spirit

I thought it was her too. She's excellent.

I disagree with the thread premise - I don't distinguish between male and female when judging dancers. Two of the best dancers on the current scene are both female. I don't know any better male dancers. Elaine from Newbury represents brilliantly the individualistic, expressive dancing I admire - very theatrical, completely lost in the music at times, awesome to watch. There is a real drama about her movements that is captivating - she also has some of the best footwork you'll see. Then there is Mary Lou who is explosive when she gets going, energy that lights up the dancefloor, utterly brilliant. To see her dancing in sync with Chippy (one of the best male dancers) at Blackpool was truly memorable.

Anyone familiar with the film, and the loveable ear-hacking, toe-chopping scamp himself will no doubt like this weather report (contains swear words in case you are at work or easily offended). ">

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It's good that you qualified that, because of the many, many organisations that would be prepared to pay you for advice.

Drat. Gary gave me seven quid change for a fiver on the door on Saturday, so that'll have to do.

If I find out I've been line dancing, I'll sue.

As a regular Attic attendee, I am outraged to find out they don't actually play Northern Soul. It's the only reason I went in the first place. I demand my money back, and a public apology from the club promoters.

I think shyness/physical disability (often not obvious) is a much-underestimated demotivator. How many dancers would we have if alchohol wasn't available? I have admiration for anybody who gets out on the floor, regardless of ability, as long as they show consideration for other dancers. There are exceptions, but I have more respect for DJs who do dance (if they can). Apart from 'leading from the front', I've seen a few comments on here about the brilliance of dodgy venues from DJs who stayed safely behind the turntables all night.

The Shed is pretty good at Beeston. Been a while since I've been though.

+1 Brighouse, Grosvenor. Good floors both. Though as both ban talc, that should probably count against on flexibility grounds. -1 for Blackpool Tower. Talc also banned, but without the redeeming feature of being terribly good in the first place.

Given the heave-hovo...

Close the window? Personally, I'd set the dogs on them. Although I suspect I have a different musical preference to you, I agree with the relaxed pleasure of local gigs and the comfort zone thing -Â although it can work against those venues trying something new, or different.

Wouldn't it be a lot cheaper to stay in and listen to refo-soul and the Internet's many heavy metal channels then?

I certainly hope so, though given my recent inability to catch flights due to being rubbish, you never know. If you are at BB on Friday, I may see you there if I am doing my regular Brighouse/Boutique double decker. Haven't decided yet.

It's not really about nattering (well, it is for Beeks ); it's about going where you feel good, and although the music is a huge part of that, so is feeling relaxed, among friends (or at least people you can hang out with), 'where everybody knows your name' (cue 'Cheers' theme).Â

I appreciate the previous comments, but to someone who is learning this stuff, is there a definitive guide to telling the difference between real and fake threads?

Oh, and as to the thread title, in most cases its not about the DJ for me. I'm too new to the scene to know who plays what generally. It's about what I experience at the event, which comes down to factors like type of music, variety of music, 'atmosphere' etc.; Obviously the DJs contribute to that, but I don't give a sh-- about 'big names'.Â

Both. Also travel mostly. If you want to experience something a bit different from the norm, you often need to be prepared to travel (wherever you are). On the other hand, sometimes its nice to relax with people you know locally, and have more of a social night. I wouldn't support an established DJ or night locally just because its local, though I will always give something new a try. Of course, it also depends on other factors like budget, driving, etc.

You've just said you don't! People might note their absence from one room or the other for any of a number of reasons, eg. To appear cool to people who's opinion they worry about. Insecurity. To imply disapproval of the room they didn't visit or didn't stay in long, without being too critical. Diplomacy. To make it clear that their lookback/review isn't comprehensive because of a notable omission, or musical bias, so should be taken with caution by anybody who might be influenced. Good manners. So, apart from being cynical, your claim that this is behaviour only associated with people who aren't keen on oldies rooms is just plain wrong - I've read plenty of lookback posts implying modern/r&b/underplayed rooms are not to be ventured into for being unlistenable/undanceable/unpopular/pretentious/etc. Snobbery (ie. judgemental blinkeredness) works both ways.

There is or was skating at RollerWorld near Time Nightclub, which was itself a former occasional Nighter venue over the last couple of years. I used to go to RollerWorld as a kid to play roller hockey. I didn't know they did allnighters though. https://www.derbyrollerworld.co.uk/index/AllNightSkates

Heyup MadMandy! Weapon of Choice is a cool video, and RUN DMC were a great band. You may be aware Christopher 'Dead Man' Walken was a professional dancer in his early days and danced with Judy Garland...

Cool, takes me back to my roller-disco days...

Oh, here's one I forgot. Great modern soulful dance record, and its got 'Northern Soul Dancers' in - including a couple of 'familiar' faces (geddit?) - and that bloke out of Dead Man's Shoes* and The Bourne Thingummy! Woo hoo! Moloko - Familiar Feeling *not paul-s

Heh heh. Dare you. There'd be a riot. I would love to go to an event where the only criteria was danceability, and 'soul' in its abstract sense. I tried convincing a DJ/collector aquaintance recently that Loves "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark and Hilldale" from the wonderful "Forever Changes" album would be eminently danceable on a Northern floor. He was very sceptical. I can't find an audio link to the original, but here's a very competent live version from the late great creator of the record, Arthur Lee.