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Do they mean us...?! Here are some of the things they've been saying about us...!
Most of the comments you can read here come from discussion groups on the Net, most paricularly the Keeping The Faith list (KTF), the Soul Talk list, the British Mods list and the Northern Mods list. One or two appeared on websites or in magazines. Together they give a little of the flavour of what Scenesville is about, what it means to the people who are part of the club, and why some Soul fans respond to it so strongly.
So if you've never made it down and you're wondering whether to give Scenesville a try, or if you just want to remember good times you've had at the club, check out those reviews and see what, in the words of the punters, Scenesville is all about...
OCTOBER 2000
Well done to Mr Brown. Really enjoyed the night, top sounds, top venue and top people. Only two points of complaint - the venue was too light, Nick soon had it sorted though and they do not sell Red Bull, now this could make or break a soul night IMO :-) Three bottles of champagne did the trick though!
Praise the lord for Nurofen!
London is positively kicking at the moment. Looking forward to the next one
Matt Jahans ( KTF)
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Just a quick hi to all the KTF crew at the do on Friday. Great to be able to put faces to names on the list. Top venue, top music, top people can't ask for more than that even without Red Bull !! Can't wait for the next one.
Andy Faulkner (KTF)
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Anyway..........back to Friday night at the Notre Dame Hall just off Leicester Sq - what a luverly venue, as promised by our fearless Driv. A crowd of @ 200 braved the rain and were thoroughly entertained by Driv, Dawn, Chris Dale and our man Mr.Rix (driven down by Rob who had only just arrived back from the US that morning!). The tunes covered the entire spectrum of the NS scene and I'm sure there was something for everyone - hopefully Driv will post up the play lists on his site/KTF. I can tell you that there was a high Shrine count (Shirley Edwards, Cautions, Cairos, Ray Pollard, Eddie Daye) and a healthy dose of acetates, set alongside floor friendly favourites by the Tan Geers, O'Jays, Sam Dees, Seven Souls, L.Allen, not to mention the 7 minute version of Luther Ingram's "Exus Trek" meets "If it's all the same to you" - you could see the legs getting tired to that one! Also enjoyed shuffling around to the mid tempo tunes that were mixed in as well, with the stand out for me being Larry Wright's "It's OK with me" - serious floor polishing stuff. One downer - poor Matt had to settle for Champagne as there was no Red Bull 8-0. Mind you, he must have clocked up his favourite phrase at least x100 times by the end of the evening.......you know the one if you've ever met him, "Goddam it............!" I really enjoyed it and am now looking forward to the next one.....when will
it be Driv?
Dave Flynn (KTF)
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Just like to add my congrats to Driv and Andy on the Notre Dame night, absolutely amazing venue, as Matt said, it was a teensy bit too light but that's easily sorted.... great sounds and an excellent atmosphere, and only a first night!
Should turn into yet another London monster, blimey, how many nights can this small town endure? Lots I reckon, as long as they're that good :-)
Martin Thompson (KTF)
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FEBRUARY 2001
I' m a confirmed oldies diehard, but I went to Notre Dame for the first time last week & I hardly knew anything. It's not easy being on a dancefloor to sounds you don' t know, but there were tunes there that pulled you to the dancefloor blind & helpless. Driveller is sending out tapes to all members, so next time I' ll know when to spin. What a guy.
Tom Wood (KTF)
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Well it all started normally enough. Friday afternoon about an hour before I was due to go home to get ready for the Notre Dame do everything that could have gone wrong proceeded to do so. So finished up leaving work an hour later than I wanted to. But then shock horror the trains were working and I got up to Leicester Square on time! I was gobsmacked! So I got there and found a queue of people all waiting to pick up their memberships. Didn't take very long as Dawn had a very efficient filing system. In I trot then into the venue. For those that haven't seen it, the place is a proper ballroom Come Dancing style which has a large stage where the DJs reside and an even larger sprung dancefloor. There are numerous seats dotted around and having deposited coat I had a quick look around before going to bar. Well you have to get the priorities right. Soon ran into Martin T and had a chat with him and his mate. Meanwhile more KTFrs were arriving Janine, Winston, Flynny and from the posts flying around quite a few others who I completely missed !! Anyway the dancefloor was fairly slow to warm up possibly because it's so darn big that it's quite intimidating at the start and also it's quite bright (still not convinced about the glitter ball Driv ;-) ). First serious dance to Les Chansonettes awesome song. Then more beer, chat, dancing, beer dancing, more beer, chat etc etc. Once the floor got going it never stopped and it was just as well it was big because it felt like half of London was in there, not bad for the second date. Music was good all the way with a mixture of newies and oldies apart from Andy Rix who delivered a complete newies set (only recognised Baby A Go-Go top tune IMO). All in all a top night, highlight has to be the Luther Ingram remix, not going to say any more than that you'll have to come to the next one !!
Andy Faulkner (KTF)
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Notre-Dame - Well all I can say is told you so, what a great nite, 300+ crowd, top venue, top location, top night. Think this is destined to be an instant addition to the top UK events, some great sets by regular DJs Dawn Brown, Chris Dale, Andy Rix and Nick Brown Brief highlights, great set which got the floor working by Dawn, then Chris Dale come out with some cracking stuff, Andy Rix as always played some of the best rare stuff around, inc a cracking one off Detroit Rhythm Section no title instrumental, Jimmy Ruffin - Who Picks a Rose, Switch Around, In One Ear Out Other, Don't Stop - Royal Five - which sounded awesome, Not The Marrying Kind, (unbelievable that this was played uncut on national radio other week... !!!!!!! ) plus a couple of new spins, Nick Brown took the helm for last spot and whipped crowd up to a frenzy with a great set featuring his current spins inc Pic and Bill - What Does It Take, Doc and Interns -The Love That You Give, and more quality sounds, ending the nite. End of day, looks like another worthy addition to the thriving real northern scene, joining 100 and Dome, in the London must go category. With its own style, sounds, and regular DJs can safely say you're going to hear more bout this place now its started on a regular basis.
Mike Hughes (Soul Source website)
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APRIL 2001
"Progressive Sixties in a party atmosphere".
Have to admit I was slightly sceptical about Scenesville last night, owing to the above description on the flyer-too thick to know what that means but suspected it might mean music too slow to dance to. So, Driveller, I owe you an apology! Stonking night in a brilliant venue, the most fantastic dance floor imaginable-and as a member of the dance police, no problem on that score-quite a lot of "freestyle" going on and bloody jiving but they stuck to their own space so that will do for me. Andy Rix did a great spot, I thought about asking him for Sunshine Girl-but then thought better of it-Track of the night for me was something Andy Rix played-"hold on....."with a lot of brass? not a clue ,too busy dancing and forgot to ask. Never heard it before. Congratulations Driv -great night, fab mix of music-quite a lot I had never heard before, but enough that I had. Hope it was a success for you-it deserves good support.
Sue Parker (KTF)
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Last Friday saw the third of the Scenesville Vintage Soul Appreciation Society's Leicester Square based rare soul events. Arrived at Green Park tube on schedule (Connex on time again!!!!) and almost immediately met up with Ady L and Sarah who surprise, surprise were heading in the same direction so the short journey to Leicester Square was spent in semi anorak mode.
Got to Notre Dame well early to find that Matt had already beaten us to it along with Stubbsy. Having deposited coat and purchased light liquid refreshment we settled down to await the evenings entertainment. I had been studiously playing the Scenesville tape during the week in the hope that I might recognise some more tunes than I did on the first two occasions and I'm pleased to say that I did but only one or two (noted in end of term report - could do better !!) Again because of the size of the place and especially the dancefloor it takes a little time to get going., but the class of music being pumped out was off the highest order IMO. I would find it interesting to see the dancefloor response if the Stokes Benny Spellman sound-a-like was aired later on, I think it's a cracker myself. Lots of KTF'rs in attendance Winston, Steve H, Michelle, Billy, Dave F and Sue again apologies to anybody I've missed out. Also amongst the throng were a number of the Dome and Shoes regulars and again it sums up the friendliness of the scene in London that there are loads of people you can say Hi to that you only met the week before.
On the celebrity front Ady C was in attendance and neatly deflected my attempts to grill him about the Thelma Jones c/up he's playing at the mo. Also there was a certain famous Mecca DJ and I have to say this provided the funniest moment of the night for me as IL and his two cohorts proceeded to line up three chairs at the edge of the dancefloor and then stayed there for the rest of the night. It really reminded me of Juke Box jury. Well funny!
As I said before once the dancefloor got going it was never empty, I thought numbers were slightly down on last time, but etiquette seemed pretty good to me, though as Sue mentioned there were various styles of dancing taking place. The lighting was also better IMO as Driv had forgotten to turn the glitter ball on ;-). Again the music thoughout the night was tops and it is refreshing to have different venues playing different sets with only the odd one or two tunes being played at more than one venue (Because Of You springs to mind but that is pure class anyway IMO).
At most nights I manage to cock something up and this was no exception, the guys there would have seen me doing David Bailey impersonations with my new camera. Well the idiot that I am I didn't quite fathom the instruction manual and had had the flash set for night scene. It wasn't until Saturday morning that I found out that Nightscene involves the shutter staying open for 4 seconds!!! So some of the results were Psychedelic to say the least :-( However Flynny borrowed the camera for a few shots of Driv and these have come out fine (is there anything you're not good at Dave ??;-)). Hopefully I'll bring em along to the Shoes do on Thursday.
All in all another storming night at Notre-Dame. Congrats go to Driv and Rixy and all the other DJs, as I said before the rare soul scene in London is looking healthy and is in very good hands.
Andy Faulkner (KTF)
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Scenesville, Notre Dame Hall, London, 6th April, 2001.
So, two weeks in a row, I'm in London to listen to 'Northern Soul'. What's gone wrong in the Midlands and the North ? That aside this was a great night. I travelled down with John Pugh who was one of the guest DJs for the night. When we arrived Frank Giacobbe was doing the business with some Stafford rarities and disappointingly not getting much dancefloor reaction. Then a guy whose name I never discovered played some really nice stuff, but again failed to fill the floor. In fact his last record was really downtempo and virtually emptied the dancefloor for John Pugh. Never mind, John started off with The Vondells followed by Little John. Full dancefloor ensued for the rest of the set. The busiest it got was for the vocal to 'Six By Six', although people hadn't realised it was the vocal when they started dancing. It was also nice to hear John play the Chris Bartley track as well. Andy Rix followed on: Keni Lewis, Jimmy Radcliffe, Phonetics, Jesse James, Cindy Scott, all unreleased acetates (Does the lad have any real records ?). Awesome spot though. It was left to Nick 'The Driveller' Brown to finish the night off. Not to be outdone, he started off with the Doc & The Interns unreleased acetate. Overall, the quality of music was top notch throughout the night, and I think you would struggle to hear so many great records in one night any where else. The venue itself is rather special as well. An underground dance hall, just off Leicester Square in Central London, the main dance floor room is actually an oval in shape. Well done to Nick Brown who is the promoter, another top night to rival The Dome in London.
Dave Rimmer (Soulful Kinda Music Magazine & Web Site)
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AUGUST 2001
quick post as someone's waiting impatiently....
Last night's sounds were F**KING BRILLIANT!!!!!!
Absolutely loved Notre Dame.
Definitely my cup of tea... even though I drink coffee.
ps. Andy Rix - I think I love you 8-)
Maria Orlovic (KTF)
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Well I finally made it to the Notre Dame, and now its a case of disappointment over missing the others I had a chance to attend.
This has to be one of the best nights that the South has to offer. The hall is right out of the back lot at Shepperton Studios and could be included in any 50s'60's period piece without any need for alteration. Notre Dame is a once proud Dance Hall that is now holding its head high once again. The old style layout of having the bar separate from the main hall is a welcome change from screaming your order over 5000 watts of rare soul. The architecture complements the sixties music policy perfectly and you cant help but feel totally absorbed, comfortable and enthusiastic about what is going to happen. The dance floor is second to none, and delivers exactly what you would expect from a purpose built Dance Hall. Well then what about the music.... ah ah ahhh, what a treat to hear well chosen dancables. You guys in London, who do not venture North, have no idea just how spoiled you are. Not even a hint of a sagging, bored or battered to death 45 here. Having spent many an hour wishing, praying and hoping for some variation in the playlists offered by some other venues, my wishes were answered, and all in the same place on the same night. From a 15 quidder by the Dolls - The Reason Why - Loma ( thanks Driv.. what a great surprise ) to a 5 min version of Pookie Hudson' s - This Gets To Me... Tommy Ridgley, Drake & The EnSolids what's a bloody EnSolid ) Shirley Edwards, Brooks Brothers and on and on and on they came.... BLOODY WONDERFUL. It seemed that everyone I spoke with added their appreciation to the experience that Notre Dame has to offer, it just kept on building and building all night.
I would think that the centre of London, hell the UK for that matter has very few places where your "six quid in" delivers such a total package. Congratulations and much thanks to every person involved with this event, you have created a venue that raises the level of excellence, yet does so with dignity, style and grace.
I am a very, very happy punter.
Barry James (Soul Talk)
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Andy,
Just saying this morning that it was the best so far. And you played a storming spot mate. Atmosphere was electric.
Not sure about Nicks claims that it is an air conditioned venue. Air conditioned bar maybe:-)
Nogsy (KTF)
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This Friday's Scenesville night went really well. For some reason (familiarity breeding contempt?) things took a little while to warm up. But by 10.30 the floor was pretty full. Unfortunately, guest Tony Smith seemed to empty it a bit, but after him it got better, the floor busier and the temperature hotter as the night went on. Can't pinpoint just why Tony wasn't as well received as previous guests - opinions, anyone? But this night has supplanted the Dome in my book as the very best night London has to offer. Not so much because of the sounds, as both offer a great mix of 6ts newies with a few better known things to keep it moving, but the venue. With the best will in the world, you couldn't describe the Dome as any better than shabby, whereas the ND Hall is in great nick, well-maintained, has a separate bar area and is slap-bang in the centre of London. What more could you ask for? Well, OK, I couldn't make out too many of the DJ announcements, and a few grumbles were heard about it being too light. But these are minor blemishes on what is an excellent night, and one that those from north of Watford should try to get to. I won't bother listing playlists (mainly cos I don't take notes and can never remember much on that score!) but I'm sure Driv can offer that if there is enough shout-outs.
Neil Marsh (Soul Talk)
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OCTOBER 2001
Thanks to Nick & Crew for a thoroughly enjoyable night @ Notre Dame on Friday-gave the dodgy knee a bit of a work-out on the best dancefloor in London! Apologies to Andy Rix for asking for the same record (Switch Around)everytime.
Martin Harland (Soul Talk)
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Just back from Scenesville, BRILLIANT night, well done guy's on the first anniversary here's to plenty more, big thanks to Paul Clarke for the lift home
Janine Snow (Soul Talk)
Yep, I'll second that too. It was my first trip to this venue & I really enjoyed myself. Good to see Chalky & wife, Andy D, Matt (suffering on Saturday were you? :-)), Dave F, Stuart, Johnny, Martin, Janine, Neil and I'm sure others in the haze of alcohol. We seem to be a bit spoilt in London at the moment but long may it continue.
David Dixon (Soul Talk)
I'd third it but I was on planet zog. Got carried away with the goodie bag. To put it bluntly I was shit faced. Still not f*ckin slept. Music tho' was excellent just a pity I was glued to the chair up there with the cuckoos, could I f*ck get up to dance. Neil brought some Welsh lass over and that really did me 'ead in, thought she was a strip-a-gram or summat at first. Surprised at the amount of oldies and motown tho' but they were basically gooduns. Excellent sets from all the DJs, can't really single one out. I know Ady played Martha Starr for me. Top 3 tho' were my all time fave Tommy Ridgely-My Love Gets Stronger (Int. City), Paul Sindab-I Was A Fool (Knox or Powertree) and 4 Reputations-Call On Me(Millage). What else f*ck knows, I'll remember later. I did dance for about the first couple of hours or so, bloody wet through, thought it was air conditioned :-) Cheers to Kenny for puttin me an our lass up for the night, went to bed at 5ish got up about 9 after 5 hours staring at the ceiling:-)). Big cheers to Mark Hansen for the lift in to town. My only gripe is when will you Londoners get a proper bar and some proper booze :-) When you lot come up North you get a proper bar, draught bitter and lager, the works. Not cans or no draught at all:-))
Chalky 8-))
Chalky (Soul Talk)
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Haven't done a review for ages, but the artistic juices seem to be flowing again so here goes.
Scenesville's first anniversary was a bit of a special night for me as well. Only a year before not only had I just joined some nutters on a mailing list called KTF but my first nervous venture to a London soul do happened to be the inaugural Notre Dame do. So what's stayed the same and what's changed then? Well the venue and the dancefloor are still as good as ever. It's still too bright (IMHO) and there still is that f*****g glitter ball:-). At the first visit one of the first tunes I recognised (Carol & Gerri - How Can I Ever Find A Way) also got played this time. One of the first people I'd introduced myself to was Matt who then spent the rest of the night drinking Verve Cliquot or some other sparkling grape beverage and blow me he was doing it again this time as well (with pretty much the same result). On the liquid refreshment side you still can't buy a pint :-(. The resident DJs (Nick, Dawn, Chris and Andy) are still spinning a mixture of predominantly sixties newies, underplayed oldies and timeless classics ( could be a shade more 70's stuff beginning to appear) and I still don't recognize much of Andy's set. What's changed?? Well I definitely know more tunes than I did twelve months ago which with hindsight wasn't difficult. I seem to be hitting the dancefloor on a far more regular basis than before though the actual dancing I do is still shite! What the big difference is the people I've met in the last year. At the first do I stood around looking for the fabled KTF'rs all wearing their badges before eventually bumping into Matt. Now before the doors were opened I'd met Chalky and Sarah and by the time I'd got in and made a base camp, I'd said Hi to loads of mates I'd made over the previous year. It still staggers me how
genuinely friendly people are at soul dos (I guess everyone has one thing in common or you wouldn't be there). Another change is the incorporation of a guest DJ. Tonight it was Ady Croasdell and for me his set was the only slight disappointment of the night. I thought he played a slightly too oldies orientated set and the dancefloor, though never empty was not packed either. This could be me knit-picking too much though. Anyway as always the night seemed over before it had begun and Drivs final set, which included Luther Ingrams extended remix thing, brought a stonking night to a close. I think the Scenesville crew should be very proud of what they've achieved over the past year and long may it continue.
Andy Faulkner (KTF)
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DECEMBER 2001
Just got to say last nights Notre Dame was brilliant, got there at about 10.15 and caught great sets by Rob Thomas, John Weston, Any Rix and Nick Brown. Superb.
Paul Thomas-Peter (KTF)
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Yup, you missed a brilliant night in London at Scenesville, nearly in tears at the thought of it not being there again ;-(...but so long as it continues somewhere I will have the will to live.......... :-) Top night, great sets, brilliant venue, brilliant atmosphere... sorry, not to good at write up's especially when under the influence of alcohol! don't know who played what but the floor was pretty packed all night, Dawn was great as usual, as was the rest of the residents, that John bloke wasn't too bad either:-) (bugger he's not on here is he :-)) ok bed time for me 100 club tomorrow night..
Janine Snow (Soul Talk/KTF)
Hard to believe it was really the last one....we will always keep a special place in our memory of this stunning venue, and its brilliant atmosphere. I'm about to write a review for my friends at LA PELLE NERA, so please a playlist would be much appreciated. Dawn...your set was absolutely FANTASTIC!
Cristina Naggar (Soulful Cris) (Soul Talk)
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An exchange on British Mods, December 6th, 2001:
Grrr,
the more posts I read about tomorrow night, the more I silently grind my teeth in frustration. I've foolishly agreed to go to my flatmate's sister's birthday do here in Brighton which, admittedly, will probably be a laugh, but I'd rather be up at Notre Dame with you girls and boys. I'll be there in spirit, now please stop going on about it.
David Nichols Atkinson
I wouldn't miss it for the world, it's the BEST night in London, and in the BEST venue, I recommend if you like soul music that you should make the effort to be there as it's the last time at the present venue, and in years to come I will be proud to say I was a part of it
Janine Snow
Janine, Gawd bless yer for your emotional comments about Notre Dame. I've only been twice, third time tomorrow and if I'd known it was all going to end, I'd have made damn sure that I'd attended more. A fantastic old fashioned style ballroom/venue with brilliant sounds. J, I'll buy you a snifter tomorrow and we'll have a bloody good cry in a corner!!!
Richie Brine-Williams.
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