Heart Of Soul

I thought long and hard about whether to post a review of this event at all as I knew I would have to be critical and run the risk that it could offend people who know me but, thinking about it, I've reviewed every other event I've sketched at this year as objectively as I possibly could and it would be a bit off not to do the same here, so here goes! This club is somewhat controversial locally; I've mentioned it to a lot of people who have levelled criticism at it, much of it unjustified - Perhaps some knock it because it's successful and in Birmingham City Centre (one reason some people won't go) and in particular this event which had a tie up with Ben Sherman; those three things alone being enough of a "sell out" for some to dismiss it out of hand as a "cash-in" and yes it clearly is the commercial end of things but so are most (all?) of the weekenders. So perhaps I mean that people use the familiar accusations of promoters cashing in and lining their pockets when it suits them to do so, it doesn't necessarily mean that the promoters don't love the music, indeed it would probably be far easier to play much more commercial mainstream dance music in Digbeth and pack them in every night as many other venues do. 

The justified criticism however is that there is a problem with drinks on the dancefloor - this night was no different; the dancefloor is not big and the place gets very full, almost too full to be able to dance comfortably and unfortunately a lot of punters walk round and even dance holding pints which end up everywhere so you have to pick your spot and keep an eye out for wet patches, one of the DJ's even asked the crowd to keep drinks off the dancefloor but it fell largely on deaf ears. I don't know what the answer is though - signs? interventional bouncers? education?

Having got that out of the way though the club has a vibe unlike anywhere else - there's a truly mixed age group, from people in their 20's to their 60's within no one age predominating; a few familiar faces from the scene, many you never see anywhere else; the 100 Club in London has almost the same demographic but that's been running 39 years and this has been going for barely 3! Nice mix of DJ's, sadly some last minute changes (which was a slight disappointment as I was looking forward to the wonderfully named Aisling Rois Nic Aibhistín) but again you had DJ's in their (I'm guessing) 20's, definitely 30's, 40's and 60's; half and half male and female. Sorry if I sound a bit obsessed with age but often people bemoan the lack of "new blood" at events well here it was, loads of kids in their 20's dancing for hours to mostly full-on Northern Soul, don't know if they knew particularly what it was, certainly none were dressed in anything other than normal street clothes but a lot of them were certainly into it and there was also a refreshing lack of cynicism (people on the dancefloor cheering Ain't No Mountain High Enough - no nostalgia, just that they recognised it and it's a great song). There was a peak in numbers during Neil Rushton's set, which packed the dancefloor with dancers (and drinks) too much to be comfortable and most of which I sat out by sketching from the balcony. At about 1:30 am though the place emptied out quite a bit leaving plenty of room to dance and the atmosphere was great; mix of dancers, some doing their own thing, youngsters copying moves of some of the older people some good banter going on. From 2 onwards it was just hardcore dancers and the energy coming off the floor was amazing.

I was thinking of heading home at about 1 but ended up staying till 4 and it was well worth it. Did a not too bad sketch from the mezzanine and a couple of the DJ's too. 

I rarely give 5 stars - I've noticed most reviews are by the promoters of the events who inevitably give 5 stars to everything. I am trying to be objective.