Post by coops on Apr 27, 2008 10:49:28 GMT
A tale of two venues and one man’s journey between the two.
Saturday 27th April Janette and I went to Kingsway Hall in Forest town.
This is a venue set in the heart of the east midlands and steeped in the ethos of 60s Northern Soul oldies of the classic vein.
I’ve been a regular at the Kingsway Hall for the last three of it’s nine-or-so years of existence and although my ideal evening would contain a mixture of the genre that make up our northern soul, when I go to Kingsway Hall I know what I’m going to get and I am prepared for a night of 60s oldies.
This night for me just didn’t seem to work.
Ian Gee was on when we arrived and as a purveyor of 60s oldies you would find hard to find one better but, alas, in this set the theme was of the 100 mph variety which set the tone for the regular seekers of such up-tempo soul as they walked through the door.
Now I say “alas”, well that was “alas” for me, not the ever increasing numbers entering the venue and almost as soon as their glasses were filled at the bar were straight on to the dance floor…. But for me? I would have preferred a more balanced mix of tempo.
Next up was Carl Piper (who had an excellent surprise 50th birthday at this very same venue last week which was pack full of people showing respect for the man).
Carl’s hour was……. 100 mph oldies (often 150 mph).
Again, the paying public loved this and the footfalls on the dance floor showed that my longing wish for a variety in tempo was a lonely thought in a room full of people ‘getting down to business’ on the floor itself.
I thought to myself that the guest, Gordon Toole from way up north in Newton may vary the tempo, we had been talking earlier about his potential play list as Carl and Ian between them were one-by-one already playing what Gordon had planned to spin. (Don’t you dee-jays just hate it when that happens!!!).
But, once again “alas”, the tempo was not varied one beat. Gordon was doing what he was paid to do, play to the floor and the floor reciprocated by staying full, full of enthusiasm and full of dancing feet.
Now, I must reiterate that the vast majority of people totally lapped it up and were consumed in the music and the atmosphere every minute that Janette and I were there so, dear reader, the problem is surely with Me and NOT the venue or dee-jays.
May be, as I grow older I’m growing ‘slower’, or may be I just like my variety far too much to spend my precious time in a venue, as excellent as it is, that does not meet my wants and needs.
Those regular of the Kingsway Hall know it’s worth, and if the 60s northern soul of the 100 mph is what makes your proverbial cookie crumble then you really should be in Forest town on the last Saturday of each month because the compensation for the music not being to my desire was, and always will be the reception from hosts Ian Gee and Carl Piper and the friendliness of this most friendly venue, which, I suppose is really what it’s all about.
On the way back to Skegness we decided to pop in to Barry Cooper and Ian Seaman’s “Phoenix Soul Night” in Grantham, a journey of just over 36 miles which, upon reflection took me over 34 years (from 1974 to 2008)!
We got to Grantham half way through Steve Austin’s set, a life saver for me because not only could I dance to the records he played but I felt that age-old northern soul compulsion to dance. Barry Cooper and Ian Seaman double-decked the last hour, once again northern soul music diverse in it’s genre, tempo and even decades, or as some may say; “across the board”. We felt at home there, as I say the journey has taken 34 years, from my youth (Wigan, Wirrina, Cleethorpes (Pier) of sparse buildings full of pulsating northern soul with no break or respite from the beat to, well, venues like this one at Grantham or at Horncastle where there is room outside the “cockpit” of the dance floor to sit, converse and socialise in comfort while having the choice to dance (or not) to which ever particular style of northern soul I fancy because I know all styles will get an airing.
This isn’t really a revue on two venues, because they both more than adequately provide their chosen era/ethos of northern soul, both were very well populated and neither suffered from the promoter’s nightmare of an empty dance floor, no, I guess it’s a review of my journey of 36 miles in 34 years.
A journey which I do not regret one minute of, and, when I’m sitting in a residential home in my dotage smelling of piss and cabbage I will have a vault full of some of the most precious soul-filled memories from which to comfort me and, thankfully, those memories are, for me, still being forged to this day.
So, to summarise, if you want 100mph oldies a’la our youth then they don’t come much better than the Kingsway Hall in Forest Town but if, like me, you are content with your journey and want a different style of our northern soul then the Phoenix and Grantham Sports and Rackets club will most certainly fill that need, both do what they do so well.
cooper
Saturday 27th April Janette and I went to Kingsway Hall in Forest town.
This is a venue set in the heart of the east midlands and steeped in the ethos of 60s Northern Soul oldies of the classic vein.
I’ve been a regular at the Kingsway Hall for the last three of it’s nine-or-so years of existence and although my ideal evening would contain a mixture of the genre that make up our northern soul, when I go to Kingsway Hall I know what I’m going to get and I am prepared for a night of 60s oldies.
This night for me just didn’t seem to work.
Ian Gee was on when we arrived and as a purveyor of 60s oldies you would find hard to find one better but, alas, in this set the theme was of the 100 mph variety which set the tone for the regular seekers of such up-tempo soul as they walked through the door.
Now I say “alas”, well that was “alas” for me, not the ever increasing numbers entering the venue and almost as soon as their glasses were filled at the bar were straight on to the dance floor…. But for me? I would have preferred a more balanced mix of tempo.
Next up was Carl Piper (who had an excellent surprise 50th birthday at this very same venue last week which was pack full of people showing respect for the man).
Carl’s hour was……. 100 mph oldies (often 150 mph).
Again, the paying public loved this and the footfalls on the dance floor showed that my longing wish for a variety in tempo was a lonely thought in a room full of people ‘getting down to business’ on the floor itself.
I thought to myself that the guest, Gordon Toole from way up north in Newton may vary the tempo, we had been talking earlier about his potential play list as Carl and Ian between them were one-by-one already playing what Gordon had planned to spin. (Don’t you dee-jays just hate it when that happens!!!).
But, once again “alas”, the tempo was not varied one beat. Gordon was doing what he was paid to do, play to the floor and the floor reciprocated by staying full, full of enthusiasm and full of dancing feet.
Now, I must reiterate that the vast majority of people totally lapped it up and were consumed in the music and the atmosphere every minute that Janette and I were there so, dear reader, the problem is surely with Me and NOT the venue or dee-jays.
May be, as I grow older I’m growing ‘slower’, or may be I just like my variety far too much to spend my precious time in a venue, as excellent as it is, that does not meet my wants and needs.
Those regular of the Kingsway Hall know it’s worth, and if the 60s northern soul of the 100 mph is what makes your proverbial cookie crumble then you really should be in Forest town on the last Saturday of each month because the compensation for the music not being to my desire was, and always will be the reception from hosts Ian Gee and Carl Piper and the friendliness of this most friendly venue, which, I suppose is really what it’s all about.
On the way back to Skegness we decided to pop in to Barry Cooper and Ian Seaman’s “Phoenix Soul Night” in Grantham, a journey of just over 36 miles which, upon reflection took me over 34 years (from 1974 to 2008)!
We got to Grantham half way through Steve Austin’s set, a life saver for me because not only could I dance to the records he played but I felt that age-old northern soul compulsion to dance. Barry Cooper and Ian Seaman double-decked the last hour, once again northern soul music diverse in it’s genre, tempo and even decades, or as some may say; “across the board”. We felt at home there, as I say the journey has taken 34 years, from my youth (Wigan, Wirrina, Cleethorpes (Pier) of sparse buildings full of pulsating northern soul with no break or respite from the beat to, well, venues like this one at Grantham or at Horncastle where there is room outside the “cockpit” of the dance floor to sit, converse and socialise in comfort while having the choice to dance (or not) to which ever particular style of northern soul I fancy because I know all styles will get an airing.
This isn’t really a revue on two venues, because they both more than adequately provide their chosen era/ethos of northern soul, both were very well populated and neither suffered from the promoter’s nightmare of an empty dance floor, no, I guess it’s a review of my journey of 36 miles in 34 years.
A journey which I do not regret one minute of, and, when I’m sitting in a residential home in my dotage smelling of piss and cabbage I will have a vault full of some of the most precious soul-filled memories from which to comfort me and, thankfully, those memories are, for me, still being forged to this day.
So, to summarise, if you want 100mph oldies a’la our youth then they don’t come much better than the Kingsway Hall in Forest Town but if, like me, you are content with your journey and want a different style of our northern soul then the Phoenix and Grantham Sports and Rackets club will most certainly fill that need, both do what they do so well.
cooper