Seaside Soul Club

And as this group of die-hard 'soulies' gathered at the Eric statue to launch their grandest venture to date, the great man would surely have approved of their plans to put his home town on the soul music map.

Although Morecambe is synonymous with Eric himself, as well as potted shrimps and the spectacular Big Bay View, the Seaside Soul Club hopes our resort will also soon become known as one of the soul music capitals of the UK.

The town certainly has a rich history of soul, going back to the soul nights on the Central Pier or the Dixieland Bar at the Winter Gardens.

Grow
Three years ago, the Seaside Soul Club helped to resurrect the scene with their monthly soul get-togethers at Upstairs Downstairs pub, which have continued to grow ever since.

Now the club's organisers are planning the free North Lancs Soul Festival, a three day celebration of soul music centred around some of Morecambe's pubs and clubs.

"This is easily the biggest thing we've ever done," said co-organiser Jason Mills.

"When we started the Seaside Soul Club we were just a group of like-minded mates who wanted to meet up each month and play soul music. We never envisaged doing anything like this.

"All the pubs who are involved have given their venues for free and everybody is giving up their time to make the event happen."

Sean O'Connor, co-organiser and DJ with the Seaside Soul Club, said: "We're hoping the festival will attract people to Morecambe from all over the country. We travel around visiting other club nights, so it would be nice to entice a few of those people up here to see what Morecambe has to offer.

"We hope locals will support the event as well.

"After all, what could be better than being in Morecambe in sunny April and listening to music coming from the pubs on the promenade?

"Now we're just praying for fine weather!"

Jason and Sean hope that if the festival is a success, it could become an annual event and have its place in what is becoming a revitalised music festivals calendar in Morecambe.

"We've seen the goths and the punks, so why not the 'soulies' instead?" said Sean.

To launch the festival, the Seaside Soul Club will hold a coach trip to another mecca of the north west soul scene, Wigan, on Friday, April 27.

Fans will travel to and from the popular Orwell Club for a night on the dancefloor. Bookings for this outing – with tickets priced at £15 – can be made through
www.seasidesoul.co.uk

Aside from the coach trip on Friday night, all other events will be free admission throughout the weekend.

The fun kicks off at the York Hotel on Saturday, April 28 with music from 10am to 1pm. It then continues at the Kings Arms in Morecambe from noon to 7pm and at the Bath Hotel from 1pm to midnight.

An Upstairs Downstairs Seaside Soul Club Special will take place from 8.30pm to 3am to round off Saturday night.

Once again the York will host the warm-up on Sunday, April 29 from 10am to 1pm, followed by an all-day soul party at JB's Bar, Morecambe FC, from 1pm to midnight.

The previous day is Morecambe's last Conference game of the season so – without wishing to tempt fate – there might well be a party atmosphere.

Festival
"It could be the perfect start to the perfect week," said Morecambe FC fan Sean, who also commentates for The Bay on the Shrimps' matches.

"Morecambe could be in the play-offs and the soul festival will start it all off. The town could really be buzzing."

DJs playing all kinds of soul music from across the board will include the Lanza Bar Crew, Roman, Alan Barnes, Terry Gee, Paul Thrower, Pete Haigh, Andy Lett, Steve Naylor, Geoff Claxton, Dave Gillett, Kevin Oxberry, Bob Smith, Gary Johnson, Shaun Robbins, Geoff Laghorn and local DJs such as Steve Middlesbrough, Tony Crookes, Simon Lee and the Seaside Soul crew themselves.

Please click on www.seasidesoul.co.uk or email sean@onthescene.co.uk for further details on the weekend and the Seaside Soul Club events throughout the year.