Groove Junkies

Out and About with the Groove Junkies

Reviews of some of our recent outings

The Groove Junkies at The Soul Cellar:24th Oct 2009
Decades of Soul Night

Groove Junkies at The Soul Cellar:24th Oct 2009

It was great to be back at the soul cellar for another “decades of soul night”. Thanks to everyone for coming and supporting us and a big thanks for your e-mails and messages of support.

A special thanks to Shaun for all of his usual hard work, enthusiasm, and support.

We got there around 8pm for the blessing of the stylus and sound check. Once again, the sound system was 1st class. Doors opened at 9pm with a few people waiting for the evening to start. It was really nice to catch up with old friends, see some site members there and also see lots of new faces.

The evening kicked off with Moldie, Jason and I double decking until 10pm and then the main sets started.

Up first was Bex who stated her set with Cory Glover. It’s a great tune and the crowd seemed to agree because people were dancing from the get go. There was a steady stream of dancers throughout her set, dancing to soul from across the decades. Bex left the floor full for Moldie...

Moldie played a nice set, performing his magic- working the floor and playing some top tunes.

Next up was our special guest DJ, Ray New. Ray had an hour set and pulled out some nice alternative versions of some better known tunes as well as some rare grooves and some lovely soulful movers. Ray is definitely pencilled in for future dates as our guest. Thanks Ray, great set.

Jason played some great tunes with a cross section of 80’s boogie, jazz funk and soulful grooves. He ended his set with one of my favourite tracks of the year; Khemistry.

Next up was me, I had a fantastic time behind the decks and I played some new tunes. Thanks Mr Postman!!
It was a good turnout with an excellent atmosphere. I hope you all enjoy the c.d. See the website for future events. Big thanks again for all of your support and to all the d.j’s for keeping the floor busy all night

Soul @ the front with the Groove Junkie (DOS NIGHT) Saturday night 10^th OCT 9pm-3am

Jason & I (Johnny H) only had a little over two week to organise this night so we weren’t expecting big things.

We arrived just before 8pm with plenty of time to set the equipment up, the idea was to use our decks & mixer and plug into their sound system, we weren’t sure what the state of play was going to be , they have been having a refit and we were first in.

After setting up the equipment, time to turn on...following sorting a few small problems it ended up sounding great plenty of bass.

Think we had a around 40 or so in and out throughout the night, some even stayed the distance and were asking for more at 3:05am..

THE RETURN OF DECADES OF SOUL - 25th July 2009

The night was bit of a tester , new venue, new night , with lots of new people, with some Soul Cellar regulars

The Music was excellent all night, and it was nice to see lots of familiar faces....

RUSS, JO, RACH, BEARSY,MARIE, TON, RUSS,ALFIE, nice to see DAVE & SUE from Addlestone and Andy & Tracy from Bath who have to be the Groove Junkies biggest fans. Apologies if I have left anyone out.

Excellent sound system, with no feedback or problems so many thanks to the Soul Cellar Sound Engineer

It was free before 9pm so people arrived early and it wasn't long before the floor began to fill.

The tunes flowed nicely with a good mix of tunes right across the board from the 70's right up to date and ensured there was somwthing for everyone.

People came an went all night with people from downstairs coming amd going, some of the comments from the regulars were very pleasing.

Thanks to all of you ...you made the night so very special for us...

Big thanks to all the dancers (talc's on order for next time)

Thanks to all the DJs for keeping the floor busy all night...and our guest for the night ADELE, who gave those jazz-funkers some...

Chilly done an outstanding job, with his first outing with the groove junkies, looks like he will be making a return visit very soon.

Thanks again to all that supported the night... nice to see some faces i wasn't expecting..

Boogie Wonderland @ Blues Rock Cafe, Gillingham, Kent, 21st June 2009

The Groove Junkies helped to raise £1300 at a Fundraiser in aid of a young local lad. Around 150 people, some in fancy dress joined us at The Blues Rock Cafe, and danced the night away to some disco classics.

13 year old Keiran Spain has a very rare condition, he was diagnosed with Septo Optic Dysplasia at 4 months old.

Keiran has been fortunate in that this condition has only affected his eyesight. He has under developed optic nerves. This only gives him light perception.

This condition only affects about 1 in 50,000 babies world wide. At the moment if the average optic nerve was to be the size of an Oak tree Keiran's are only like a few small branches.

A Company in China have been working on a therapy, which using Stem Cells can help repair his optic nerves. Other children like Keiran have had this procedure done and they have all had some success.

This treatment is currently not available anywhere else. Keiran's family must now raise £35,000 to be able to pay for the therapy and give him the chance to be able to see with his eyes and not his hands!

This event was organised to help Keiran and his family raise funds towards his therapy. For more info goto;

http://www.help-keiran-to-see.com/

The Hallmark Hotel, Bournemouth - 16th May 2009

Hallmark Hotel - Alternative Venue:

We heard the bad news Friday afternoon about the sudden cancellation of The Opera House. We were absolutely gutted for Shaun who has put so much energy and passion to make Bournemouth Opera House the south’s ultimate two room venue.

With little time Shaun with the help of Gerard managed to find an alternative venue- a decent venue at that, but sadly with only one available room. We made a decision that my family and I would still go to support Shaun and represent The Groove Junkies.

Throughout the evening there was a sense of the good old British spirit, making the best out of a bad situation. The numbers were great for a former event that had been cancelled and the atmosphere was electric. Everybody was happy to be there and dance.

All DJ’s done a fantastic job which alongside the atmosphere made last night one of the best soul do’s I’ve been to in ages. It was nice to see that there were so many modern Soulies in attendance to originally support the Modern room.

Unfortunately didn’t have a chance to meet Gerard but It was great to meet new faces and catch up with Andy, Tracey, Chilly and Neil among many others. We (Johnny and Bex) were given a half hour spot from 10.30pm- 11pm.

It was great to play to such a responsive and enthusiastic floor; we had so much fun behind the decks the time flew by- could have played all night.

Thanks to everybody for attending and a special thanks to the dancers and all the support and kind words from the Modern Soulies- hope I gave all the Modern Soulies a Groove Junkies C.D... Hopefully this isn’t the end of The Opera House events, they really are brilliant and Shaun and co have done an amazing job establishing the nights as some of the best. coolsmiley

SOS OPERA HOUSE BOURNEMOUTH 1ST ANNIVERSARY- 28TH February 2009

What a night. The event is only a year old and it really is going from strength to strength by offering a choice of two rooms of soul from both ends of the spectrum. There’s something for everyone. I have played at The Opera House before, in the Northern Room and the building still manages to amaze me. It really is remarkable. Downstairs is perfect as a Northern Room, it’s very spacious with a large wooden dance floor, classy interior and high ceilings which are fantastic for the acoustics. The Modern Room was situated upstairs. It’s extremely modern, a good size with comfortable surroundings.

Last night was special, not only because of the 1st anniversary but also because of the two rooms. Shaun invited the Groove Junkies to front the Modern Room and each Groove Junkie DJ is, as always, given a completely free hand to play exactly as she/he feels fit which equates to a large cross section of music. I popped downstairs occasionally throughout the evening and I was pleased to see that the night was in full swing with the dance floor being very busy and some great choons being played. Shaun’s approach to this event is admirable as he has taken on such a large project, he’s sticking with it, and as a result the SOS nighters are growing in popularity with the numbers being at an all time high last night.

THE GROOVE JUNKIES DECADES OF SOUL/ MODERN ROOM:

The Soul Bus left Kent at 1pm, with Jason a couple of hours ahead of us. We arrived at our B&B at 5ish. Moldie met us at the B&B, just in time for dinner! We unloaded our things, freshened up and Moldie and I went down to the Cellar Bar for the warm up session. It was great to catch up with old faces and meet some new people. Around 7.45pm we all got the ok to head down to The Opera House to set up. After some quick fiddling with the equipment- we realised that no one had broug

ht the headphones. PANIC. Luckily, Molly had a set in his car- phew. We were off and running.

The venue looked fantastic, with everything just so. We started off playing a few 70’s crossover tunes whilst we all got familiar with the equipment and adjusted the sound to get it just right. First up was me (Johnny H) and Jason. We double decked for half hour and played some easy soulful grooves.

Next up was Rebecca. She played a nice across the board set that everyone seemed to like as the dance floor quickly filled up as the room became busier. She ended her set on Kirk Franklin that everyone went mad for, next up was Moldie. Moldie played some lovely cross over 70’s tunes, some classics and others soon to be classics with a few funky modern stompers thrown into the mix. By this time the room was buzzing and everyone was up for a good time.

Then there was Jason who funked up the evening with some great 80’s mixes with brilliant base lines which got the floor rocking.

Our guest DJ Molly didn’t fail to impress, by this time there must have been about 80/90 people in the room. He kept the dancers on the floor with everyone loving what he played. Next was me, the crowd were excitable and in the mood to keep dancing.

I started off with well known modern dancer tracks, not letting them rest by keeping the tempo high. Some people danced all night long, I really don’t know how they kept going. I finished off the last half hour with Moldie playing a broad section of choons.

Considering this was The Modern/ Decades of Soul Room’s first night at SOS, we feel the night was a success; all Dj’s done an outstanding job by offering the crowd a wide selection of music. Big thanks to the dancers and everyone that attended the SOS nighter and supported The Groove Junkie’s first outing at Bournemouth. Roll on the 16th May!!

Thanks again everyone,

Don't forget to check out the Groove Junkies radio show.

John

Groove Junkies @ West Coast Bar & Venue, Margate. Saturday 13th Se

Another great Groove Junkie night down Margate but in a different venue. Got there in early afternoon, set up and did sound checks, this time we had the opportunity to run off the night club's sound system, they were running seriously awesome power with four large base bins......Quality

After the sound check we decided to take a quick trip home and sort some tunes out. We arrived back at the very clean venue at 7.30pm ready to rock n roll.

First up was Nigel, playing some nice 80's/90's grooves with quite a few nice ones I hadn't heard before as people arrived (more records on my wants list!)

Next was Rebecca, who played a wide selection from crossover classics to present day stompers which got people moving on the dance floor.

Then there was me. I decided to play an upbeat funky set loaded with big bass lines to make the most of the base bins.

Moldie was our named guest DJ and played yet another classy set of 70's tunes with his usual raw passion and enthusiasm about all things soulful.

Then Jason played an outstanding set, from jazz funk to soulful obscurities (photographed quite a few of his records)

To finish the evening I double decked with Moldie and we played some forgotten 70's to some lovely classics(Check out our Downloads page for podcasts of the sets from the night).

Although the numbers were down, a lot of hard work goes into putting on an event but even with low numbers we always strive for the best in music and atmosphere. Musically the night was outstanding and I would like to thank all the DJ's who did a remarkable job and everyone behind the scenes. Big Thanks to Jason and Moldie for helping with the sound checks and setting up.

A special thanks to Keven Kent who arrived by suprise to show his support, even though he's a Northern man through and through.

The Groove Junkies did their best to convert him and hopefully pushed him that little bit closer to the dark side. (I saw you tapping your foot to more than a few!)

Thanks to everyone that made the effort to attend. Your support is very much appreciated.
We originally started the Groove Junkies so that soulies could enjoy an alternate night with an open music policy and a large spectrum of Soulful music from 70's onwards. We are trying to keep Modern Soul alive in Kent, with the help of the people that attend we are able to do so.

Until next time, John, Diane and the Groove Junkie team.