Blackburn (Nighter)
By Simon Cuerden
Blackburn Nighter is a solid date now on a lot of Soulies calendars. Never
promising any thing but always delivering a hot slice of Northernsoul pie.
Reaching the venue too earlier, thanks to Stan the Man and Shelia, we waited out
side in the car for the warm up to start. Dave Rimmer was the first to arrive
and he highjacked me into carrying his boxes up stairs, my back is still sore!
The up stairs room was a pleasant little, informal affair with records being
spun in no particular order prior to the Nighter. Soon Little Scotty could be
seen taking the money for the Nighter, £10 for nine hours of soul ain bad.
Entering the venue and climbing the stairs is rather like visiting a students
bed sit or climbing Mount Blanc! You could not class Tony’s Ballroom as a classy
joint, well not unless you are a new world traveller. Indeed it rather gives the
impression that you don’t want to lean on the walls! Some may even describe it
as scruffy or dirty; I will just say it has English charm and character, and
move on hurriedly. Besides were here for the music not the décor.
Blackburn was not the best Nighter and the strange mix of music worked on one
level but seemed to struggle on another. Many time during the evening the floor
thinned as the DJ’s wrestled with their record boxes. Getting it just right is
some thing of a hit and miss, not really an exact science. Fill the floor and
you get accused of cruising and playing safe, clear the floor and you are
playing the wrong records? I still have to salute Blackburn for taking us, the
punter, that bit further with our musical spectrum.
This night I heard a lot of new stuff ranging from catchy danceable RnB belters
to some pretty diabolical, yet interesting, tunes. We go back to “One mans meat”
and all that. Dave Rimmers spot was predominantly an Oldies spot and he did play
some fantastic soulful tunes that were not appreciated by all and the dance
floor suffered a little. To be brutally honest the dance floor never did fill
and most chose to chill out and socialise. Next up was Kenny Burrell whose
rather expensive box of tricks didn’t quite do the funky stuff on the dance
floor either. I was beginning to sense a sort of melancholy feeling of
indifference amongst the crowd? Bloody hell I was getting depressed the dance
floor had all but emptied and at a Nighter that is not a pretty site! Five
minutes or so later “Boom” as if called by some strange mating instinct, the
dance floor filled, and this time it was chocker block! The weirdest thing was
that it was not the same old same old being played, no it was a burst of magic
thanks to some of the best RnB I have ever had the privilege to hear!
Looking back over the Nighter I can now see why the music policy is so important
to Blackburn. There were no DJ’s too scared to play that little bit of rare
magic, even at the cost of the dance floor which I find both brave and
commendable. I think Blackburn is for serious Soulies who don’t take themselves
too seriously! Brilliant night and I am now left with at least eight, fragmented
tunes rushing around my head waiting to be named and me hoping to hear them
again. And believe me this hasn’t happened for a long long time!
Simon Cuerden