Barry

I agree. I was a kid at the end of the Wigan era but was brought up thinking Northern could be anything from The Deadbeats, Mari Wilson, Cecil Washington, ZZ & Co, The Vibrations, The Seeds, Charles Mann, L Allen, Charlie Gracie, ... whatever, just great black music. Other nights that followed pushed the boundaries of certain area's of underground soul - Stafford, 100's Club, Rotherham, Morecambe, Bradford etc but I was grateful for the grounding I got at Wigan. Fair enough, there was a lot of unrest with the punters re what was being played I suppose, but thank Christ the lads playing the music stuck to their guns - surely no one on this scene isn't grateful for hearing something outside their normal 'soulful sphere' at a nighter.

Ahhh, the petition, got you now. Top right balcony as you looked at the stage wasn't it, near the ladies bogs - and yes, it was a great night, Searling in full flow.

I was never a fan of the official Wigan 'backdrop' patch - looked like a kid had drawn it.

Haha, sorry???

I was there that night too, it was a Scottish flag and I remember Richard saying 'The only good thing about that flag is it's colours!' and laughing (obviously a Spurs quote ). It was unfurled at the beginning of Richards set and I'm sure it was Roy Dawson that he opened with. Northern, although majoritively in it's 70's Modern carnation is alive and well, up and down the country in backrooms to Soulful House events, although mainly played alongside disco and funk. The main reason nighters suffer, obviously, is the age group in attendance - the back rooms of House venues playing soul and disco offer a little more opportunity for youngsters to enjoy soul music with more of their own age group - I think Soulful House rooms can only do the Northern scene good, although I'm sure some would disagree.