Whitby Soul Weekender21st Anniversary

Despite being forced to leave early due to a forced flight change, we left once again very satisfied with what is without question a highlight of the summer and great way to round off our travels. The location itself is superb, and there's something very special about being able to dance away or just listen to and enjoy great music and being able to take in the fantastic view of the North Sea and Yorkshire coastline.

The quality of this weekender is indicated by how often timetable clashes deprived us of enjoying what was sure to be great sets elsewhere. Sometimes out of body experiences would be very handy. As it was we did our best to get the best of all 3 rooms at the Pavilion.

Kev Roberts kicked things off in the big room and quickly got the floor filled with a selection of favourites. Half way through we went downstairs to the modern room where Phil Kingswood was in usual great form and even paid tribute to Soul Sam with Ike Strong's "Your love keeps me dancing" as well as the Dells "Your song" in addition to more recent sounds including Angie Stone before rounding off with what has become one of his anthems, "Don't wanna be a fool" by Luther. Steve Woomble then kicked things off with Phyllis "you know how to love me" and continuing with a fine selection of late 70s 12s. Moving upstairs again we were lucky enough to be there for an absolutely wonderful set by Sean Chapman, who played a selection of r&b, rocksteady and otherwise underplayed tunes that had the floor packed and the chin strokers working overtime wearing out their beards. Among the highlights was Ike and Tina's "Strange" and I think it was Sean who also played Billy Hawkes "Oh baby I'm believe I'm losing you" - my note taking was pretty frantic at times. Julie Heaney took over with a more 70s focused set that included the Fantastic Puzzles "Come back". Altogether some proper rare and underplayed and a great way to set us up for Saturday.

The afternoon sessions are always special and especially for the big room djs it's a chance to play out some of the lesser known or featured tracks, and we certainly got those on Saturday along with some of the more familiar tunes. John Barker kicked things off with a very personal selection including a fine remembrance of John Poole who was a Saturday afternoon regular. Jimmy Mack's "My world is on fire" and Alexander Patten's "A lil lovin sometimes" rounded off what was an emotional tribute. Derek Mead followed with a typically great set of not obvious but clever picks including Gloria Jones "Come go with me", Jimmy Soul Clark's "Sweet darlin" and Gentleman June Gardner's "It's gonna rain". Then Hitsville Chalky hit the ground sprinting and never let up, playing as many uptempo stompers as he could lay his hands on. By the end of the hour teams of stretcher bearers were on standby, including for Chalky who was working up a major sweat behind the decks, never mind those dancing in front of them. Rounding off this session was Mark Freeman, who brought the tempo down a little and sprinkled some absolutely amazing records across his set, including Lawrence and the Arabians "I'll try harder", The Furys "I'm satisfied with you" and Frank Dell's "Baby you've got it". A real standout set.

Saturday evening in the Marketplace was just terrific, with Paul Rockey getting things underway with a nice rare and underplayed set including a great version of the much recorded "I can't wait to see my baby's face" by the Monticellos, as well as Tony Drake's "Suddenly" - that's one for the big room for sure. Then John Heaney entertained us with an eclectic set covering 60s and 70s soul as well as some reggae, with a highlight for me "Too late" by Tavares. Lee Fletcher kept things going with some fine 70s soul sounds before we took advantage of a break in the weather to get home dry and ready for Sunday.

Derek Mead kicked off in the big room with Phil Coulter's "A good thing going", at the same time as Phil Kingswood got started with Cheryl Berdell's "Giving it all to you", another of his anthems. Derek continued with some Motown selections before reviving his cover up from last year - the Chants' absolutely brilliant cover of "I get the sweetest feeling", before giving us what for me was the standout tune of the summer (also played by Mark Freeman), Barbara Lewis "I remember the feeling". Then Hitsville Chalky hit us like a full force gale again with a very entertaining set of mostly uptempo tracks. At this point we went to the Marketplace to recover and enjoy a wonderful set of rocksteady, ska and early reggae tunes courtesy of Carrie Frost - a proper connoisseur's set of the kind that there seems to be growing demand for, and justifiably so. Lee Fletcher brought us back to the soulful 70s with another well chosen set.

In the big room Steve Luigi kept things moving along nicely in what has become a well-established Sunday afternoon slot. Ray Copley continued with a set of favourites from Motown and Chess especially, before Ginger Taylor and John Barker carried it through to the final session with Snowy and friends. Out in the marketplace Sam Evans and Chris Box were getting the party restarted with a modern classics farewell set which had the place packed. It was a pity to leave early but considering what we got from the afternoon sessions we certainly got full value and then some.

Maybe this year with so many events and an unkind economic situation people are watching their pennies a bit more - Blackpool in September, farewell to Cleethorpes a few weeks earlier, etc. Every event is special in its own way but this one in particular is probably the one I'd be most reluctant to sacrifice. Top venue, top and absolutely knowledgeable djs, great place and all the hits, classics, rare, underplayed, and discoveries new and old you can shake a stick at. I think the modern content could sometimes be more imaginative than a lot of the same records being played to the very last drop (hint, hint), but that's a wider scene issue and not unique to this event. Then again, a lot of people want to hear their favourites. Overall I reckon this weekender strikes a good balance but it would not be difficult to broaden with modern playlist without compromising quality - over the years that's something I've heard Phil K do over and over again, for example.

Anyway, another year, another weekender (we started in 2014) and our ninth has already been booked for next summer. It's good to plan ahead!

ps Note to marketing dept: "heritage djs"?? Nah, stick with "best loved" - that's what they and this event are.