I like most of you have have been round the block a bit ,remember back in the day all the singers and groups on the scene , back in the 70's most of the singers were still young and could still sing , But how is it now ? i think the last person i saw live was Tommy Hunt doing a pa and he could still bang it out , So whould you go to see some one live ?,

Seen a lot of live acts over the last 25 odd yrs , some good , some very very bad !!! , Prince Philip Mitchell has always been a top act for me

We discussed this before and a lot of the younger members couldn't understand when we said that when live acts came on at Wigan, we usually went straight into Mr. M's and missed the act completely.

Ther reason for that wasn't because you didn't like the artist, it was to keep 'up'!

I personally love a live act. but for me there has to be a band involved, no karaoke backing tracks.

IAN

I can get a bit bored when watching a live band hate it, if it's in a pub i suppose i just don't like just standing around for ages & being cramped against other people who barge into you & pour a drink down you

I would not go to watch a Soul act, sorry folk's! most of them are quite old now, i prefer to remember them as they were

When i do go to see a band, it has to be a Rockabilly band & in a large hall so i can have a good dance

Debbie x

Edited October 15, 201015 yr by parkash

Seen a lot of live acts over the last 25 odd yrs , some good , some very very bad !!! , Prince Philip Mitchell has always been a top act for me

The BEST for me over the years would be The Dells at trentham gradens ,must be ten years ago now ,waited a life time to see them and they never let me down ,CRACKING

See theres some one i would have loved to see General Johnson ! and now hes passed away so ill never get the chance a true legend

I like most of you have have been round the block a bit ,remember back in the day all the singers and groups on the scene , back in the 70's most of the singers were still young and could still sing , But how is it now ? i think the last person i saw live was Tommy Hunt doing a pa and he could still bang it out , So whould you go to see some one live ?,

Different agenda's sometimes in my opinion, and it would be too general to tag all live acts the same. There have been some acts that I've been very happy to applaud and show my appreciation for the years of pleasure their records have given me, and to impress upon them that because the record(s) didn't sell diddly doesn't mean they are not success in our minds. Some of those acts really couldn't cut the mustard now however if just considering a performance. If it's just a matter of appreciating a performance rather than the history some really struggle and I can only appreciate them and show that appreciation as a tribute to what they were, which may not have been celebrated at the time they could perform well. I really don't like the times when an artist tries to expand a set doing inappropiate covers like a Stax review to fill time. Prefer for those to do the memory number, take the bow and leave the stage. Then again there are those that pull it off with great style. I've been into all kinds of live music throughout many years from Bowie to current day (Nick Cave's new band Grinderman were particularly good at Rock City a couple of weeks ago), I still do a couple of festivals each year. I remember seeing Stevie Wonder on his Hotter than July gig when Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye joined him on stage. . . . . . . . But one of the best performances I ever saw ( as I've repeatedly reminded Rob Wigley) was Chuck Jackson at the Sherwood rooms in Nottingham, can't recall the year but guessing '82 ish.

Mostly I see it as tribute to past times these days, but there's always someone who will genuinely surprise.

I got spoiled after seeing Sam & Dave @ Sheffield Fiesta in 1972. I thought all acts would be up to that standard but it turns out they were the best act I've ever seen. It couldv'e been the sheer impact of seeing an act like that as my first proper live performance at the age of 17. It's not like their records were ever personal favorites either but boy could those guys give a show.........

Ian D

We discussed this before and a lot of the younger members couldn't understand when we said that when live acts came on at Wigan, we usually went straight into Mr. M's and missed the act completely.

Ther reason for that wasn't because you didn't like the artist, it was to keep 'up'!

or in mr mitchells case ,in an impromptu reprise of "one on one "at prestatyn a few years ago , had everyone heading for the amusement arcade.

For the most it has to be the record but over the early years (1973/4/5)one or two live acts stood out for me,Chairman of the Board(RIP GENERAL)J Ruffin and even J James.Then enter the likes of Chriis King who had the balls to promote a Ric-Tic revue and Ady Croasdell putting on some fantastic acts as did TAC promotions at Yarmouth and when you think youve seen the best up jumps Prestatyn and gives you Gwen Owens and Don Gardner singing on the same bill and sounding very much like the actual recordings they made,you have to think youve been spoilt and indeed blessed but wait a minute they then give you the Delarks,Volumes and the friggen Hesitations god weve been so lucky and i thank-you.

I always have mixed feelings about live acts.

On one hand I appreciate the effort it takes for promoters to get the acts over here, and how difficult it must be for the artists to perform on stage, perhaps forty years after making the record(s).

On the other hand the bands are rarely as good as they would have sounded on the recording from the 60's or 70's, probably because they seem to be session musicians or are playing on modern equipment. That's where it seems to lose me and I have trouble getting into it. Also when I have seen live acts it's normally at midnight at a weekender, and by that point all I want to do is throw myself about to records. Sadly these days a lot of the performers voices aren't what they were, and I really don't want to hear ballads when everything is just kicking in!

That's probably really selfish.....

For the most it has to be the record but over the early years (1973/4/5)one or two live acts stood out for me,Chairman of the Board(RIP GENERAL)J Ruffin and even J James.Then enter the likes of Chriis King who had the balls to promote a Ric-Tic revue and Ady Croasdell putting on some fantastic acts as did TAC promotions at Yarmouth and when you think youve seen the best up jumps Prestatyn and gives you Gwen Owens and Don Gardner singing on the same bill and sounding very much like the actual recordings they made,you have to think youve been spoilt and indeed blessed but wait a minute they then give you the Delarks,Volumes and the friggen Hesitations god weve been so lucky and i thank-you.

To be fair the best live acts I have ever seen were Don Gardner and Gwen Owens at Prestatyn, mainly because the band were shit hot!

To be fair the best live acts I have ever seen were Don Gardner and Gwen Owens at Prestatyn, mainly because the band were shit hot!

I have seen countless acts down the years ( including the names mentioned in above posts like The Dells - who were magnificent ) , and whilst the majority of them were highly commendable , there were many that were sadly below par and best forgotten .

I have stated this before , but one of the best acts I have seen , were The Stylistics at The Torch in 1972 . An act and recordings well out of context with the venue and the NS scene at the time , they produced a memorable performance that converted the doubters in the audience ( myself included ) and proved on the night to be an absolute pleasure to watch and hear .

One artist I always wanted to see and hear , but sadly never did , was Lou Rawls .

Malc

Ralph Soul Jackson was brilliant 2 years ago!!!

another one was eddie bo, still a great artist on stage til' he passed away....

Best act i saw was Little anthony at the notts palais,,,,,,or did i dream this

It has been known for some folks to quite enjoy the occasional live act

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3J1f7gKYuw

Edited October 15, 201015 yr by jez jones

Easy enough question to answer - when it's done right there's nothing like it. We're the only venue I know of that puts on live 60's greats EVERY MONTH, we're not just talking about just a few songs each, every one does a full show, almost always throwing in sides they've not sung in decades. Last weekend we had Don Gardner (even doing Dog eat dog, his Tifton outing, first time since the sixties), Betty Harris, Renaldo Domino, Vernon Garrett (his first ever NYC show if you can believe it) and Harvey Scales (even got him to do Independency, his rarest side again no-one had heard live since the 6T's, plus Trackdown which we re-taught him last time he played for us), to a packed sold-out crowd, plus the likes of Lee Fields and Tami Lynn coming up and doing even more songs, all with knockout backing bands, Betty Harris was completely blown away to find out we had a string section for her, the first time in her career she'd had that on stage she told us. Here's just a snippet of Renaldo to give you a taste:

And if any of you good people are wondering what to do on New Year's Eve thenget yourself to NYC, we've got Marva Whitney and the incomporable Billy Prince of the Precisions doing full sets, how's that for a soulful start to 2011, here's a clip of Billy from last time we were proud to put him on stage

ps Malc, Valentine's Day 1990 got to see Lou Rawls play the Harlem Apollo with Marlena Shaw as support, don't need to tell you he was unforgettably great. Unlike walking home all the way from 125th St at 1am afterwards as no taxis dared go there then in the late hours, with a girlfriend who'd decided to wear a fur coat to Harlem, that was not such a good memory

If they are good and done right as already said I love live acts. I don't mind them without if they can still do the business, seen some great acts without a band.

Definitely a case of 'horses for courses'.

Providing the artist is good then there really 'aint nothing like the live gig and I should know; I've been to a fair few over the years. Rock, pop, reggae, Soul you name it!

Like some have already said there are always 'bad' gigs amongst the good and that goes for live Soul too but I agree that most of the Soul artists are now 'of an age' so the really great is becoming less and less likely - did anyone see Martha Reeves on Jools Holland last New Year? Oh dear!

For me:

Best live Soul gig - Lorraine Chandler & Eddie Parker at Stafford TOTW

Some of the best of the rest - Red Hot Chilli Peppers in Manchester, Dexys Midnight Runners in Koln (Germany), The Jam in Essen (Germany) and The Alabama 3 everywhere (3 times already).

Mick

I've seen Stevie Wonder , Diana (do you know who I am ) Ross at Wembley and to be honest I was not that Impressed:no:

but when I see somebody like Jimmy James , I could listen to him all night ! Also have seen EW&F at Bingley Hall and that was awesome

Cheers

Swifty

Too be honest i much prefer the recorded copy of a song, that brief 3 minutes, the studio production, the fine tuning of a session etc. I'm a fan of live acts but i'd rather have the finished production from back in the day .

Brett

oh wow, just wow !!

IAN.

Great live!

I could watch for 2-3 track's , but then i would need a dance!...............the feet just start to figet

Debbie x

Edited October 17, 201015 yr by parkash

last act i saw live was gladys knight last year at sheffield arena, didn't dissapoint one bit, crowd was a bit thin , but she still put on a great show, some acts build a reputation on there live shows, frankie beverley being one that comes to mind, in the states alot of bands have a reputation for there live shows before they even sell a record, seen a few live rock acts that where as good as there records or even better, ac/dc, eric clapton. bruce springstien was well known as a live act before he was famous, not a soul act just using him as a example, seen a few of soul acts not seen one that was rubbish to be honest.

oh wow, just wow !!

Oh Debbie

Truly wonderful & really does show that when it's good live then it's very, very good!

Mick

oh wow, just wow !!

Dont it Piss you off that some one of such great talent is in real terms nothing ? yet the crap that is in the charts make millions ! dont seem fair to me

If they are good and done right as already said I love live acts. I don't mind them without if they can still do the business, seen some great acts without a band.

The Fabulous Peps being one of them

I love live acts!

I must to admit to having butterflies and feeling a little sick before they come on just in case they aren't up to the job any more.

I don't understand why people begrudge one hour out of a night to watch an act. It means the world to these artists to perform in front a crowd that truly 'gets' and appreciates what they were trying to achieve back then.

Without them we would not have this wonderful music or scene. I think they deserve some respect and recognition. But that's just me.

Soul.boy - Dont it Piss you off that some one of such great talent is in real terms nothing ? yet the crap that is in the charts make millions ! dont seem fair to me

I totally agree!

This is only my opinion........................ i have always only ever liked old music, but i think most of today's music is rubbish , i have not wanted to put a radio on since the 70's..........Ian will tell you that!

Debbie x

Edited October 17, 201015 yr by parkash

Soul.boy - Dont it Piss you off that some one of such great talent is in real terms nothing ? yet the crap that is in the charts make millions ! dont seem fair to me

I totally agree!

This is only my opinion........................ i have always only ever liked old music, but i think most of today's music is rubbish , i have not wanted to put a radio on since the 70's..........Ian will tell you that!

Debbie x

nice one x

or in mr mitchells case ,in an impromptu reprise of "one on one "at prestatyn a few years ago , had everyone heading for the amusement arcade.

:lol:....Shouldnt laugh really!

NYE in NYC with Marva & Billy sounds soooooooooo enticing, but I'll be in Auld Reekie, which is wonderful anyway...