Seductive Soul @ Nags Head Millington Saturday 16th February 2008
Review - T2 Bad
The nomadic Seductive Soul event has moved back to its former home at the Nags Head in Millington, Cheshire so on a sub-zero Saturday night your intrepid reporter T2 set off in hot pursuit of the former Woolpack locals!! To be honest, the directions to the venue weren’t up to much as I think the promoters were under the assumption that everyone would know the way there…but not me or my Sat-Nav!! I was driving around Millington, Bollington and Lymm etc for over 45 minutes trying to find the Nags Head and it was only when I was on the edge of the Warrington border miles away that I noticed a taxi pulling up alongside me with a South Manchester telephone number and my hopes of finding the venue were finally raised.
I asked the driver for directions and after a bit of deliberation he pointed me back to where I had come from and to a pub which I used to frequent quite often years ago. That’ll teach me not to pay attention to where I choose to drink!!!
Anyway, kicking myself for adding to the depletion of the Ozone Layer, I arrived at the Nags Head which is well hidden off a major dual carriage way, in fear of stepping out of my car because the exterior temperature gauge was showing -6 Brrrr!!!!! I hurried inside before I caught frost-bite on my more sensitive parts as I still have need for them on anniversaries and birthdays if my lucks in!!! I was met by Jim Hargreaves (Bob’s brother) at the door and was pointed in the general direction of the epicentre of action.
Whilst walking through the venue, I thought to myself The Nags Head hasn’t changed much, but as I walked into the function room downstairs I was wowed by what greeted me!!! They had turned what was a pretty drab and uninspiring function room into a Chic City Centre style bar!! The walls were adorned in white and there was latent blue mood lighting emanating from the coutured crevices which formed the alcoves between the ceiling and the walls!! WOW!!!
Seductive Soul was in full swing with Mark Grice taking care of business. There is a danger with a venue like this that the crowd could become fragmented as there were people outside smoking and people upstairs chilling, but the vast majority were where it mattered, not too far away from the dance-floor. The music was a bit up & down as the crowd were on and off the dance-floor like an ebbing tide that couldn’t make its mind up whether it was time to come in or go out!!!
The music improved when Jim Hargreaves took to the turntables, but the mixing of the tracks left a lot to be desired and this didn’t go unnoticed as it was mentioned to me by quite a few people. On numerous occasions the Seductive Soul faithful were stopped dead in their tracks as the clashing of different beats threw them. At one point it was that bad, it sounded like someone had just fell down the staircase!!!
Musically it wasn’t the best that I’d heard at Seductive Soul, but Chris and Jim can easily be forgiven on that score because this was the first event back at the Nags Head and they had tried their very best to make sure that everything was spot on. Overall I enjoyed the night and I think this can be said for most people who attended. Seductive Soul still seems to be the connoisseurs’ choice when it comes to quality Soul and is definitely the place to check out if you fancy an upmarket night out in the sticks!!
Soul Control Verdict:
The Nags Head is definitely a better venue than the Saracens Head and the people with whom I spoke to were all in agreement to that testimony. The music and mixing left a lot to be desired in parts, but hopefully this will improve by next month’s event. All things considered, it was a worthwhile if unspectacular night out.
Soul Control Rating:
