Some good points raised up to now by all who have posted so far si i thought i'd throw mine in for what they're worth.
I don't think there are too many Modern nights on at the moment, it's just that they don't seem to be marketed correctly. There are enough punters out there but a lot of them don't really want to get into the 'Modern soul bubble' that seems to have been created inside the Northern scene. When i look round locally there are venue's that play what we call Modern Soul but to a different predominantly younger crowd. In Sheffield there are several clubs & bars playing stuff that falls under the Modern Soul umbrella, Tequila, Takapuna & Hustle spring to mind (i'm sureTerry will confirm this). Thing is how many of these kids want to be in a room full of folks the same age as there parents? Did you when you were there age?
Regarding the xover debate, tough one this. Our most successfull nights at Modernism have been when we have had xover DJ's on (Tat's, Andy Whitmore, Brett Franklin etc) as they have dragged in Northern punters who normally wouldn't think twice about going to a Modern night & our quieter nights have been when we have had guests on who champion newer sounds, Dodger, Lin & Jamie Taylor etc, 3 DJ's who i rate very highly so imagine how i felt for them when the punters didn't show. The real strange thing is our quietest night punter wise was when we had Soul Sam on, work that out?
Must pick up onTerry & Lin's comments regarding 90s stuff that don't get played out & praise them for it but don't forget the 80s. Seem to find myself drifting towards the stuff played on the 80s boogie scene at the moment as there's so much great stuff that got forgotten.
Shortly i'm hoping to kick off a new venue on the outskirts of Sheffield overlooking the Peak district national park so i'm reading all the comments on here with personal interest as i want to get this one right as it's a superb venue with 2 rooms (more on this later guys).
Anyway good luck with the new venue Shute, you go for it mate & if i can help out in any way let me know. Send me a PM if you get the night up & running & i'll get some of your fliers out at our nights (that goes for everyone else too) cos at the end of the day we all want the same thing, good nights playing great music to a room full of good people.
Mart...