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The
41st Southport Weekender Part 1
Report by
Matt Colman and
photographs by Patrick Trollope
YET again we where invited to one
of the regions best kept secrets, if not the UK’s… Any ideas what it
is? You may not of heard of it, but it has been running now for 20
years and in
May it held it’s 40th event. Yes, we headed on down to
the start of the 41st Southport Weekender…
The event ran from Friday
2 November 2007 to 4 November 2007, nearly none stop... This amazing
event boasts some of the worlds greatest DJ’s, PA’s and bands,
playing music that ranges from drum and base, soul and funk, the
reggae, hip hop, classic jazz and hybrids of all the above, but that
was just the start… Myself, I have to admit, that I had heard of the
Soul Weekender, but I always thought it was some large dance event
held in Pontins… How wrong I was! It is a massive event, but not
dance music, as most would think, often most say that it is modern
day rave party music… I can confirm it aint anything like it. When I
arrived with our editor Patrick, I had the biggest shock of my life,
in front of me was what looked like hundreds and thousands of
people. All of them had come just for one thing, what is one of the
largest and best music event of its kind in Europe, and only
seconded to one in the USA, according to MTV and other world
renowned media… The event this year housed not one, but four main
rooms and a VIP room… Interestingly the Main Room, known to the
event as the Powerhouse is one of the biggest purpose built dance
halls in Europe and the biggest in the UK… So the scale of the event
was immense, to say the least.
The Powerhouse, played the best selection of house music and
classics and hosted some of the best live acts you ever wanted to
see. Complete with stunning funky visuals and amazing sound system
the atmosphere was electric; if not overwhelming at times for the
newbie.
The connoisseurs lounge showcased a bunch of great DJ’s and lives
acts from the soul genre, all of the acts where a selection of the
crowd pleasers for the veterans of the Weekender.
The intimate Bacardi room had a great feel to it, with lavish décor
the room was described as an "Elective Mix of Jazz Funk Broken
Beats, Drum ‘n’ bass to Techno, Deep and Soulful house" It
didn’t disappoint a great lively energetic feel to the trendy chill
out room.
Sponcors Alize of the Funk Base Room previewed an incredible mixture
of all the genres and some surprising live acts.
Highlights of the weekend included:- Rashaan Patterson a gentle
softly spoken chap singing some beautiful stuff, he had a cracking
voice together with a live band and two fantastic backing singers,
it made the atmosphere buzzing. There is nothing quite like being
inches away from live music, it certainly can take your breath away.
His set had a great chill out sound that really made a nice
ambience. On the Sunday he was back again but being the front man
for Sugarush beat company a great crossbreed rock sound. The Ananda
project where another great live act, people literally screamed and
pushed forward to get the front of the stage to watch them. This was
there first time live in the UK. The lead singer really captured the
audience with her popular well known and respected songs, the
audience lapped it up as they danced and cheered as her grace filled
the stage. A very strong commercial set in which she stormed.
Saturday night was in my eyes the biggest highlight of the whole
weekend, Soul II Soul. They where absolutely astounding, a journey
of there career spanning 20 years they where mind blowing, featuring
guest artists the sound was tremendous, they are certainly doing
something right, they finished on there biggest and most well know
hit “back to life” which really whipped the crowd into a frenzy. It
really made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Sounds of
Blackness where a big crowd pleaser with a very very strong set
featuring nine amazing vocalists, there set including some beautiful
acapellas. Some marvellous DJ sets by some cracking pro’s a couple
of ones that really stood out where by David Harness who really got
the crowd going for the live acts and the old pro Max Rees, a
resident DJ for the weekender for many years was inspirational.
The funny thing is there was hardly any sandgrounders there, people
of all ethnicities and cultures from all over the world, yet myself
and many other from Southport I’m sure until now really had no clue
to what this huge music event is really all about. Everybody was
extremely friendly, and it really added to the whole weekend, you
can’t beat it when the music’s fantastic, the people are great and
atmosphere is breathtaking; people all getting together to dance and
socialise with friends old and new.
We can’t wait for the 42nd one
like everyone else we spoke to, and that one will be held on 9 May
2008 till the 11 May 2008… Hurry as it will be a sell out and it is
going to be a great one!
Lots more photographs in next weeks issue! |
All Photographs
available to order. Please phone on 01704 513 569
from Wednesday 7 November 2007 to order your copies!
Also see next weeks issue for a fantastic offer!
We would like to thank all who helped us
cover this amazing event! We hope to see you all at the next
one!
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