Blackpool Soul Weekender
|
Blackpool Soul Weekender
|
|
Please click on
|
Blackpool Soul weekender Whether by accident or design, the Blackpool Soul Weekender always seems to coincide with the third round of the FA Cup. So it was that four soul virgins and myself found themselves in Blackpool that weekend. After watching a dour game at Deepdale in which West Brom beat Preston 2-0 we were looking forward to a plentiful helping of Soul in the evening to round the trip off. The Blackpool Hilton is undoubtedly an ideal venue for an event of this type. Besides the main auditorium where the concert took place another five conference rooms were taken over. One served as the shop where numerous dealers in vinyl or CD suppliers laid out their wares. The temptation was too great as I spent hideous amounts of money. I made certain I bought one CD from each of the three main stars to take home as a souvenir. It was in this room that they signed autographs and mingled with their fans after the concert was over. The other four rooms devoted themselves to playing a variety of different soul styles, and also hosting guest appearances by lesser soul artists. The 'lounge' hosted 70’s to 2005 connoisseur vibe, 'Springs' hosted Nu Soul and R&B, 'Queens' was for Soulful Dance and Jazz Funk, 'The Lancaster' played Crossover, reggae, Northern and Motown. Being the stick in the mud I am I spent most of my time in the Northern and classic soul room. I was a tad disappointed when this closed earlier than the other venues. In addition to the dance rooms there was ample space in the corridors and bars for people to chill out and enjoy a snack or a quiet drink. We arrived in the Royal suite where the concert took place just as the backing group were warming up. Also in attendance were three fine ladies acting as backing singers. I was fully expecting each of the artists to take a turn on stage, complete their performance before handing over to the next act, but instead they sang solo’s, duets and three part harmonies swapping between themselves throughout the night, with each taking time to go off stage and have a rest. Howard Hewett had formerly been the lead singer with Shalamar, as Phil Perry had been with the Montclairs. I was hoping they might turn back the hands of time and perform some of their vintage material, but they both concentrated on more contemporary songs. Hewett clearly tried to appeal to the ladies with some romantic numbers and the age-old trick of bringing women from the audience to join him on stage. Glenn Jones was better than competent, whilst Phil Perry hit notes you thought no male could ever reach. A remarkable accomplishment for a man of his age. The start of the concert was spoiled by poor work on the part of the sound engineers, but it improved as the concert went on. My main beef with the artists was that they were all trying to be contemporary, and by that I mean slow. From this perspective the material was ill judged, because the audience was clearly in a mood to party, but there was not a hint of an uptempo dance number from start to finish. On the whole it was a pleasant evening without being exceptional. The venue was good, the atmosphere was excellent. Whilst I acknowledge the quality of the facilities, the prices charged for drinks were obscene. The Hilton clearly made a lot from the event, it wouldn’t have hurt them to have been more reasonable on their pricing of refreshments. It hasn’t put me off too much however, and hopefully I’ll be there again next year, but this time I’ll take out a bank loan before I go. |
|
Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
|
the category you wish to choose from the options
below
