OK, there could be two threads here one could be discussing the apparent absence of the 'North West Crowd' at Blackpool and the other could be discussing the drop in attendances at North West Venues.
Regarding Blackpool i'd have to take your word for it Jayne, although if you knew " a couple of hundred" that dont seem that bad to me, BUT I think I get your drift in that, that there was less NW peeps in there than you expected?
I was there but never went into the ballroom as I was firmly ensconced in the Modern Room. There was quite a few of the North West crowd in there, but that would be expected in any weekender modern room as the North West seems to still have that hard core modern crowd. There was a fair few travellers (out of the North West) in there as well, lotsa unfamiliar faces, which could back up your assumptions that the Tower in the main is supported by a large contingent of 'out of towners' or even dare I say 'non frequent flyers' who only 'board a plane' for a weekend break or holiday by the seaside!! especially to the Northern Room. I would definitely say a large number of people there where not, what I'd say regulars at gigs i've been to, so maybe they are from the areas you say are 'thriving' at the moment. Now if that's true and they are late coming back to the Northern scene in comparison to people in the the North West (we ahve been very lucky in this neck of the woods) then you could (should) expect the music to also take a backward step too as people request VERY familiar records from their past, which again seems to be borne out by the comments on the Blackpool lookbacks thread. This will in turn piss people who have come to expect better music at gigs, right off.
There is a positive in this, in that some of those late returnees will fall in love with what they fell in love with years ago ie the music, and will stay on the scene, as once again they'll want to hear the kind of records that gave them a rush when they heard them the first time. In the past it might have been the Velvet Satins, today it might be the Venturas! Here's hoping...................
Which brings me on to the next part of your observations, the Manchester oldies scene. Again I think I know what you mean ie the Soul Nights in Greater Manchester in particular. It's a question of choice. I think there has simply been a polarisation between those that want a real hard core fix ie All Nighters like Middleton and Burnley and those that are happy to go out till 2am to a Soul Night, ie Prestwich, Blackburn, Monacco, Grasshoppers etc. There could possibly be a middle ground into which (IMHO) the likes of Lowton and Bury have in the last 12 months fell, (I say fell because it wasn't a descision to move into) ie great musically but not supported by enough of one or the other crowd. Unfortunately, for Bury it's too late and Lowton probably needs to go more for the oldies crowd in the main room to continue (watch this space).
There are of course other pressures on the scene at the moment, all of which have been mentioned , smoking ban, credit crunch and clashing, all of which is having an effect generally. People will as you say 'get choosey' so venues will need to be better value, offer more, give the people what they want, some are doing it others will need to change, after this weekend and the third month of Weekender clashes, I just hope that we do not need to go back as far as some would like to take us......make of that what you will
I'm about to post up what's going on at two Greater Manchester oldies gigs in the coming month, in the the belief that there are good soul nights and good gigs to attend in Greater Manchester and were the music definitely still comes first.
Best to all
BazM