Soul in Bologne Sept 29th 01 (Italy) by Ste the Beef

for images and play lists hit the link www.lapellenera.com 

for German and italian version hit here

As Saturday morning arrived we piled ourselves into the pickup truck which was to become our home for the next 48 hrs. By we, I mean me and Shaun my British clubmate and two interested and extremely curious "scene virgins".

As we set off, the sun was making its way higher into the sky, illuminating the discarded debris and silhouetting the grime and filth that is Naples. We made our way out of the province of Campania and beyond, gradually getting closer to what two old Mods would class as Italy.The entire journey took well over six hours, the equivalent of traveling from London to Edinburgh Shaun assures me. 300 hundred jokes, and blood filled ears later, we arrived; "break.....for joke, you deserve it too," "two flys on a turd...first fly let´s out a beauty of a fart"...."hey !! Do you mind " says the second fly..." I am trying to eat my dinner here."

Back to the Report. Ok... We arrived in Bologne and were treated to a fine cosmopolitan European city, which if you have ever been to Naples, was a pleasure to behold by comparison. As usual, as do many devotees of the scene, we made our way to the large yellow breasts of America and indulged in Mr Macs finest, until full. 1800 was looming large and dutifully, as directed by the flyer, we made our way to the meeting place;" Ye Aulde Dubliner." Gagging on a beer, we were amongst the very first to arrive and promptly established a prominent position in the center of the concrete beer garden. From this vantage point we were afforded the opportunity to check out the "faces" and "disciples" of the faith. Quite early on it registered that it was a mixed bunch, from Mods, Suede's and Soulies; a point worthy of note....No Scooterists as such !!! Close to 1900 " Shifty" arrived; for those who don´t know him, he is the famous DJ from the 100 Club in London..Baby Yeah !!! Shifty and his wife Annie were the honored guests of the Italians. But due to the flight restrictions, especially at this historical time, he was permitted to bring only 50 records. To many this may have seemed a negative point but on the contrary, quality ruled the night.......and what a night. Many conversations were started and the atmosphere was electric. With many like minded mouths chatting at "100miles an hour ", It was during this stage that " Scouse " appeared. To the trained eye this bloke looked like a stereo typical TV Liverpoolian......but NO !! Dressed like some " Brookside " characters alcoholic uncle, this gentlemen had the perm, the moustache, the out of shape jacket, open neck shirt, even the cheesy shoes. He was more Italian then Vespa or Lambretta put together. Throughout the night "Scouse " would appear and treat anyone, with remotest command of English, to his repertoire of Irish/Liverpool songs.

Anyway back to the " AULDE DUBLINER", with all the talk of soul, scooters , clothes and rare records, Shifty proceeded to pull out of his bag, a one off acetate, of a record that neither of the authors can recall. At this point we were all treated to a smell of this rare beast in order to sample the odor. Shaun had to touch it, just to say he had in later life and I had it snatched from beneath my nose, just as I was about to take a bite......it smelled that good. 1000 pounds is a lot to pay for a record, but as we were to find out at the Club, it was well worth it.

2300 was partytime and slightly worse for wear we made our way to the Covo Club, the venue for the night. Entry to the Club was 3 quid. Still regarded as quite early, the place was pretty packed with liberal spread of Mods, Skins , Suedes and Soulies carrying the old Addidas bags containing, shoes , towels , spare tops and the ubiquitous talcum powder. The venue consisted of three rooms; the first played Ska, Mod, Beat and 79 Revival stuff, the second was a chillout zone with a bar. Finally the third was a pure Northern room. In the Northern room Stefano from Milan and Carlo from Rome, got the floor thumping with a few mid tempo Northern tunes, which soon had the place packed. As the tempo hotted up, the hardcore began reaching for their " dancing pumps " and soon the smell of talc was overwhelming. This, apart from the obvious musical difference, was the main distinguishing feature of the two rooms. Room one smelt of herbal cigarettes and hemp, whilst room three ( the Northern room ) had the amour of talc. ( Can you get addicted to talc I wonder? ) The early hours arrived and it was time for Shaun and I to watch Shifty do his thing. Furnished with a microphone and dueley introduced by Carlo, rapturous applause hailed the start of Shiftys set. Personally the set was multi orgasmic and left me in a state of afterglow, tune after tune making my body want to engage in rhythmical motion. As a conservative estimate, I reckon I knew five of the records that were played, so rare was the set. Barbara, from Genoa, followed Shifty and was visibly daunted by the fact. It has to be said, she did a marvelous job of maintaining the attendance on the dance floor. Strange as it may seem I somehow missed the comfort of the microphone from behind the console. The end set was a combined effort from Stefano ; Carlo and Barbara. A formidable force which managed to keep the ambiance, if not enhance it. At 0515 the lights were raised and Shaun and I managed to hobble to the Pick up, legs dead from dancing, where we collapsed into contented oblivion. All in all a 1200 km round trip to keep the faith was truly worth it. Not that anyone will be interested in the trip back to Naples; the story shall end here. Epitaph : It was a superb Soul Night, patronized by 600 good people. For more info on Italian Soul Nights, visit the webpage of Stefano www.lapellenera.com Greetings to : Stefano , Carlo , Barbara ; Shifty & Annie and all the Italian mob that we met there, it was indeed a pleasure. Keep the faith Steve & Shaun

for images and play lists hit the link www.lapellenera.com 

for German and italian version hit here