, no, but I love the music.
01:55 Soul music has always been one of my favourite genre of music from a very young age,
02:01 as a young boy back home in southern Italy.
02:04 So, yes, soul music, but it's an infectious type of music.
02:08 And the dancing was just phenomenal. It's just an amazing experience.
02:12 Thousands of people in that wonderful building.
02:17 It's just a sight to behold, to see hundreds of people on the dance floor dancing in synchronicity.
02:23 It's just wonderful.
02:24 One of the things that we found during this exhibition already
02:28 is that some people have recognised themselves in some of my photographs.
02:34 And so much so that apparently somebody this morning came along
02:38 and her dad had pointed himself out in one of my photos, which I think is fantastic.
02:46 Because in my photograph he literally looks like a child.
02:49 Just come into Wigan, finished work and my daughter said,
02:54 "Have you seen all the photographs of Wigan Casino?"
02:57 I said, "No."
02:58 And she said, "There's a great big photograph of Grandad."
03:01 My dad, Harry Green, he was doorman and then he was manager.
03:06 So, yeah, it's nice but a bit of a shock because he's not with us anymore.
03:12 How does it feel that he's part of this exhibition?
03:13 It's emotional but it's really amazing that he's proud really
03:22 because he's done something so big.
03:24 Because you don't realise how big something is.
03:26 It's just like your dad's going to work every day, which to me it was.
03:31 But then as I got older, I got into it and I just realised how really big it was.