Andy 'Ebeneezer' Smith @ Jazz cafe

[Mattbolton]

Just curious if anyone paid £10 to see Andy Smith DJ 'Northern Soul' for THREE HOURS!!!!

I held back on this until i knew a little more about the gig, but having seen the tracklisting for the CD he gave away, I can't believe he's charging £10 for 3 HOURS!!!!

Jazz Cafe or not, I can't believe he's raping 'a mixed audience of those that used to attend Northern soul clubs along with those who may be new to the scene' for such a scandalous amount!

Don't get me wrong, I don't have an issue with the music he's playing, since most of the tracks he plays are featured tracks we play up in Leeds, but TEN QUID?! For THREE HOURS?!

And once a month?! You'd do better spending your money at the 100 Club.

It's incredible what you can get away with if you have a pretty CD cover and a name as a dance DJ.

A 'unique mix of classic Northern Soul, Motown and Stax records'? I doubt it. We've been charging the kids £4 a WEEK to listen to the same 'unique mix' for 4 hours for the last 8 years!!! For the love of the music. And not the money.

What a joke.

I just hope you guys that do soul clubs in London are stood outside handing them flyers for the events that really matter.

Sorry to whine.

It's not like me. Honest.

[Guest Jamie]

Hi Matt,

Agree with your sentiments on the cost, but I think we are looking at comparing two different animals here.

Your average 'dance' DJ will command much greater figures in terms of what he would expect to be paid for one evening (some of the big dance guys get well over 4 figures for a 1-2 hour set), and that includes more than one of your 'named' Northern DJ's.

The kids that go to these dance clubs would expect to pay between £10-£15 on average for the entrance fee. The attendance at these clubs as a rule more than excede the average at a good soul night.

Whereas your punters at a soul night expect to pay between £4-£8 for maybe the same duration.

Historically, Northern do's have been at a shit-hole of a WMC, or some old Bingo hall and your average dance night will be at a recently fitted-out, purpose-designed night club in the city centre with a state-of-the-art sound system.

I think that when you get the cross-over (no pun intended!) of a dance DJ putting on a Soul event, he's gonna use what he knows as a template.

Your 'old heads' may possibly baulk at the price, but those hearing the sounds for the first time will think it a reasonable price.

What makes me laugh though Matt, is the fact the Northern guys play records up to 100 times more rare with the price tag to suit and charge usually less than a third entrance!!!!

Again, some of that comes back down to the venue.

I don't think you can really blame Andy, after all, I suppose it's all he knows.

Cheers,

Jamie.

(Incidently, as you are aware Matt, me & Rich Buckley play a monthly night in Leeds, which is FREE for SIX hours of Soul! How about that as a labour of love!!)

[Greg Belson]

I hear everything that you're both saying, but the fault in this case isn't Andy's.

The door price is set by the venue, not by the DJ - at least, that seems to be the case whenever I've played there. As a venue, I've seen their prices slowly escalate, just recently a ticket to see Raphael Saadiq was in the region of £20+.

Andy is an excellent DJ who plays records in his own style - which is different for the kids. He mixes, scratches, beat matches and all that kind of stuff. Now I know that's not everybody's cup of char, but it's something different, and it appeals to the kids. The price is steep IMO, but I think I'm right in saying it's not his fault.

[Guest Jamie]

I hear everything that you're both saying, but the fault in this case isn't Andy's.

The door price is set by the venue, not by the DJ - at least, that seems to be the case whenever I've played there. As a venue, I've seen their prices slowly escalate, just recently a ticket to see Raphael Saadiq was in the region of £20+.

I was sort of trying to get that point over in my post, although somewhat clumsily.

You're right in saying that a venue that traditionally charges those sort of prices in general aint gonna cut them by 2/3 just to cater for the Northern crowd, it's just the nature of the beast!

Jamie

[Guest Johnny One Trout]

Andy is an excellent DJ who plays records in his own style - which is different for the kids. He mixes, scratches, beat matches and all that kind of stuff. Now I know that's not everybody's cup of char, but it's something different, and it appeals to the kids. The price is steep IMO, but I think I'm right in saying it's not his fault.

I'd bloody chin him if he started scratching my records whilst beating them and mixing them up!!!! Do you know how long it takes to arrange them in the correct order both alphabetically and by date !!!!!!!!!!!!!!