Seductive Soul - Saturday 22nd November 2008
Review - Neil
Yep it’s that time again, to put some diesel in the tank and head for Seductive Soul at the Cheshire Lounge. For those who don’t know, the Cheshire Lounge is basically a sophisticated pub/restaurant on the outskirts of Cheshire and it has a classy vibe to it rather than street vibe you get in the clubs in Manchester City Centre, so subsequently it does attract a slightly different crowd.
It was an absolutely freezing night and I thought on my way down there that it would be interesting to see if people would leave their warm caves to venture out in the Cheshire outback!!! The first and last time I went to Seductive was in September of this year. It blew me away and left me doubting my own Soul knowledge which is something I hold dear, but this time however Seductive turned out to be a slightly different affair.
Me and my mate Scott entered around 11.30pm and this time the sat-nav took us straight their instead of though Kenya like last time. The place was already filling up nicely, around 100 I’d say. As soon as we walked in, I had big smile on my face as some Soul classics were already pumpin (Surface – falling in love). I think Jim Hargreaves and Chris Priestly were on the decks. They were playing a mainly up-tempo 80’s classic set and by midnight the dance floor had a few people on it.
By 1am the dance-floor was in full flow and the Soul Brothers took over. Their set was not as good as the previous set which was a shame, but the crowd were enjoying it nonetheless. Near the end of their set I felt the pace was getting a bit too pedestrian.
The last rotation took place which was Jim Hargreaves and he quickly brought the pace back up by playing classics from 80’s and 90’s. I loved 52nd Street – Tell Me, Surface – Happy , SOS Band - Just be good to me and Patrice Rushen – Feels so Real, to name a few. There weren’t as many people in November as in September,I would say about 150 tops and you could actually get on the dance-floor this time. There were the usual Soul suspects in the crowd and I also noticed a few young people there too. Soul-fans? I’m not sure, but it was good to see though. I must say, that people do make an effort to slick themselves up at this event with the highlight being the André 3000 guy in an all white suit. Pimp Sir!!!
One of my all time fave tracks came on Cheryl Lynn- Encore – I hadn’t realised, but whilst I was dancing everybody was swaying, twisting and swinging behind me in tandem. I tuned around and I suddenly felt I was a lollipop man stuck in the front, so I ushered myself to the side of the dance-floor to enjoy the spectacle.
Towards the end the night some, of my pet hate songs came on Faith Evans – Love like this, 112 - Wifey, Ideal etc!!! At this point I thought it best to retire from dance-floor for the evening. Not long after I spotted Soul Control’s T2 Bad and he was telling us that he was a bit shook up because when he arrived and got out of his car, a growling fox was there to greet him!!!! I explained to him reason why the fox was probably pissed off was because he hadn’t taken a picture of it for the Soul Control website!!!! Anyway being a city dweller, T apparently beat a hasty retreat and left the Cheshire wildlife to it!!!! LOL
Soul Control Verdict:
As aforementioned, the last time I visited Seductive in September I was blown away by the new Quality Soul which was played early on. Seductive in November was more about Soul classics which were well known. There’s nothing wrong with this and I enjoyed it, but just not to the same degree as in September, but it is hard to keep the benchmark high all the time. I must say the mixing is still an issue, but it’s not a problem for me although it maybe for others. Seductive Soul is still one the best if not the best regular monthly Soul night around but I think it would have been better to have the Soul Brothers on 1st rotation.
Soul Control Rating:
