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Sheffield's Darnall Horti’ Closed

rarer and underplayed soul music

Posted by John Moffatt

Published    17

Sheffield's Darnall Horti’ Closed


It is with great regret that we must announce that Darnall Horti’ Soul Club has spun its last record. What began as an experiment, nine and a half years ago, to see if there was a market for rarer and underplayed soul music, led to many, many brilliant nights with a regular, dedicated audience of knowledgeable soul fans.

Those same soul fans have also helped raise many hundreds of pounds for various charities over the years. You have all been so generous.

But all these things have a shelf-life, and lately numbers have diminished sharply: so sharply, in fact, that maintaining the night is no longer viable.

May we thank all those who came along to make our events so very special, and, of course, to all those brilliant collectors and DJs who dug deep to find those elusive tracks that we enjoyed so much.

We hope we will see you all somewhere soon.

The Horti’ Crew.

 



Author Profile: John Moffatt

John Moffatt

John Moffatt is a contributor at Soul Source, covering Northern Soul, Rare Soul, and modern soul scene stories.
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    • Up vote 5

    Article Comments

    Recommended Comments

    Guest nametaken

    Guest nametaken

    Guests

    Yes very sad news 😥

    I'll second all that John 😊 special people, special place n fantastic music..... 

    The horti is what grasped my ( and baz) appetite t hear summat different 😘😘

    Xx shelly 😍 xx  

    Guest Baz1

    Guest Baz1

    Guests

    Great place and great people with a faith higher than keepin it 😢 thanks to all involved for an amazing 7 yrs with so many friendships that its our life now with these fabulous people, thanks again to you all Xx baz n shelly 

    Veteran

    Patto

    Members
    • Popular Comment

    So Sorry to hear this John.As you know my heart lies with the more Traditional Northern oldies Soul scene .However i have great respect for what you did at the Horti by playing the more Soulful side of the coin that so deserves to be heard.

    Also have great respect for your early days support for The Gas Club helping it to get off the ground.I sincerly hope you and your DJ team live to fight another day at other venues.The soul scene needs Diversity.

    Patto

    • Up vote 4
    Regular

    Pat Bleasdale

    Members

    Sad news John very sorry to hear this. You and your dj team alway had a very friendly welcome when I came across to dj for you. I know the work that you have put into these nights over the years.

    Good luck to you and Helen in the future.

    Atb

    Pat

    • Up vote 1
    Long Time

    3 Before 8

    Members

    Hi John so sad another soul night gone in Sheffield. Just like to say a big thank-you for getting the Gas Club going without you and Nigel it would never have got off the ground. Best wishes to you and Helen. Dave

    • Up vote 1
    Long Time

    Twoshoes

    Members
    On ‎27‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 19:21, baz1 said:

    with a faith higher than keepin it

    That's a marvellous turn of phrase Baz and much deeper than it seems, made me smile on a wet windy morning.

    • Up vote 1
    Veteran

    Tezza

    Members
    (edited)

    Never got to The Horti but heared so many fabulous tales.  I admire your determination to help keep the Soul Scene as it was in the day when you could hear something different and new rather than being stuck in the same old rut.  A fabulous model for anyone thinking of starting up a new venue (God knows we need them Lol !!)

    Sadly it is becoming a nostalga  scene but one day they will look back and rue the day they turned their back on the Horti Club.

    Keep your passion, there are a few Oasis’s out there XX

    Edited by Tezza

    • Up vote 2
    Guest Baz1

    Guest Baz1

    Guests
    2 hours ago, Tezza said:

    Never got to The Horti but heared so many fabulous tales.  I admire your determination to help keep the Soul Scene as it was in the day when you could hear something different and new rather than being stuck in the same old rut.  A fabulous model for anyone thinking of starting up a new venue (God knows we need them Lol !!)

    Sadly it is becoming a nostalger scene but one day they will look back and rue the day they turned their back on the Horti Club.

    Keep your passion, there are a few Oasis’s out there XX

    Great words terry 👍 nostalgia is the right word,me n shelly wer new to the scene in 1999 and we got fed up of the same tunes by 2010 😖 we just get the buzz from goin up and askin wtfit your playin 😮 sad end to a great few years😢 baz n shelly btw we just dont get the nostalgia part of the scene 😱😂

    Veteran

    John Moffatt

    Members
    15 hours ago, baz1 said:

    Great words terry 👍 nostalgia is the right word,me n shelly wer new to the scene in 1999 and we got fed up of the same tunes by 2010 😖 we just get the buzz from goin up and askin wtfit your playin 😮 sad end to a great few years😢 baz n shelly btw we just dont get the nostalgia part of the scene 😱😂

    What is it they say - 'nostalgia ain't what it used to be.' 😂

    Veteran

    John Moffatt

    Members
    18 hours ago, Tezza said:

    Never got to The Horti but heared so many fabulous tales.  I admire your determination to help keep the Soul Scene as it was in the day when you could hear something different and new rather than being stuck in the same old rut.  A fabulous model for anyone thinking of starting up a new venue (God knows we need them Lol !!)

    Sadly it is becoming a nostalga  scene but one day they will look back and rue the day they turned their back on the Horti Club.

    Keep your passion, there are a few Oasis’s out there XX

    Thanks Tezza, very much appreciated. Your sentiments here echo the reasons why we started the Horti' off in the first place. Hopefully something will take its place sooner rather than later. For the time being it looks like either the same old same old, or endless reruns of Coronation Street on the idiot box. 😂 In fairness, I detect signs that some people are starting the grasp what we were doing. With luck they'll develop further, and we can get back to real soul music. One or two small venues, and a small number of DJs are collecting and daring to play 'something different'. They'll certainly get my support.

     

    • Up vote 1
    Veteran

    Andybellwood

    Passed-on
    5 hours ago, John Moffatt said:

    Thanks Tezza, very much appreciated. Your sentiments here echo the reasons why we started the Horti' off in the first place. Hopefully something will take its place sooner rather than later. For the time being it looks like either the same old same old, or endless reruns of Coronation Street on the idiot box. 😂 In fairness, I detect signs that some people are starting the grasp what we were doing. With luck they'll develop further, and we can get back to real soul music. One or two small venues, and a small number of DJs are collecting and daring to play 'something different'. They'll certainly get my support.

     

    Well said John . Hopefully the Dotties chillout sessions will appeal to those of similar thinking and appreciation . You certainly have set the bar high for others to aspire to . 

    • Up vote 1
    Veteran

    John Moffatt

    Members
    58 minutes ago, andybellwood said:

    Well said John . Hopefully the Dotties chillout sessions will appeal to those of similar thinking and appreciation . You certainly have set the bar high for others to aspire to . 

    Thanks Andy, went to Don McBlade's do in Beverly recently, brilliant. And we now have a growing number of rarer chill-out Sundays in Sheffield (alongside the Mulberry), though no evening events, so far as I know. Might  make Dottie's one day, though without our own transport it's a bit awkward. Fingers crossed. 🙂

     

    • Up vote 1
    Veteran

    Andybellwood

    Passed-on
    17 minutes ago, John Moffatt said:

    Thanks Andy, went to Don McBlade's do in Beverly recently, brilliant. And we now have a growing number of rarer chill-out Sundays in Sheffield (alongside the Mulberry), though no evening events, so far as I know. Might  make Dottie's one day, though without our own transport it's a bit awkward. Fingers crossed. 🙂

     

    Thanks John . It is possible by public transport . Transpennine trains to Malton , then a short hop on the regular Coastliner bus to the coast which stops at Pickering . For the next one (8th Sept.) a few of the djs are from your next of the woods and I understand a few more may be travelling over so might be some spare car space ? 

    Regular

    25miles

    Members

    GREAT PITY...……..

    DECENT GIG RUN BY HONEST FOLK...…….

    BUT AS MENTIONED B4 NOTHING LASTS FOREVER...…….

    • Up vote 1
    Guest nametaken

    Guest nametaken

    Guests

    There's always

    'clank town soul club '   aka our house 😂😂

    Might be worth a quarterly event 

    Shelly 😍 xx 

    Long Time

    Back Street Blue

    Members
    (edited)

    Bloody Hell........sorry to hear this.........was planning my next visit too

     

    Edited by back street blue

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