Mod Life Crisis

I agree with everything you say. For me, your final line is what remains most fun about today’s scene(s). While remaining loyal to a select number of local clubs run by mates, we love trying out new clubs further afield. Sometimes they fail to hit the spot, but when they do …. . if you want to get away from Top 500, in your immediate vicinity there are excellent sounds to be heard at the Rugby and Dark Horses all-niters, while Kettering club night offers a good mixture of tunes. We also tend to keep an eye on where our favourite DJs are playing, as they tend to not associate themselves with handbaggers events. Happy hunting!

Gotta be honest folks, if I went to a rare soul or NS do and these records were being played, I would not be a happy chappy. I’m all for progressive sounds, this is just too far for my tastes.

I think it’s great that the younger crowd are running their own events. It seems quite apparent which ones they are, so are relatively easy to avoid if needed. As a bloke in his 60th year, the last thing I want is to be surrounded by people less than half my age, reminding me what an old duffer I am; my knees tell me that on a daily basis. For some, maybe most, it will be just the latest fad - just like it was for the vast majority of lads and lasses I embarked with on the journey into NS in ‘81. Of the 40-50 of us that used to regularly descend on events in our local area, only a handful of us still go. For others, this is a longer term love affair. Some of the video footage in this thread includes a lad I have seen on the dance floor for at least 7 years, and he’s only just hit 30. We are also seeing the same young faces at niters in the Midlands over the past couple of years, and their numbers are growing. At Rugby on Saturday there seemed to be more of the younger element there than at any previous event, and guess what? It was great having them there, watching them dance with an athleticism that has left most of us by, allied to some beautiful footwork. As long as they leave the retro Millwall shirts at home, I am all for it.

Not just this scene being shamelessly exploited for commercial gain. The charlatans in charge of West Ham have been blatantly ripping off fan-initiated chants and fashion for their own financial advancement. Unfortunately, seems to be the way of the world, and will continue for as long as there is someone happy to pay. On a more positive note, went to an excellent club night at Kettering on Saturday. Music was a good mixture of classics and underplayed (with more of the latter), a crowd made up of old school soulies and some great dancers.

Just caught up with this thread and have enjoyed reading the contrasting views. From the three options put forward in the opening post, I lean towards 3 with a bit of 2 thrown in. Option 1 is a Dante-esque scenario for me, with people dressed in baggies being the current equivalent of the Teddy Boys we laughed at in the late 70s. We travel around a fair distance for our fix of 60s soul and have taken in a considerable, growing number of clubs from Hastings & Brighton, up to Blackburn. We attend niters, dayers, progressive and oldies evenings. Our preference is for lesser known tunes at a niter and better known ones at a dayer. The hope at every event is to hear at least one new song that I feel I must buy when I get home. From my perspective, the scene has evolved over the 40+ years that I have been involved, while still retaining some similarities with the scene I originally encountered. It is still populated by a mixture of “the clique” looking down on those they consider unworthy of their presence (fortunately, these are in declining numbers), the “uninitiated” aka hand-baggers/divs, or whatever other derogatory term is in favour at the moment (and their numbers seem to be on the increase), while the vast majority are like-minded people who have a shared love of the same music and want to have a good time, with a live and let live attitude. The violence has disappeared completely, and the scary older blokes in the shadows are now too old to be of any consequence. I do agree that much of what is now being played at “northern” events is far removed from what I first listened to in 1981. What was considered “Mod” or “Girl Group” at that time (and definitely not “northern soul”) can now regularly be heard. Some events can appear like a musical episode of Last of the Summer Wine (Audenshaw take a bow here), others have a younger element starting to make an appearance (Rugby, Keele and Splash of Soul in Bristol), while most evening events seem to be populated by people in their late 50s to early 70s looking to have a fun evening listening to music they love. For those saying that the scene is dead, you are right - it is TO YOU, and who am I to argue with how you feel? Just please be respectful to those who are still getting great enjoyment from mixing with like-minded souls. Dance floors are still full, albeit slower paced than 40-50 years ago. I am regularly thrilled to hear superb tunes that are new to my ears, while still enjoying old favourites. People continue to travel around the country to listen to quality DJs, many of whom are still trying to break new sounds (yes, Mr Such, I mean you). The various events cater to all tastes, be it oldies, rare/underplayed, modern - all you need to do is find the club(s) that best meet your personal taste, then go enjoy them. Where is the scene heading to in the future? I have no idea. As long as it continues to exist, and my hearing remains good enough to hear and my knees work well enough for me to keep dancing, I’m just happy that we still have a scene to enjoy.