Generally speaking (if possible) because most of the great northern soul songs have fantaisc arrangements

and productions (Wright, Smith, Bell, Jackson, Wisner, etc) seeing a live act can be, well, disappointing.

Now................having said that, some of those I have seen have been sparkling to say the least, what's your

experience and most treasured memory ? Here's a couple of mine :

2004

Garland Green - Ain't that good enough

Alexander Patton - A l'il lovin' sometimes

2006

The Spellbinders - Help me

The Del-larks - Job opening

The last I never really did like record but after seeing/hearing them live, I was mightily impressed.

Want to sees :

Christine Cooper - Heartaches away

Jerry Cook - Hurt on the other side

So wotz your fav then ?

Edited February 14, 201312 yr by Chris L

Edwin Starr was great in the flesh but the back catologue helped is performances stand out I think. Artists can be really let down if the backing, as in musicians or mixing PR systems aren't right.

Was privilaged to see The Impressions live at Northampton Weekender a few years back,something that will

always stick in my mind,absolutly fantastic.

Would love to see them back over here........

Andantes at prestatyn, just moved me to tears when they burst into tears,

thousands of Brits singing back to them their every word,

amazing experience and especially as I shared it with my mates

Was privilaged to see The Impressions live at Northampton Weekender a few years back,something that will

always stick in my mind,absolutly fantastic.

Would love to see them back over here........

ditto Dale, werent they fabulous as were Undisputed Truth

Edwin Starr

- Always did a fantastic show

Ronnie Walker

- Such a wealth of material from the 60's & 70's, as he wrote them as well, you get the full performance!!!

Herb Johnson

- Caught him live, before he died - "Carfare Back" and "I'm So Glad" sounded stunning!!!!!!!!!

Des

Not a Northern soul artist but still a great soul artist - saw Charles Bradley at the Band On The Wall in Manchester a while back and it was the best soul show I've ever seen in my life (bearing in mind that I only went to my first gig in the mid 80s)

Jnr Walker at the Torch brilliant and he spent ages after his performance speaking to me and Fred Morton was taken aback by the friendliness of everyone and he loved watching everyone dancin

My favourite live artist was the master Charles Hatcher aka Edwin Starr I knew Edwin quite well and I've lost count of the number of times I saw him live brilliant artist put everything into each show had some laughs along the way he was on at Leigh Casino regulary one nite the local girls where a bit merry and some got on the stage and started trying to get the instruments of his backing band it was mad Edwin said after the show to me man I've been all over the world performed in some right rough houses but man knowhere,s has mad has this fu-kin joint lol Another time JJ Barnes came along with him at Leigh Casino he said to JJ man these are two friends of mine Ian & Steve ( Hilly ) they know more about Detroit music than us and they ain't ever been lol

My fav Edwin memory was one boxing day in Widnes he was doing a show with backin tapes I was DJ,in and introducing him ! He asked me to put on a record then has he put the mike to his mouth lift the arm up and take the record off and he would sing it without backing

I said what 45 do ya want on Edwin he looked through my DJ box shakin his head then said ain't ya got any Motown I found a couple and he said put this on it was a Marvin Gaye track when I introduced him and he came out the first bars of the track started to play and I took the stylus off the record when he put the mike to his mouth man he sang that tune just like it was a recording done in a studio it was awesome yes Edwin sang with the Angels from within his soul a true Legend and a great guy...

Jnr Walker at the Torch brilliant and he spent ages after his performance speaking to me and Fred Morton was taken aback by the friendliness of everyone and he loved watching everyone dancin

My favourite live artist was the master Charles Hatcher aka Edwin Starr I knew Edwin quite well and I've lost count of the number of times I saw him live brilliant artist put everything into each show had some laughs along the way he was on at Leigh Casino regulary one nite the local girls where a bit merry and some got on the stage and started trying to get the instruments of his backing band it was mad Edwin said after the show to me man I've been all over the world performed in some right rough houses but man knowhere,s has mad has this fu-kin joint lol Another time JJ Barnes came along with him at Leigh Casino he said to JJ man these are two friends of mine Ian & Steve ( Hilly ) they know more about Detroit music than us and they ain't ever been lol

My fav Edwin memory was one boxing day in Widnes he was doing a show with backin tapes I was DJ,in and introducing him ! He asked me to put on a record then has he put the mike to his mouth lift the arm up and take the record off and he would sing it without backing

I said what 45 do ya want on Edwin he looked through my DJ box shakin his head then said ain't ya got any Motown I found a couple and he said put this on it was a Marvin Gaye track when I introduced him and he came out the first bars of the track started to play and I took the stylus off the record when he put the mike to his mouth man he sang that tune just like it was a recording done in a studio it was awesome yes Edwin sang with the Angels from within his soul a true Legend and a great guy...

Yea Ian

And people have been asking you to take records off half way through ever since!!!!

Edited February 14, 201312 yr by Louise

To me the best live act i ever saw was not a planned night, On holiday in the early 70,s, we saw this advert for the Impressions somewhere in Great Yarmouth, Bought the tickets and in we went, what a fantastic show it turned out to be, Magic................

While on this subject the wifes fav live show was Billy Stewart at the Wheel in the late 60,s

Edited February 14, 201312 yr by kolectem

Jnr walker at the casino

Jnr Walker Notts Palais

Little Ann , Dean Parish,Hoagy Lands Cleethorpes

Gene Chandler,Prince phillip Mitchell Togetherness

Chuck Jackson,Lennis Guess Prestatyn Loved them all and a few more,most dissapointing Willie Tee

Junior Walker at Tiffanys Newport.....yet another story, having had to sadly miss his performance at the Casino, the previous week!

Edwin Starr.....Never tired of hearing him.....and possibly the best vocalist I've been lucky enough to have shared the same "space" with!

Probably the most emotional experience, having seen many artist(e)s over the years, was the Funk Brothers, at Manchester Apollo, and hearing the opening bars to "It's a shame" (Detroit Spinners).....Thought I was present at 2648 West Grand Boulevard "back in the day",(when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up)......Not many of the original ensemble left, and the credits given to the absent members (with just their enlarged photos on display), left a very large lump in my throat........

Edited February 15, 201312 yr by wilxy

Jnr Walker,Exciters both Wigan,Edwin Starr everywhere. But the most memorable The Jacksons- Wakefield Theatre Club watching Michael glide across that stage all the show,worth the £10 ticket for that alone,What a dancer!

The Temptations & Jnr. Walker, De Montfort Hall, Leicester - late 70's?

The Four Tops and Thelma Houston at Manchester Odeon on 3rd November 1972.

Levi's voice just took my breath away. The bouncing seats in the circle were a little unnerving for us 14 year olds!

And, slightly left field...... Rockin' Dopsie and His Zydeco Twisters at Rafters .......other than me and my mate, the only other confirmed witness (to my knowledge?!) to this unbelievable show was Dave Evison; who also thought they were a bit special.

Junior Walker Notts - went with our mates Ian and Lesley in our battered old mini - memories.........

Dean Parrish at Cleethorpes Winter Gardens about 5/6 years ago just before the idiots decided to rip it down and make it a car park. He was awesome - after the performance he spent some time talking to the masses, he was overwhelmed at his popularity and the response he had.

Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames at the Scene Club 63-64 ,absolutl ey blew you away ,the hammond organ was battered and bruised then ,it must be even worse by now .

and the 3 degrees at Hammersmith Palase , another group that blew your sox off ,no wonder Prince Charles always booked them for his functions .

Jnr Walker - Edinburgh playhouse

Jam- Edinburgh playhouse

Chuck Jackson- Great Yarmouth weekender

Ray Pollard and also Richard Berry both gigs at the 100 club in the early 90's

the masquraders prestatyn AWESOME !

ditto Dale, werent they fabulous as were Undisputed Truth

I saw The Falcons at one of The Northampton weekenders they were brilliant

Marvin Gaye Sheffield City Hall 1976 ,just to be in the same hall as the great man was kinda spritual he even threw a Marvin strop with the band and said get it right lads or i,m not doing the show ! before going off and coming back minutes later ( could have been part of the act though ) . Also the late greats Edwin Starr with Jr. Walker at the same place both awesome and Edwin had a band called Total Concept Unlimited with him who went on to find fame as Rose Royce.

The Dells at Trentham Gardens, AWESOME!

Chuck Jackson at Prestatyn AWESOME!

Cheers Jim.

Ray Pollard at Prestatyn - absolutely superb.

He did a duet with Tony Middleton (I think) of "I have faith in you" - so good they sang it twice!

My fave has to be Edwin Starr, saw him so many times at Leigh casino (Rubens) , but my favourite performance he did was at the parr hall niter in Warrington, never really seen a crowd rush to the stage before unt that night, still got his autograph on a flyer for bank hall miners, burnley.

Al Green at Old Hill Plaza

Curtis Mayfield - same venue

Major Lance at the Torch

Jackie Wilson at Stafford

Tina Turner at Wolverhampton Civic

All fantastic nights

Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames at the Scene Club 63-64 ,absolutl ey blew you away ,the hammond organ was battered and bruised then ,it must be even worse by now .

and the 3 degrees at Hammersmith Palase , another group that blew your sox off ,no wonder Prince Charles always booked them for his functions .

You lucky so and so, how cool is that

Saw Stevie Wonder at the MEN Manchester a couple of years ago. TOTALLY OUTSTANDING. Getting teary eyed as I type this.

Saw the late Teddy Prendergrass at Apollo Manchester. Stunning.

Maze featuring Frankie Beverley. Many times. My fave I reckon.

Saw the 4 Tops at the Golden Garter in Wythenshawe Manchester when they were in a slump. Got backstage and they signed the cover of I,ll turn to stone. Gave it to Alan Pollard.

Northern gigs NOTHING matches Betty Wright at WC. Bloody hell!

the masquraders prestatyn AWESOME !

Enjoyed it aswell Toad, but was gutted when we found out Lee Jones wasn,t leading them, got talking to group later who informed us he was now a truck driver, makes your blood boil now when you think of all that shite on X Factor etc

Kev

Jackie Ross and Syl Johnson in 2006 backed by Snake Davis&The Suspicions at the Frobisher Suite Wakefield Absolutely blew us all away with their performances.So So talented.All credit to Dave&Val Box for Staging this memorable event.

Last post repeated itself due to connection problems from the Canary Islands

Edited February 20, 201312 yr by Mr Fred

Edwin Starr

- Always did a fantastic show

Ronnie Walker

- Such a wealth of material from the 60's & 70's, as he wrote them as well, you get the full performance!!!

Herb Johnson

- Caught him live, before he died - "Carfare Back" and "I'm So Glad" sounded stunning!!!!!!!!!

Des

Hi Des,

yep, not been as good since !!

Ray pollard and garland green at Yarmouth weekender, 90 or 91, stupendous

Sam Moore -Betty lavette- Kim Weston -bobby Patterson - Sam dees - Gladys knight - pp Mitchell - Charles walker aka little Charles

Saw the 4 Tops at the Golden Garter in Wythenshawe Manchester when they were in a slump. Got backstage and they signed the cover of I,ll turn to stone. Gave it to Alan Pollard.

I saw them in Majorca when they were doing a Drifters style barrel scraping tour, but they were ace.

Saw Chairman of the Board at Baileys in Oldham. My mate Mick Malone was on his feet and going mental and caught the General's eye so he called him up onto the stage and he sang "Everything's Tuesday" with them.......and got written up in B&S as "the Oldham Songbird".................WTF!!!!

Thought the Elgins were good at WC.

Been to loads of live gigs obviously, but the one that really stands out for me, apart from MJ in Leeds and Al Green in Manchester, was EWF in Birmingham.

Absolutely stunning show with masses of illusions, trickery and lasers, not to mention the amazing music.

EDWIN STARR,ROTHERHAM ! THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I SEEN HIM LIVE ! UNREAL ! EDWIN SPOTTED HIS NAME TATTOOED IN HUGE LETTERS ON MY BACK WHILE I WAS DANCING AND LILLIAN KYLE,PART OF HIS MANAGEMENT TEAM COME TO SAY THAT EDWIN WANTED TO MEET ME BACK STAGE ! WELL I WAS PRETTY HAPPY TO SAY THE LEAST !! I ENDED UP WITH THE PLASIC TAGS OFF HIS BAGS AND A BACK STAGE PASS FOR FUTURE EVENTS ! LILLIAN ALSO PHONED ME AT HOME TO ASK ME IF I WOULD LIKE TO TRAVEL DOWN TO BIRMINGHAM I THINK IT WAS THE ASTORIA I CANT REMEMBER AS IT WAS SO LONG AGO. BUT THAT STARTED MY EDWIN STARR LIFE LONG ULTIMATE FAN STATUS ! IVE SEEN HIM MORE THAN 100 TIMES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY FOR FREE ! ALL MY ORIGINAL ALBUMS AND SINGLES WERE SIGNED ! THEN MY HOME WAS BROKEN INTO AND MOST OF MY ALBUMS WENT MISSING ALONG WITH MY DANCE MUSIC COLLECTION AND MY TECHNICS 1210'S ! AND IN 1990 MY LASS AT THE TIME SOLD A LOT OF MY RECORDS WHILE I WAS IN JAIL THE BITCH ! I LOST HEART,SOLD WHAT I HAD LEFT AND PROMPTLY WENT ON A CHEMICAL HOLIDAY FOR YEARS !!! U BAD BAD BURGARLING GETS AND HEARTLESS WOMAN !! MAY EDWIN STARR REST IN PEACE !! MICKY P IN THE TOON

I'm not really a live act type person, much prefer the Niter not to be interupted by any singers usually, but there's a few times ( and surprised nobodys mentioned them already)

Ric-Tic review @ Hinkley Leisure Centre

Fabulous Peps/Magnetics @ Stables (rumours of a possible return? go if you missed them last time, or live with the regret forever )

Terry Callier @ Trentham

Lorraine Chandler ( and Eddie Parker) @ Top Of The World Stafford

 

these are of course all live acts during Niters, but in concert, Michael Jackson @ Aintree was amazing, Lionel Ritchie " Dancing on the Ceiling" tour @ NEC just brilliant, in fact the NEC has had some fab concerts for soul fans, inc a Motown nite with multiple acts, but even tho we've seen all the obvious acts (Temps, Dells, Impressions, Diana, Whitney, Luther, etc through to the stunningly brilliant Dean Parrish) the only one to come close to topping Edwin on his best day was Alexander O'Neal. My theory is that his immensely deep chest is the engine room for that awesome range of notes which he can hold for what seems like hours, and the only reason he's not held as one of the all time greats is that he came to our attention in the 80's.

 

Oh, as a footnote, why has no one mentioned the Major? surely seen by more fans than anyone else in the first decade of our scene?

_{seeing ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS 1977 AT BAILEYS IN LEICESTER WOW WHAT A SHOW}

_{TOMMY HUNT & EDWIN STARR DUETING AT THE PALLIA NOTTS 90s}

Edited September 19, 201311 yr by mickjay33

EWF bingley hall nuff said

Barbara Lynn at Fleetwood (I think, memorys going) was a belter! Major Lance in Stoke in the 80's was another great one, he was and still is my hero, the first man I ever collected everything on with a religious zeal, walking from Burton to Stoke to see him and had the joy of meeting him at the venue after, chatting and sharing stories. He took time out and made me feel as though he was generally interested and happy to talk to me. A top man who didnt disappoint either in performance or person.  Edwin Starr always at the top of the tree as far as I'm concerned too.

( 1Direction live at the O2 a few months back with my daughter was ........ I'll get my coat x)

Edited September 19, 201311 yr by TheBigO

EWF bingley hall nuff said

:yes: :yes:

Stevie Wonder -.NEC, Summer 84

GeorgeBenson - Wembley Arena 83

Bowie- milton keynes bowl (serious moonlight tour)

Squeeze - Rock City , 82

 

  Stevie was quite magnificent,   seriously talented and a true genius

 

 George Benson was sublime, smooth and backed by the Royal Philharmonic string section . unbelievable gig

 

 Bowie - incredible !

-------------------------

 

 

 Soul/Niter type gigs:

 

 RicTic Revue, Hinckley - Major Lance @ Stafford - Chuck Jackson & Edwin Starr @ Nottm Astoria (83?) - Gene Chandler @ Alfreton niter,  Jnr Walker, Nottm palais/Rock City/Fleet....Not Forgetting Eddie Holman on same bill in Peterborough- Curtis Mayfield @ Alfreton niter - GC Cameron @ Butlins,Skeg,earlier this year......  what a voice!

 

  memorable stuff indeed

Edited September 19, 201311 yr by IanP

Here's an oddity for you - Swing Out Sister in the small back room of the Sheffield city hall around 4 years ago!

 

The relaxed atmosphere coupled with the close proximity of the band there made it all very special.

 

"Am I The Same Girl" being the highlight for me.

Over the years have spoken to a number of people who were regulars at the Wheel and who saw many of the greatest live acts in their prime and more than a few have said that the Vibrations were unbelievable.

 

Being a long time collector of original footage of the greats soul acts, I was unaware of any original footage in existence of the Vibrations from the golden era then just recently came across this clip from the US TV show Hollywood A Go Go in 1965 .

 

This is amazing footage of the classic line up of the Vibrations - just wait til you get to about 3 mins 40 secs into the clip and then the boys really let

loose !!!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XxFIzhGx0w

:hatsoff2:HI ALL,,,i Have been very lucky to see as many live acts that I have, and some acts I worked with as a roadie in both sound, lites & FX, Alexis Kornor Mike Pato Boxer(Timebox) Labi Sifri, Jimmy Helmes, jr Walker & All Stars, Detroit Spinners Marvin Gaye & many more, were a privalige to work with,  

However my top pick would be the following JAMES BROWN 1971 RAINBOW LONDON The whole show was spectacular in every which way and the crowning of JB as the KING OF SOUL, WAS PURE MAGIC,  Next up is joint #1 the MIGHTY DELLS, TRENTHAM GARDENS, STOKE, AS A PUNTER THIS SHOW WAS THE MOST PERFECT EXAMPE OF SOUL, watched by hundreds of open mouthed Soulsters, & as a member of the road crew the 1976 UK tour of KOOL AND THE GANG, words can't express the personal high I got every day for 2 months, superb,

Oh I should mention GINO WASHINGTON & THE RAM JAM BAND, BOWES LION STEVENAGE NEW TOWN 1967,  DAVE K

Jerry Butler at a forthcoming Cleethorpes

 

Well You've got to try haven't you

 

 

The Precisions where rather good and then all the usual previously mentioned,  but Bobby Womack in fine form takes a lot of beating especially when Altrina assists him. Spine tingling !

Mr Edwin Starr for always being totally Professional and such a nice bloke closely followed by Richard(popcorn)Wylie

The artist I never dreamt I would see perform live Little Anne (AKA Rose Valentine)at Cleggy

Dean Parrish again at Cleggy just so much better than I was expecting I was blown away!

But my all time Ultimate show was The Temptations shortly before the passing of David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks.........

Best

 

Edwin Starr - Twisted Wheel

Surprise visit of Otis Leavile at The Torch

Oscar Toney Jnr at The Torch

Jimmy James at our wedding

Stevie Wonder at MEN

 

Worst and most disappointing by a mile

 

Bobby Womack at Kings Hall - dear me

Randy Brown at shaw theatre, London. Mid eighties.