The WILTON ALLNIGHTER REVIEW - Then and now (1993 - 2007)

It started off in the 80s - a group of people with a love for soul music throwing regular nights at one place or another and getting moved on, finally finding a home at the bottom of Carlton Street, Normanton, in the main room of a working man’s club.  These nights ran every Friday at the Carlton for several years, from 8 till 12. , and went under the name of The Carlton Soul Club.

These nights were run for the people who had the same passion for the music, not for financial gain.  It was known as the club run by the soul fans for the soul fans, and carries that banner right through to the present day.

When I first went, I remember the scandalous admission charge of 25p, which when paid automatically entered you into the raffle.  So, if you had the winning ticket, you could go home with a couple of rump steaks, or a bottle of Chateau de Piss.  People from all over West Yorkshire turned out, and many praised the place for the contribution it made to moving forward the soul scene during those times.

The music played back then was a real mixture, influenced by the Torch, Wigan, Samantha’s at Sheffield, Stafford, Clifton Halls, Parkers at Manchester, and for a good few of us particularly, Canal Tavern, Thorne.  So, over the course of the night, music could be heard from the 60s to the 90s.

Early doors gave the DJs the opportunity to play slightly more obscure releases, and as the night progressed the tunes would have a mix of 70s classics, current biggies, classics and underplayed oldies.

From time to time the club would throw in an 8 till 2 night at the Wilton Ballroom.  These nights were attended by Carlton regulars as well as soul fans who travelled.  The lads from the Carlton played the tunes on the night, along with a couple of guest spinners, and they became quite popular.

So in 1993 one of the lads suggested the possibility of having a 12 till 8 all-nighter there; the venue was approached, dates set, and it started.  Ideally, Saturday would have been the night to have, but it wasn’t possible due to weddings, functions and ballroom dancing, etc., so we had to go with Friday nights.  From the outset, the ‘nighters were advertised as The Carlton Club Presents 8 Hours of Soul, it was never an out and out rare soul 'nighter, as some people think.  It was an extension of what was happening at the Carlton at the time and across the night.  What we wanted was a good mix of music so we could try to give a good variation over the 8 hours, and it’s still the same policy today.

The Wilton, over the years, has probably used more DJs than anyone.  Some people criticise this fact and say that you need 3 or 4 top DJs as residents to give the balance, but we always wanted the people with the interest, enthusiasm and love for the music involved as well.  We’ve had the bigger named DJs playing alongside lesser known DJs and it always worked great.

To my mind as a punter, it is more interesting wondering what’s coming next, rather than knowing what’s coming next, if you catch my drift.  And it’s great to hear someone play something off the wall and unexpected rather than a solid hour of the same tried and tested oldies.

By the end of 2004, long time friends, Chris & Lesley, who promoted the Wilton from the start, decided that, after 11 years, they needed a change of scenery.  So 2005 came round with regulars wondering what was going to happen through the year, and what the new promoters were going to do.  In brief, the answer is very much more of the same.  One priority was to get a nagging equipment problem sorted out, as the bass bins were starting to cut in and out after a few hours. Boxy came to the rescue, stripping the whole thing out, checking leads, cleaning off, venting and various other things.

In March 2005 the 12^th Anniversary All-nighter was a huge success.  The turn out was excellent and we even managed to get the bottom end opened up for the record dealers, like it was in the early days.  2005 music wise, was very good throughout the year, and out of the 6 'nighters, four have had very good turnouts, and two of them were ok.

Throughout 2006 we had some great nights but the number of new allnighter and weekender venues occurring on the same weekend did take its toll on attendances.  Rumours that the venue was about to be closed to make way for new development in the area were rampant.  After a meeting with the owners these rumours were found to be totally untrue, in fact the owners were looking forward to expanding their business to cater for demand from new adjacent companies.

A party atmosphere took over the venue in November 2006, when Bernie & Andy Peake celebrated their wedding at the venue and attendances were up again.

2007

Jerry Brown has joined the promotion team.  Jerry has been a regular at the venue from the beginning, and is well known to most.  Expect to see Jerry spinning a few 45's from time to time at the venue, and out and about getting the word out with flyers at other venues.

After taking a look at the events scheduled for 2007, the promotion team reluctantly decided to change from the regular, third Friday date to the first Friday bi-monthly, to relieve clashes with other events on the same weekend.

It's early days yet, but our first event for 2007 was a cracker, with attendance back up, and we were very pleased with all the positive comments we received.  Let's hope we can move on and get the Wilton back where it should rightly be - one of the top and longest running nighters in the UK.

In March 23rd 2007 the Wilton will celebrate it's 14th anniversary with a Collectors Special - 16 DJ/Collectors will spin sounds from their collections deck for deck - looks like being a cracking night.  Don't forget to pick up your free 14th anniversary badge on the night.  On a lighter note some one had an old Wilton badge for auction on E bay a few weeks ago; don't know what it finally made, but with Mr Manship currently auctioning old copies of Blues & Soul, who knows what Wilton badges will be worth in the future - who's got a full set?  See you at the Antiques Road Show.

Thanks for supporting the venue over the years.  Special thanks to John and Mouse, Boxy and Val Box for all their hard work through 2005/6, not forgetting our very own door girls – Sue, Julie, Jayne and Kath.

I’d like to congratulate everybody involved over the years for giving us some truly great nights.  From attending the first one in 1993, I’ve always been a big supporter and take my cap off to everyone, especially the regulars who have turned out wind, rain or shine, through the good and bad, to make it what it is – The Soul Fans’ All-nighter, run by the soul fans for the soul fans.