Southport Weekender has been dancing now for twenty years and at the start of November, the 41st bi-annual festival took place. A number of Dublin folks were in attendance and we've got a double helping of reviews for you from a couple of them today, brought to you by <a href="#mblack">Mike Black</a> and James McCartan.

Southport Weekender has been dancing now for twenty years and at the start of November, the 41st bi-annual festival took place. A number of Dublin folks were in attendance and we've got a double helping of reviews for you from a couple of them today, brought to you by Mike Black and James McCartan.

James McCartan

Well it’s that time a year again, when I try and search back through the sparse brain fields that still remain in my head. And share a little bit of my experience with you Bodytonic folk.

Arrived nice and early at around 6pm, after having a few pints in Liverpool, I had a taste for it, and it was straight out with the JD and coke and got some tunes on. Feeling all excited and waiting for Michael Black to arrive from the early evening flight from Dublin. And feeling a little bit anxious, the butterflies were doing there thing in my tummy.

There was a group of 12 of us sharing two chalets, so there was never a dull moment, 9 ladies and three guys. (Lucky us)

The few acts that I wanted to catch tonight were Karizma and Henrik Schwartz, and they just so happened to be on at the same time, so up until then I was just taking it all in my stride. Was great catching up with a few heads and getting the beer in off course

If im to be completely honest Friday night was a bit lame, the only DJ who really seemed to have any kind of energy in what they were doing was Henrik Schwartz, and I didn’t even get to enjoy it because I was dragged back to the Chalet by the Mrs.

Karizma was good, but it would have been very hard for him to be better than the last time I seen him. Maybe my expectations were too high, but he was ok none the less. Would have lovin to see Lady Alma feat Mark de Clive Lowe in the BBar, and Rashann Patterson in the Funkbase but it’s so hard to try and get it all in. Friday night went in the blink of an eye.

Sat afternoon began with the Fatback band in the Powerhouse, but I spent most of it looking after a casualty from the night before, so didn’t see too much of sat afternoon.

Sat night is always the big one, and with the Legendary Tony Humphries celebrating his 50th birthday, I knew tonight was going to be good.

One DJ that I really wanted to catch was Ian Friday who I thought was superb, not an easy task warming up for the big man Tony Humphries, but Ian played a blinder. Dropping some classics, working the sound system, and just looked like he was having great fun doing what he was doing, was really impressed by this guy.

Then off course Mr. Humphries up next, and he delivered a good solid set, which everybody seemed to be happy with. We were having such a good time singing and dancing it was quality, GETTIN IT DOWN......... LOL

Popped my head into catch the main man Spinna, who made a special guest appearance in the Connoisseurs corner, and was tearing it up, with some real old gems, brilliant stuff.

Managed to catch some of Domu`s set in the bbar aswell, which I liked. Playing some funky ass breaks, I think he had someone doing vocals with him, but I can’t remember.

Back into the Powerhouse to hear Dennis Ferrier lift the roof off the place, another solid set which I really enjoyed. He had Mia a live PA doing her thing, which I thought was terrible. Didn’t enjoy him doing his crap effort of mcing, "doh! Don’t do that Dennis" But good vibe over all.

Next up was Mr. Kerri Chandler who was pushing his musical boundaries by doing his live reel to reel set. And what can say except wow! He smashed it up Southport style....Brilliant!

Then 8.30am back to the chalet, and got into some fresh clothes which felt sooooooooo nice, kept the party going in the chalet till Sunday afternoon. Then went for some Sunday bbar action, getting down to some disco beats. Then sampled some of Bob Jones in the Powerhouse. Sounds of Blackness were on at 4pm. I wasn’t to pushed to see them again, so went back to the chalet for more fun and games. And then onto the sands for a little bit of an after party. Most people leave on Sunday, but if you can I’d definitly recommend staying Sunday night aswell, loads a crazy goings on. 11am Monday morning, the cleaners kicking us out with people still dancing in our chalet ha ha crazy shit! Funny though!

Another Southport Weekender under the belt, and another top time had. A big thanks to all the wonderful people that kept it all going for us throughout the week ender and gave us such a laugh. Too many to mention but you know who you are.

Michael Black

November Southport 41 was always going to be in the shadow of the 40th birthday bash at the start of the year but it delivered as they always do and I was lucky enough to be there.

First off I have to give massive props to Sarah @ Favouritizm who not only supplied the competition tickets for our website but also managed to squeeze me in too.

The atmosphere as expected was amazing throughout the whole festival. It was also a bonus having fellow Dublin heads James M and Groovement Soul lads Matt & Glen to hang out with.

The Friday night is spent by many catching up with old friends and settling into the chalet. It was no different for me, hooking up with James and his Southport crew, we all got ready together and headed in for the music.

The venue was well decked out as usual and the B-Bar had a new layout which gave it a more intimate atmosphere. There were so many acts i wanted to catch but as with all festivals clashing running orders and general socialising meant i only saw about half of what I wanted to see.

Of those acts, Mad Mats of Swedish label Raw Fusion hit the spot in the B-Bar. Utilising an MC who kept the crowd buzzin' he effortlessly switched between hip-hop, nu-jazz, funk and house. The Carl Craig remix of Tony Allen's "Kilode" was a particular favourite for me that he dropped in the mix.

Previously in the Powerhouse, which for the uninitiated is the main room of the event that showcases the soulful house side of things, I had the pleasure of catching David Harness. Aware of him as a producer I'd never heard him DJ so was very pleased when he didn't disappoint with his Shelter/Gospel style getting good reactions from the Powerhouse faithful. The bootleg remix of Donnie McClurkin's "We Get Up" was one of my highlights from his set.

Later on in the Powerhouse Karizma took to the decks. I had been looking forward to this big time, especially as I had seen him rock Southport before. What I like about Karizma as a DJ is that he is not only technically brilliant on the CD-J's but that he is not afraid to take risks, often looping tracks on the fly and blending mixes for ages. His track selection is also varied dropping broken beat tracks (his very own "Twyst This") with nu-jazz (1Luv's "Daylight") amongst garage classics (Basement Boys "A Feelin'"). However, whether it was a combination of my own hype or the tiredness from the early start that day, as hard as i tried to get into what he was doing I left feeling that the set could have been a bit more cohesive.

That was the end of the Friday night shenanigans for me. Feeling knackered I headed for bed and stupidly missed Henrik Schwartz and Rainer Truby who turned out the best sets of the weekend apparently. Doh!

Saturday came round and after having a good sleep I was ready to check out everyone i had pencilled in to catch.

Started off in the Powerhouse as I wanted to get a good spot for Tony Humphries 50th birthday set. On the decks when we got there was Ian Friday. Once again he's a producer I'm familiar with through releases on West End and his own Tea Party label as well as remixes on King St. His set was a perfect warm up for Tony Humphries, soulful and funky it got everyone in a great mood. Technically very good you could see him feeling his music, eyes closed and head swaying in a Claussell kind of way. He dropped a killer instrumental towards the end of his set on which he laid the classic Martin Luther King "I Have A Dream" speech.

Just before the arrival of Tony Humphries I popped into the B-Bar to catch Christian Prommers Drum Lesson live. This is a five piece band that does house covers of classics like "Strings of Life", "Beau Mot Plage" and "Rej" in a latin jazz dance style. The energy in their performance was amazing, if you closed your eyes you would think they were from Spanish Harlem and that the spirit of Candido was up there with on stage.

Christian Prommer was playing timbales and assorted percussion, there was a drummer and a brilliant conga player as well as double bass and keys. Apparently they had a few technical difficulties at the start which meant they cut the set short but it was still worth it.

Up next was the man everyone was waiting for. Tony came on stage to a huge welcome and after the compère introduced him (as if he needed to!) everyone sang happy birthday to the big man. He launched into his set and for the next couple of hours we were treated to the way house music should be played! There is a way that Tony delivers his sets, uplifting gospel stormers in-between mind twisting instrumentals and dubs. He mixes up the brand new with the familiar sucking you in with his sexy selection.

This set was so good I couldn't tear myself away to go to the Connoisseurs Corner to see another hero of mine Leroy Burgess. Tony kept the Powerhouse rocking and one track in particular that had me jumping was the recent "Self Religion" by Hardsoul, this tune uses the vocal from an old 90's track by Fierce Rulin' Diva "You Gotta Believe" and has a real early X-Press 2 feel to it, savage!

After Tony's set I ventured into the Connoisseurs Corner hoping that Leroy would still be there, perhaps freestyling with the DJ. As I walked in I was greeted by Nick Straker's Prelude classic "A Little Bit Of Jazz". The atmosphere was electric and the room was a lot fuller than normal. I looked up at the booth and I saw the reason why, DJ Spinna was behind the decks! I caught the last hour of what was THE best set for me at Southport. Soul and rare groove classics kept on flowing, mixed with real style by Spinna, Linda Williams "Elevate Our Minds", Stevie Wonder "As", James Brown "Payback" were just some of the highlights. Enjoying the set with me were Matt & Glen from Dublin's Groovement Soul and another Southport regular the lovely Lucy Lockett of Speed Queen from Leeds.

At the end of his set Spinna received a huge round of applause and the room emptied as everyone who couldn't leave cause the music was so good went off for refreshment or to spend a penny.

I then headed off to check out Karizma again who was doing a more eclectic set in the B-Bar with Taylor McFerrin (Bobby McFerrin's son). Karizma was superb mixing up funk, soul and broken beats effortlessly, proving what a versatile DJ he is. However, I was at a bit of a loss as to how Taylor McFerrin was contibuting to the set. He was on stage with a keyboard and lap-top set up and although I could hear him tinkling on the keys it really did look like he was checking his emails! Matty later told me that he actually contributed a lot more with vocals and instrumentation later in the set but by then I had returned to the Powerhouse to catch the height of Dennis Ferrer's set.

DF was amazing. His interaction with the audience was superb, really making you feel he was playing the music just for you. The set was full of his own productions but that didn't mean it was monotonous as his tracks cover the the whole spectrum of house. "P 2 Da J", "Underground Is My Home", "Grateful" and "Touch The Sky" all got an airing amongst classics such as Byron Stingly's "Get Up Everybody" and Inner City's "Big Fun", the riff from the latter being used to good effect by DF. It looked like he was using Ableton as I didn't see him cue up once but I could be mistaken, either way it was a class set and paved the way for Kerri to come on and rock the crowd with his reel to reels.

I only stayed for about four or five tracks of Kerri's set, as I had seen him many times before and wanted to check out Glenn Underground who was doing the final set in the B-Bar. As I walked in, the B-Bar was bubbling nicely to some savage deep jazzy house. "I wasn't feeling so well before I was going to come on but the love I'm feeling from you all has made me much better" he said over the mic to the Southport faithful who in turn responded with heaps of cheers. Glen then proceeded to play some of the most lush deep house I've heard in years and was just the ticket at 8am.

After that it was back to the chalet where an impromptu party took us partying until 1-2pm Sunday afternoon. Then caught some zeds and headed home thoroughly exhausted but energised and happy by the whole festival. Roll on next May :-)