Post by coops on Sept 1, 2008 4:02:47 GMT
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Last night I went to Never Land, you know the place, it’s a magical land where people just don’t grow old, where cynicism and disbelief are left at the door, where we can just be ourselves, be young again and play nicely.
Many people on this wonderful scene of ours are on a journey, a journey that may have started in Stoke-on-Trent in 1972 or Wigan in 1973 or even Stafford in 1983.
A journey to find our souls, our northern souls, to find and recapture that feeling so precious of dancing across the floor to a sound so soulful it makes one want to cry.
Or to purchase that ever elusive piece of vinyl ones has, in vein, searched for in one’s dreams and waking hours for many, many years.
Many of us have changed a lot since those halcyon teenage days of dancing all night with energy to spare.
We have grown older, some more heavier and some more learned and ‘mature’ in attitude.
Despite this those former dreams can still be sought and captured but one thing that many people on the northern soul scene do (and not all people) is forget to just have a damned good time.
At the East Kirkby Miners’ Welfare last night there was a room full of people who had rediscovered how to have a damned good time (not that they’d all forgotten).
It was a charity night labelled as “Notts Vs Yorks” and those many numbered Tykes from Gods’ Own Country descended on this little East Midlands town as an invading force of yesteryear but not armed with sword or bow but armed with fun and mirth.
The “Yorkshire crew” were denoted by the wearing of ties, and at times it seemed as if the whole room had recently spent their time picking out the gaudiest, loudest and most humorous neck ties to be found in the Tie rack stores of Barnsley, Mexborough and all points Yorks.
The event was put on by Dave (Nightnurse) and his wife Sue in association with Yocky enterprises to raise money for the Brain Injury unit of Nottingham.
The amount of work put into this event must have reflected the passion these people have for the cause, when I had left the mini all-dayer at 9:30 already over £1,000 had been raised.
There was of course a raffle, an impromptu dance competition won by a young lady called Tiffany, second place going to a young man called Alex so not only was our tradition of northern soul being celebrated but so was youth.
I’m not sure whether this is because some feel this will be the future of our scene or may be because these two teenagers reflected our own early days back in the 1970s, either way, they both well and truly deserved their accolades, as did the dee-jays from both counties, the generous paying customers and also young Sam Evans for all her hard work in organising the raffle and spreading her motivation around the event like Tinkerbelle did her fairy Dust.
A fantastic evening, (I only wish we could have been there more than the three and a half hours we were able to attend) fantastic atmosphere, fantastic generosity and fantastic music and even a surprise performance by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas…. Sorry, that should read Arthur Reeves and the Fat Fellas.
Awesome gents truly awesome.
J.M. Barrie must have been able to see into the future and directly into this event because last night many people rediscovered their younger selves and the fun often locked inside was let out to play at this Never Land of an event.
ournorthernsouls.org/default.aspx
Last night I went to Never Land, you know the place, it’s a magical land where people just don’t grow old, where cynicism and disbelief are left at the door, where we can just be ourselves, be young again and play nicely.
Many people on this wonderful scene of ours are on a journey, a journey that may have started in Stoke-on-Trent in 1972 or Wigan in 1973 or even Stafford in 1983.
A journey to find our souls, our northern souls, to find and recapture that feeling so precious of dancing across the floor to a sound so soulful it makes one want to cry.
Or to purchase that ever elusive piece of vinyl ones has, in vein, searched for in one’s dreams and waking hours for many, many years.
Many of us have changed a lot since those halcyon teenage days of dancing all night with energy to spare.
We have grown older, some more heavier and some more learned and ‘mature’ in attitude.
Despite this those former dreams can still be sought and captured but one thing that many people on the northern soul scene do (and not all people) is forget to just have a damned good time.
At the East Kirkby Miners’ Welfare last night there was a room full of people who had rediscovered how to have a damned good time (not that they’d all forgotten).
It was a charity night labelled as “Notts Vs Yorks” and those many numbered Tykes from Gods’ Own Country descended on this little East Midlands town as an invading force of yesteryear but not armed with sword or bow but armed with fun and mirth.
The “Yorkshire crew” were denoted by the wearing of ties, and at times it seemed as if the whole room had recently spent their time picking out the gaudiest, loudest and most humorous neck ties to be found in the Tie rack stores of Barnsley, Mexborough and all points Yorks.
The event was put on by Dave (Nightnurse) and his wife Sue in association with Yocky enterprises to raise money for the Brain Injury unit of Nottingham.
The amount of work put into this event must have reflected the passion these people have for the cause, when I had left the mini all-dayer at 9:30 already over £1,000 had been raised.
There was of course a raffle, an impromptu dance competition won by a young lady called Tiffany, second place going to a young man called Alex so not only was our tradition of northern soul being celebrated but so was youth.
I’m not sure whether this is because some feel this will be the future of our scene or may be because these two teenagers reflected our own early days back in the 1970s, either way, they both well and truly deserved their accolades, as did the dee-jays from both counties, the generous paying customers and also young Sam Evans for all her hard work in organising the raffle and spreading her motivation around the event like Tinkerbelle did her fairy Dust.
A fantastic evening, (I only wish we could have been there more than the three and a half hours we were able to attend) fantastic atmosphere, fantastic generosity and fantastic music and even a surprise performance by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas…. Sorry, that should read Arthur Reeves and the Fat Fellas.
Awesome gents truly awesome.
J.M. Barrie must have been able to see into the future and directly into this event because last night many people rediscovered their younger selves and the fun often locked inside was let out to play at this Never Land of an event.
ournorthernsouls.org/default.aspx
;D