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Blue skies was Friday night do.. and a good drink up that is well missed... and I couldn't fill their shoes.....

Nice of you to say Paul but of course you could...and anyone else......but trying to find a good central venue (with decks) with an enlightened Landlord who is willing to reward the DJs with a few drinks is not easy. But your main problem is with a midweek event. I used to travel into London twice a month in the days of SITC and TOS but the numbers attending rarely exceeded 40 people and in the death throws of SITC is was down to about 10. Friday starting at 6pm kept some London workers from going straight home. i think one of the main reason for good numbers at Blue Skies was that we only booked a date when we saw a free weekend in London and the surrounding area. You want a regular monthly date and that will often clash with something else if you did decide on a Friday.

Anyway good luck if you get it going and you know you would have my support.

M

Edited by Rbman
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Nice of you to say Paul but of course you could...and anyone else......but trying to find a good central venue (with decks) with an enlightened Landlord who is willing to reward the DJs with a few drinks is not easy. But your main problem is with a midweek event. I used to travel into London twice a month in the days of SHS and TOS but the numbers attending rarely exceeded 40 people and in the death throws of SHS is was down to about 10. Friday starting at 6pm kept some London workers from going straight home. i think one of the main reason for good numbers at Blue Skies was that we only booked a date when we saw a free weekend in London and the surrounding area. You want a regular monthly date and that will often clash with something else if you did decide on a Friday.

Anyway good luck if you get it going and you know you would have my support.

M

ohmy.gif The death throes of SHS ?

Martin, you're a bit out of touch mate

SHS has probably the best attended friday night in London

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ohmy.gif The death throes of SHS ?

Martin, you're a bit out of touch mate

SHS has probably the best attended friday night in London

Big OOPS Kev.....huh.gif .... I've made the edit....I of couse meant Soul In The City (SITC).

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I helped run These Old Shoes from the beginning up until early 2003 when I moved back up north. We ran it on a Thursday night (I think it was third one of the month!) and I don't remember having a duff night to be honest.

The cellar bar had a numbers limit of 60 (though we got 100+ in on the anniversaries) and it looked busy with 15 people in it which encouraged people to turn up each month. I would say 40 or so was about the average but that filled the bar and gave it a great atmosphere.

Thursday turned out to be a good night as there were quite a number of itinerant northerners in London who naff off on a Friday and it didn't compete with anything else. It didn't cost a lot to put on (after the initial investment in equipment) but did take quite a bit of effort in terms of publicity (flyers, bull-sh*tting on internet forums etc) to make sure people knew it was on; I regularly got asked "are you still doing that Thursday night thing?". The publicity worked as many people who had never been thought we were running some massive club.:D The wife of one DJ was heard to say on entering the venue "Bloody hell! Its a sh*t hole!" :lol:

(Please note: the venue has now been refurbished and so sadly doesn't still smell of the thames)

Some people left early to get the last tube, but others carried on and took their chances on getting home. The downside was that it left me absolutely cream crackered on the Friday after it was on - I was useless at work on those days and unscrupulous work "colleagues" sometimes tried to take advantage of that. I'm sure we were responsible for many a sicky on the third Friday of the month in London.

If I were you I'd just go ahead and see what happens, you'll get all sorts of conflicting advice if you ask people for their opinions. Personally I wouldn't just let anyone turn up and DJ though as you wouldn't get a core of regulars (other than DJ's :rolleyes:) because you wouldn't have a consistent music policy, and you need a core of regulars. There are loads of people with good collections in and around london who don't regularly DJ but should be asked and we tried to get guests who played the sort of tunes we wanted to hear rather than just putting a big name on the flyer for the sake of it.

Please note that I have no idea what the scene is like in London these days as I haven't lived there for 7 years. What we did seemed to work at the time.

Give it a go - what's the worst that can happen?

Cheers

Paul

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Nice of you to say Paul but of course you could...and anyone else......but trying to find a good central venue (with decks) with an enlightened Landlord who is willing to reward the DJs with a few drinks is not easy. But your main problem is with a midweek event. I used to travel into London twice a month in the days of SHS and TOS but the numbers attending rarely exceeded 40 people and in the death throws of SHS is was down to about 10. Friday starting at 6pm kept some London workers from going straight home. i think one of the main reason for good numbers at Blue Skies was that we only booked a date when we saw a free weekend in London and the surrounding area. You want a regular monthly date and that will often clash with something else if you did decide on a Friday.

Anyway good luck if you get it going and you know you would have my support.

M

Excuse me Martin have you taken leave of your senses ? SHS is not a midweek venue & never has been & neither is it in its death throws. We are possibly one of the few clubs that aren't experiencing a downswing in attendances. (Going by the doom & gloom on this site regarding empty clubs) Quite the opposite in fact our attendances are on the up possibly due to the excellent resident DJs & guests on offer resulting in people travelling from all over the south east plus frequent visitors from the midlands + occasional visitors from the North East & Yorkshire, hardly the sign of A CLUB IN IT'S DEATH THROWS.

For anybody interested in attending an upbeat club to listen & dance to true 60s underplayed /semi knowns, Unreleased acetates, mixed in with some current niter sounds I doubt you'll find better than Solid Hit Soul ......& no the club isn't empty but packed to the rafters. Next one is 4th June

Edited by SHSDave
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Excuse me Martin have you taken leave of your senses ? SHS is not a midweek venue & never has been & neither is it in its death throws. We are possibly one of the few clubs that aren't experiencing a downswing in attendances. (Going by the doom & gloom on this site regarding empty clubs) Quite the opposite in fact our attendances are on the up possibly due to the excellent resident DJs & guests on offer resulting in people travelling from all over the south east plus frequent visitors from the midlands + occasional visitors from the North East & Yorkshire, hardly the sign of A CLUB IN IT'S DEATH THROWS.

For anybody interested in attending an upbeat club to listen & dance to true 60s underplayed /semi knowns, Unreleased acetates, mixed in with some current niter sounds I doubt you'll find better than Solid Hit Soul ......& no the club isn't empty but packed to the rafters. Next one is 4th June

if you took time to look before posting David I had edited my post so it now reads SITC and not shs.

Edited by Rbman
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But you hadn't when I posted Martin otherwise i would have no need to post hatsoff2.gif Thanks for editingshades.gif

Check the timing of my post in reply to Kev Kents post and then look at the time of yours and you will see that I made my edit well before your post!

And just as an aside you can't have a basement "Packed to the rafters".....now bug off to Gloucester.

Edited by Rbman
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Guest in town Mikey

thumbsup.gif Talking rear of covent garden...

tubes, train, even night buses all close by....

If the pub has sun in the name ;-) The landlord is a Bristol City fan. They have the Sky games on in the upstairs bar. Just slip in you are mates with a few City lads, and the gigs assured.

Of course if the pub has French, Hhorn, Green and Man in the name, its a Sheffield united pub. So dont. thumbsup.gif

Dave sorry about that mate. I am so used to typing my address at the minute, my muscle memory kicked in.

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Guest DaveSwift

thumbsup.gif Talking rear of covent garden...

tubes, train, even night buses all close by....

That would be great Paul - near Charing X is handy for me. I'd probably make one in two. Currently there is only Majestic on last Thursday of month. Real ale would be nice too

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Guest BintofSoul

Sounds like a great idea. Charing cross is ideal for me so I'll come and support when I can.

Nicki

X

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Check the timing of my post in reply to Kev Kents post and then look at the time of yours and you will see that I made my edit well before your post!

And just as an aside you can't have a basement "Packed to the rafters".....now bug off to Gloucester.

Just because you "work in the Legal Profession" don't try to pick holes in my timings. From the time I noticed your gobbledy gook to the time i actually posted my reply makes no difference, why would I have need to refer back to something I had just read ? I didn't realise my typing speed was being assessed. You edited your post I thanked you hatsoff2.gif

You're quite correct over the rafters matter but packed to the ceiling didn't quite have the same ring. I take it you'll be pulling up all the promoters who claim that their night was packed the atmosphere & music was amazing & the dance floor was heaving all night ? laugh.gif

Now could you just clear up what you mean by this from your original post "in the death throws of *** is was down to about 10" eh ?blink.gif

Oh ....bugged off now I'm back

Apologies Mischief for wrestling with RBMan on your thread

Edited by SHSDave
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Guest Bernadette

what days majestic on?

It's 3rd or 4th Thursday in the month near Old St....good across the board do!

I quite like a mid-week do in London but then I live a tube journey away so it's handy for me. Used to go to the Push Bar in Soho when it was on - last Thurs in the month I think?

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Guest Goldwax

what days majestic on?

Majestic is last Thursday of every month I believe ( and a bloody good night it is too). Prob a simular format to what you are suggesting and they have built up quite a strong regular crowd after just a few months.

I would be interested in a Wed after work night too thumbsup.gif- Please PM me if you sort something out as I'm always missing stuff on here.

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Guest JimSLH

I have been told there is a DJ in a place called the bar round back of Oxford ST who plays a northern set on a weds night

not been yet but intend to check it out for defo

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Sound. Nice and close to work on High Holborn. :o)

High Holborn.....

I thought you was knocking work out at Kings Cross still :yes:

Good luck with this event, there must be a need fo a few to get together for some tuuuuuuuuuuuuunes....

I will look out for Wiggy doing doing a deep soul andl latin set, that could get me down there :lol:

good luck indeed...

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Guest JimSLH

Pete Blackman and Jock used to DJ there. It's a very small bar mind.

All I lnow it close to me and the guy wears a trillby

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Guest kent soul club

I think it sounds like a good idea Paul.thumbsup.gif Hope it isn't smart dress only though, I look like shit when I'm on my way home from work! ( yeah, even more shit than normal!)biggrin.gif

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High Holborn.....

I thought you was knocking work out at Kings Cross still ph34r.gif

Good luck with this event, there must be a need fo a few to get together for some tuuuuuuuuuuuuunes....

I will look out for Wiggy doing doing a deep soul andl latin set, that could get me down there laugh.gif

good luck indeed...

Stevie I would need to get a few records to do a latin soul set.....Latin Soul it's the new northern.Now give me some Chano Pozo or Jack Costanzo.......

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Yes Dave I remember the night at Vivos ....if I remember correctly there wasn't just "chit chat"...I think you inspected her lungs from the inside...a fast mover in those daysshades.gif

I think a night would work mid week but you need to be based centrally, excellent transport options close at hand, a good mix of music and very important draught beer!

When I first started working in London TOS was the biz. Personally I met some great soulies at TOS and at Soul in the City who I now count as close mates ....and I got to meet up with my old mucker "Dangerous Dave" Greenhill! thumbup.gif As Dave said, Soul in the City started off as mates meeting up for a beer mid week and listening to tapes I'd recorded from the Richard Searling Soul Show on Jazz FM. Followed by McNab's and the rest is history.

While we are on memory lane...the days at the Old Blue Last were my favourite. I know we had a carpet dancefloor, but great things happened there....for one Martin met Audra!

Ps....I'm leaving London again ....but I'll put a post up confirming the details all Souliesbeer.gif

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