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Soul Essence Yarmouth Weekender April 1999

Soul Essence Yarmouth Weekender April 1999 magazine cover

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)



Edited by Mike



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