Mike

North West viewers may be aware of what appears to be a re-working of the "Once Upon A time in Wigan" play on show planned to run in the near future at Bolton Octagon. Amazingly it seems that this production is going to be done using "a live band of brilliant actor musicians pumping out classic Northern Soul tracks in the Octagon Theatre’s signature style" Its scheduled for a 2 week run and going by the forum is looks like the way it has been advertised is already causing some confusion amongst soul fans. The soul source member who devised the actual play in its original format posted the below in the soul source forums His view makes interesting reading and hopefully they will help avoid any more confusion amongst soul fans between this local production and the acclaimed original play BOLTON OCTAGON are staging a play called 'Once Upon A Time In Wigan. LIVE' 'LIVE' being the key word to watch out for! It stands for live music and singing. No, not from soul artists, but from the actors themselves! THIS CRAP IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PLAY THAT MY COMPANY TOURED TO THOUSANDS OF SOULIES IN 2004! THIS IS A MUSICAL WHERE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WHITE ACTORS SING THE SONGS TO A HOUSE BAND. A bit like THE WHEELTAPPERS AND SHUNTERS SOCIAL CLUB! They have been deliberately trying to confuse in the advertising and I had to ask them to remove a newspaper quote about my play, that they were using to advertise theirs! I devised this play, based on my experiences of going to wigan and Mick Martin wrote it. Unfortunately, as he was a friend of 20 years, I trusted him to look after it and not sell it to the highest bidder. MISTAKE....He has since proved himself to be a 'soul less ******! The guy is not and was not, a soulie. I took him to a couple of nighters in the eighties and he just got pissed up! The production worked in its presentation, the actors, the film, the setting, but, most of all, the use of a real and narrative sound track. Mark Babbage, the director, hasn't got a clue about our scene and its soulful ethic! If he did, he wouldn't dare trivialise it, by doing a musical execution of something that means a lot, to a lot of people. Watch out for Winstanley popping up at the opening! It will definitely get coverage on his show and I would expect him to be djing at the opening (if there is money involved!) From the heart Paul-s

Calendar for Live Shows from Daptone Records recording artists Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings Shows The Sage Gateshead, England When: Sat 19 Apr 2008 Where: St Mary's Square, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 2JR, England Hi-Fi Bar & Ballroom Melbourne, Australia When: Fri 29 Feb 2008 Where: 125 Swanston St Melbourne, Australia Button Factory Dublin, Ireland When: Thu 10 Apr 2008 Where: Temple Bar Music Centre, Curved St., Dublin 2, Ireland Jazz Cafe London, England When: Wed 16 Apr 2008 to Fri 18 Apr 2008 Where: 5-7 Parkway, London, UK, NW1 7PG Yardbird Birmingham, England When: Sun 13 Apr 2008 Where: Paradise Placec, Birmingham B3 3HJ Concorde 2 Brighton, England When: Sat 12 Apr 2008 Where: Madeira Drive, Brighton, England, BN2 1EN Mint Lounge Manchester, England When: Fri 11 Apr 2008 Where: 46-50 Oldham St, Manchester, England , M4 1LE WOMAD Festival, New Zealand When: Sun 16 Mar 2008 Where: Brooklands Park & TSB Bowl in New Plymouth, New Zealand WOMAD Festival, New Zealand When: Sat 15 Mar 2008 Where: Brooklands Park & TSB Bowl in New Plymouth, New Zealand Enmore Theatre, NSW Newtown, Australia When: Wed 12 Mar 2008 Where: 130 Enmore Rd Newtown, Australia WOMAD Festival, SA Adelaide, Australia When: Sun 9 Mar 2008 Where: Botanic Park, Adelaide, Australia Golden Plains Festival VIC Meredith, Australia When: Sat 8 Mar 2008 Where: Mount Mercer Rd Meredith, Australia The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD Brisbane, Australia When: Fri 7 Mar 2008 Where: 52 Costin St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia Hi-Fi Bar & Ballroom Melbourne, Australia When: Wed 27 Feb 2008 Where: 125 Swanston St Melbourne, Australia Great Northern Hotel, NSW Byron Bay, Australia When: Thu 6 Mar 2008 Where: Jonson St Byron Bay, Australia Vancouver Albany Arts Centre, WA Perth, Australia SOLD OUT When: Mon 3 Mar 2008 Where: 5 Vancouver Street, Perth Australia Becks Music Box (PIAF) Perth, Australia When: Sun 2 Mar 2008 Where: Esplanade Perth, Australia Hi-Fi Bar & Ballroom Melbourne, Australia When: Tue 26 Feb 2008 Where: 125 Swanston St Melbourne, Australia Hi-Fi Bar & Ballroom Melbourne, Australia SOLD OUT When: Thu 28 Feb 2008 Where: 125 Swanston St Melbourne, Australia US dates and ticket booking and more info on all events can be found on the tip top Daptone Site http://www.daptonerecords.com/shows-sjdk.html " name="movie" /> "> " name="movie" /> ">

The DJs from the UK's top Mod R&B Clubs bring you a weekend of the very best in Mod, R&B, Ska and 60's Club Classics at Marshall Meadows hotel in Berwick-upon-Tweed. THE BERWICK WEEKENDER Friday 7th - Sunday 9th November 2008 DJs from London's STEPPIN' OUT, Liverpool's SINK CLUB, Manchester's HIDEAWAY CLUB and Berwick's own BARRELS CLUB are joined by special guests MERV PARNELL, HOSS and DAVE BYRNE. http://thehideawayclub.co.uk