All nighter scene 'up north'

[Steviehay]

Just had a quick browse through events,Manchester once the king of northern soul all nighters has but one ( and that's a mini one) I live here so I do know the scene etc in the area,where has it all gone we still have venues but upto April we only have one going on has the abroad weekenders, seaside resort weekenders  or just the grab an anyway event day killed it off??? I seriously doubt it  if you look further afield there's an abundance on so where has it all gone pete Tonge?? 

[Dobber]

Keele..and the reopen of top of the world,and Blackpool tower is pretty healthy,how regular it is is another matter! I personally couldn’t do numerous allnighters anyway,as a kid it was every week

[Mike]

there's a dynamic list of the 100 next nighters from the source guide here

https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/event-news/niters-2025-the-next-100-soul-nighters-r5187/

may help the discussion

 

[Thinksmart]

There are events outside Manchester locally, so people don't travel into the city so much for Soul now which combine with the bigger national events Dobber mentions. Some of my work is around Chorley, Leyland, Clitheroe etc area and there's a healthy range of local events around there. 

Manchester has the next Ritz Revival at Easter: 

https://soulvation.company.site/MANCHESTER-RITZ-50th-ANNIVERSARY-April-20th-2025-ticket-£20-£1-booking-fee-p511094547

Edited yesterday at 15:05 by Thinksmart

[Wiganer1]

Had to finish my allniter in Nuneaton after 13 years recently due to overhead s and not enough people staying til 6am to warrant being out all weekend to sort 

COVID destroyed all the dynamics of the niter scene along with soulies passing away just not enough travelling these days

All the medium to large Venues have all struggled.. since lockdown 

Folk seem to want the small tiny room these days along the more funky soul sounds these days not for me those big dancefloor s packed the rafters always did.it for me

I always thought allniter s would be here forever - here's hoping 

Edited yesterday at 15:48 by Wiganer1

[Professorturnups]

We used to travel from Norwich to Bury Town Hall. There was usually a half decent crowd in with lots travelling from the south and Midlands. It was noted on more than one occasion how many locals weren't in attendance.

Mark C

[Professorturnups]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

there's a dynamic list of the 100 next nighters from the source guide here

https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/event-news/niters-2025-the-next-100-soul-nighters-r5187/

may help the discussion

 

That's an All dayer

1 hour ago, Mike said:

there's a dynamic list of the 100 next nighters from the source guide here

https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/event-news/niters-2025-the-next-100-soul-nighters-r5187/

may help the discussion

 

That's an All dayer. Sorry thud was meant to be posted under the Ritz info.

[Clee93]

Usually constant rising overheads and difficulties with the venues.

[Soulandy]

Swinton closed with the last niter in December, due to the venue being turned into apartments upstairs. I think that was the last true all niter in Manchester to date. We're all getting on a bit now mate to stay out till 6/8am, well I am, although I still like going to a niter when I can.  The last couple of times I went to swinton last year wasn't the best attended which was a shame but it was held downstairs which it's a big room to fill, as opposed to the smaller upstairs room. Keele on Saturday just gone, wasnt as busy as the last couple of January's either, but still enjoyable,  maybe the weather had something to do with that one. Hope you're well mate  

Edited yesterday at 18:39 by Soulandy

[Stephen Houghton]

Gone are the days like the carousel in Plymouth Grove Manchester and age creeps in (wish it didn't)

[Hooker1951]

5 hours ago, Steviehay said:

Just had a quick browse through events,Manchester once the king of northern soul all nighters has but one ( and that's a mini one) I live here so I do know the scene etc in the area,where has it all gone we still have venues but upto April we only have one going on has the abroad weekenders, seaside resort weekenders  or just the grab an anyway event day killed it off??? I seriously doubt it  if you look further afield there's an abundance on so where has it all gone pete Tonge?? 

Hi Stevie

its not just the NS all niter scene that’s crumbling the Night time economy of the last 60 years is crumbling, empty venues, empty night clubs , empty pubs, with our scene we’ve got the excuse in a lot of cases of getting old, not taking has many chemicals , bad health or failing health , Seen it done it been there, different priorities like looking after your health and living hopefully a bit longer L ol’, these problems on their own would be enough , add on just more of the same and you’ve got a mountain to climb before you’ve gone through the front door, Memories might be all we have soon, So don’t go losing your memory are you really will be in Shit street, LOL,

ML

[Soulandy]

Might sum us up

[Geeselad]

Blame Burnham! And that arse hole of nighttime czar. Central Manchester at least hasn't the nightlife it once had, loads of venues have closed and clubbing has become more corporate. Room at the top, still seems to thrive though and credit to Jordan and crew involved. 

Id noted recently with the suspected Demise of the batcave, again, keele or the Gathering are now the most northerly all nighters! Both in stoke! Hardly Carlisle! Sad that the north  seems to have nothing allnight in lancs or Yorkshire. 

Edited yesterday at 19:06 by Geeselad

[Steviehay]

some interesting anecdotes there guys,geeselad bang on m8,i drove through what as the curry mile a while back not one curry shop open all kebab houses now,so a lot of venues gone ritz is a fortress now not like the old days and night clubs what happened at least we do have the ritz revival but its not the same cheers all for adding your pennies worth  

[Timbo58]

19 hours ago, Geeselad said:

Blame Burnham! And that arse hole of nighttime czar. Central Manchester at least hasn't the nightlife it once had, loads of venues have closed and clubbing has become more corporate. Room at the top, still seems to thrive though and credit to Jordan and crew involved. 

Id noted recently with the suspected Demise of the batcave, again, keele or the Gathering are now the most northerly all nighters! Both in stoke! Hardly Carlisle! Sad that the north  seems to have nothing allnight in lancs or Yorkshire. 

Someone needs to buy the Brighouse Ritz which is still for sale -sad thing is after the £650k asking price it'd need another £1m at least to put it back in usable condition. A travesty, every time we're up there we weep at the state of it.

Edited 5 hours ago by Timbo58

[Steviehay]

i thought on the same lines of buying a venue just for northern soul through the day meeting/cafe etc and twice weekly soul gigs but i think id be throwing my money away costs to run etc 

[Geeselad]

3 hours ago, Steviehay said:

some interesting anecdotes there guys,geeselad bang on m8,i drove through what as the curry mile a while back not one curry shop open all kebab houses now,so a lot of venues gone ritz is a fortress now not like the old days and night clubs what happened at least we do have the ritz revival but its not the same cheers all for adding your pennies worth  

Went the curry mile a few weeks back, zivza, was the best place. Still.a few good curry houses

[Agentsmith]

We're all older, whether we like it or not and if our interest in niters is curbed or diminshed, it's no wonder....i think the scene for us in general now, is coming full circle and a good many are content to attended soul nites, or even afternoons midweek...which points to the fact retirement age has been reach by a broad spectrum of the soul scene and those folks see it as a more comfortable setting, no rush to get home in the dark...they can even jump on the bus!. Soul nites by and large, never really lost their popularity, even when we were opinionated enough to say they were....we were saying that with the advent of weekenders and foreign week long excursions. Of course the latter has prevailed big style....but when folks come home, it's more than likely the preference is for a soul night, as opposed to the thought of trying to last out to 6am....like all the cricket formats....the traditional 3 day game has suffered because of 2020 and odi.

Niters just won't pull enough folk, there's loads of strands to the arguement. In defence, it's always been an outlet for a goodly amount of djs to get on the same bill at the same time.

My preference for a proper thought out soul night, is a promoter who offers everyone a chance to dj. Most soul nites consist of 2 rooms anyway, there's no need for a whole bunch of residents, the whole idea of keeping the formats fresh is to line up a conveyor belt of guests, with their own individual record collections, which guarantees something different from everyone, and keeps punters interested whereby, theyre not hearing the same ole trotted out consistantly.

[Chalky]

The quality of the music was my main motivation and with no new records, records I've heard for decades (and that includes the so called upfront scene) and too much second rate hard edged/funky stuff that wasn't good enough first time round then I don't care that much for stopping up all night.  I can get better at a soul night than I heard at my last all-nighter.  My job isn't best suited to stopping up all night and being knackered and unfit for work on the Monday.  Many who go to niters don't seem to work. 

[Agentsmith]

6 minutes ago, Chalky said:

The quality of the music was my main motivation and with no new records, records I've heard for decades (and that includes the so called upfront scene) and too much second rate hard edged/funky stuff that wasn't good enough first time round then I don't care that much for stopping up all night.  I can get better at a soul night than I heard at my last all-nighter.  My job isn't best suited to stopping up all night and being knackered and unfit for work on the Monday.  Many who go to niters don't seem to work. 

Yeah, there's probably that as well...being retired affords that situation for those who still want to do nighters....affording them is another thing, i suppose you could say in some cases it's cheaper than some soul nights....if you can pace yourself, still relatively fit  and won't mind sunday being a wipe out, then ok

[Peter99]

Probably controversial but there is no escaping the fact that amphetamine drove most of the big all niters in days gone by. Whilst still some imbibe said substance not too many do due to age and health - although I do know some 60/70 year olds that still partake.

The younger Bristol scene seems to be thriving and I'm only guessing that amphetamine doesn't drive that like the old days. It appears, and I could be totally wrong, but the young uns are doing what we couldn't, or at least wouldn't.

Any views?

Peter  

Edited just now by Peter99