Soul Essence Yarmouth Weekender April 1999

Thanks go out to Mike Lofthouse for this review on the Soul Essence weekender

Soul Essence 13 - 9 10 11 April 1999 - The Raynscourt Hotel Great Yarmouth.

The Event...

The Soul Essence Yarmouth weekender number 13. It is a twice yearly event held in Spring and Autumn with the first one taking place back in April '93 - check out 'Voices From The Shadows' magazine issue no. 20  for a full review of that weekend.

The Town ...

Gt Yarmouth is one of those typical British seaside resorts that are past their best - the lure of sunnier climes has long since taken the shine off the place and it's also bloody awful to get to from ANYWHERE in the UK - our journey took a good 4.5 hours (only 200 miles or so up the east coast).

The Venue.....

The hotel - like the resort is a little run down - it would be best described as 'small and homely'. Basically the event takes over the entire hotel from Friday through Sunday - which is great - no 'tourists' (of any kind ) wandering in and out. A tiny dance floor - ample for the shuffling style of dancing that you tend to get at less 'Northern' inclined do's - I'm not sure it is the slower tempo of the records or the geriatric state of the audience! There is a fair sized area partitioned of for the record dealers - Voices From The Shadows, Ian Clarke, Soul Bowl, John Manship and Steve Plumb all had large selections for sale. Record selling was restricted to the dealers until Sunday morning - which I guess is fair, they pay for the privilege. Food and beer is available round the clock (or at least whilst I was awake).

The 'Downbeat' lounge ...

In addition to the main area there is a 'Downbeat' lounge which as the title suggests features much slower and deep records throughout the day from a number of guests each doing a one hour spot, this goes on throughout the day until about 7 or 8 each night.

This lounge is a brilliant idea, although I did not spend as much time in there as I would of liked - football is always a bit of a distraction on a weekend. Saturday afternoon - sat with a pint reading a great Tom Waits interview in the Telegraph whilst listening to Hans 'n' Harry (from Holland) playing the likes of Gloria Lynn's - 'Don't You Pay No Mind' - sheer bliss!

It would seem to be something of a tradiition now for Scot Fraser Dunn to end the last downbeat spot of the weekend (on the Saturday night) with an absolutely stunning Gospel track - Tessie Hill - 'Never let a day go by' on ABC , it's awesome!

I know Han's and Harry make a note of everyone's playlist and publish them of their web site - I don't think they are up there yet but keep a look out (and check out those already posted)