Xmas At The CSC Dome - View From The Floor

A great view from the floor Intown Mikey

Capitol Xmas Bash 14/12/01

How many Northern Soul fans does it take to change a light bulb? Two !

One to change it, the other to say it isnt as good as the original. An old joke, I know. But it does make the point that sometimes we dont appreciate what we have in our hands.

The C.S.C. has come in for its fair share of criticism in 2001. Thats inevitable I suppose, after the unqualified success of the previous 30 months or so, that sooner or later some people would start to have their twopenneth.

So, here we are freezing our "Stoke Kings Halls" off, in the Dome North London. We need warming up good and proper. Step forward Mark George,fellow Gloucestershire exile. We grew up at the same clubs, so it was inevitable I would love every track in his set. I did. But the following view was passed to me: "He played some absolute top Stafford tunes, some Id even forgotten about." Sums it up perfectly. A well thought-out set that would appeal to Dome regulars and anyone whod climbed the steps to the Top of the World.

Next Alan H and "Santas Little Leprechaun" Greg took to the decks, and between them played just about every tune that has kept the dancefloor buzzing since the early days in Shoreditch. Tonights crowd was a little lower than usual, no doubt due to the time of year, but soon you were trying to inch politely past dancers, trying to find a few spare feet of dancing space.

Keeping the Gloucestershire connection going, Dave Flynn took over. With some of the other djs opting to double up on the decks, Flynny decided he wanted to play with himself!! And what a spectacle it was. Now sweat (I did say sweat) stuck to the walls where only a few hours earlier icicles resided. I dont like picking out tracks, but Dave as usual played a great set of imaginative oldies, Dome Faves and some exclusive "one offs" like the incredible: September Jones - "Give me all your love" (Unissued Pied Piper).

Flynny is responsible for me nearly losing my seat, because I didnt return to it for so long someone thought I had gone home. Not a chance. The party was in full flow, and next up was, Capitol regular Carl and one of the London crowds favourite spinners Shifty. With London having had soul night every day this week, it already had the feel of Sunday night at Cleethorpes.

So with Carls enthusiastic intros and Shifty verbal ramraids, "You havent got this one in Australia", the Dome was taken to another level. With Ady C dancing, all it needed was someone to stick on "Interplay" and say "This one goes out to Trickster, its his favourite record", and I would have been signing the police statement confirming I had spent the evening at the Beachcomber. The rest of the night was a blur. The Antellects, The Jokers, TC Lee, Younghearts, Tommy Ridgley etc, I could go on but you get the picture.

I had the best time. Some people would disagree. Thats fine.  We all have our own ideas on what makes our favourite soul night. But for me Capitol is one of the best soul nights I have been lucky enough to visit over the last 25+ years. Its one of those I do my damndest not to miss. 

Even booking holidays 1 week earlier or later, so as not to miss one. And, just like the entry stamp you get on the back of your hand, these Capitol boys are gonna stick around for a long, long time.

Mikey.