Boomerang Soul Sams 80th

Looking forward to this very much, it's been a long wait for a return to the Canal Tavern. It'll be good to see friends and hear great music.

I hope this is the right place to post a review.

 

Boomerang – Saturday 7 August 2021

At last we were back at the Canal Tavern for Boomerang,and to make it even more exciting it was a day to celebrate Soul Sam's 80th birthday. And what a day it was, one we'd waited so long for all during the long depressing days of lockdown.

For my own part I travelled from Bury to Thorne, longer journey than it would normally take because of engineering work on the Manchester tram system. But I finally got to my hotel, rested, washed and changed clothes and off to the venue where Boomerang is always held.

I walked into the bar to find Arthur Fenn, Eddie Hubbard and Yan Vatiste waiting to be served, so long since I've seen these guys. Great to catch up and so much to say.

It was just past 4pm, when I walked into the room where the night is held, surprised there were quite a few in already and was surprised and pleased to see my friends Linda and Darrill sitting at a table, waving to me.

As usual at the alldayer it was Soul Sam himself doing the first set, getting things off to a good start with a set of mainly Crossover and Modern,

I'm not going to give a rundown of every set, suffice to say the music was top notch, all the DJs were on top form and covered the whole gamut of soul music, so something for everyone.

There were dancers on the floor from almost the start but it did take time for the floor to really get busy. I'd been to three local soul events prior to Boomerang and did wonder if my feet would work properly after a long lay off, not the same at home is it? But when Maria played Make Your Love A Hurting Thing by William Cummings I finally felt I'd got into my groove, although of course others may disagree.

The last set of the night was by Sam and it was for 75 minutes which allows a DJ to play all his favourites and big tunes, which Sam did to perfection. A masterclass in the art of DJing and keeping everyone satisfied.

The night ended just after 1am, leaving us all happy and in my case very hot and sweaty.

Among the tunes played during the evening by the DJs were, in no particular order:
Allison - Who's #1, Who's #2, Coffee – Casanova, O'Jays – Message In Our Music, Betty Wilson – I'm Yours, Hamilton Movement – She's Gone, Joseph Webster – My Love Is So Strong, Mixed Feelings – Sha La La, Poets – Wrapped Around Your Finger, Earles – Everybody's Got Somebody, Sonny Turner – Now That You've Gone, Norma Jenkins – Here I Am, Jesse James – Are You Gonna Leave Me, Tiaras – Foolish Girl, Frazelle – Today Is The Day, Richard Caiton – I'd Like To Get Near You, Sea Shells - A Quiet Home, Gene Chandler – There Was A Time, Eddie Foster – I Never Knew, final record played by Sam was John & The Wierdest's Can't Get Over These Memories but he then slipped in Johnnie Mae Matthews - I Have No Choice.

You can see the depth of music played, and Cliff included quite a bit of Modern that I didn't recognise.

Halfway through the evening Maria stopped the proceedings to present Sam with a birthday card, cake and present arranged by Natalie Steele. Arthur reminisced about first meeting Sam in 1974 and mentioned that Sam had a very sweet tooth, no doubt he will enjoy his birthday cake.

Personally I've always found Sam a very nice guy, easy to talk to and very knowledgeable, a real gentleman of our scene. He's an inspiration to all of us and long may he continue.

As an aside I would like to mention that I had a very tasty meal of liver and Lancashire sausages in the Canal Tavern during the evening, a large portion and reasonably priced, always worth having a meal there when attending Boomerang.

It was a great afternoon/evening/night, one I'm sure all attending had looked forward to, the soul scene is back!

Thanks to Maria and Arthur for organising it, and to Cliff and Sam for their services. And to the Canal Tavern staff. And we will all continue our adventures on our wonderful soul scene.