Sod it, no other takers... so I couldn't resist it!
Best gig I've been to in a long while that fits into this category is the "Crown Inn" in Spondon, Nr Derby.
Colin Brown, Brian Goucher and Fish are the regular DJ's with guests, recently including "Tats" Taylor, Mark Houghton and Steve Guanori amongst others.
Music Policy is Top Drawer.
Heard down there such soulful diversity (oooh! great name for a Soul Night - hands off...will contact my patent lawyer right away) "Satisfaction Unlimited" "Henry Jackson" "M J Wade" "William Bell - Relax" "O'Jays - Hold On" and various recent release SOUL records.
I've waxed lyrical about this gig before on here.
Tight Back Room, Proper Stage, Nice Dancefloor, Adequate seating... just not enough bodies in the place. You'd get the impression that the Soul Scene in the UK consists of no more than 50 people... yet this is a 'World Class' lineup playing the very best in recently discovered Rare Soul alongside unplayed, underplayed and forgotten oldies.
The "Red Lion" in Todwick, Nr Sheffield is another worth a mention.
Great location (adj Junc 31 M1) Superb quality venue, enthusiastic regular DJ's with Guests recently including Adam, Cliff Steele, Tats Taylor, John Benson, Kev Briscoe, Roger Williams, Fish, Dean, Mark Randle and Yours Truly twice this year!
It's held on the second Friday every month and in truth it's more of a 'Modern' event but they mix it with an alternate 70's only night which also packs them in and keeps the crowd happy.
The "Without Boundaries" event, Coors Museum, Burton on Trent, I guess fits into this category - depending on who's guesting.
The next one has a mouthwatering lineup, as I'm sure you're aware, with Soul Sam, Colin Curtis, Arthur Fenn, Steve Guanori, Fish, Mark Randle, Paul Phillips, Adam, Colin Brown and Brian the Gouch!
I DJ'd there a couple of months ago along with Bob Cosby and co and got away with a totally 'across the board - mixed bag' set whereas Bob played an exclusively Crossover set (as you might imagine) to critical acclaim.
So the Midlands has it all going on Steve.
Don't know about the rest of Blighty though.
Oh, and apparently Soul has returned to Wigan in recent times, or so they tell me.
Good old Russ!
The Poser Man