Newhampton
Arts centre a good stone’s throw from Wolverhampton City Centre, Molineux
Stadium and Allen Road! Allen Road, a place I suffered my student days, just up
the road many years ago, however it was also in Wolverhampton where I first met
Chris Hunt, then publishing his own Shadows & Reflections Modzine and Fay
Hallam of Makin Time, so there were a few fond memories!
At last I
can now at last say I have some more great memories from Wolverhampton!
Relatively
easy to park in the area the Newhampton Arts Centre looks like a rambling old
building but once through the doors the atmosphere is definitely seeped in
sharp and smart.
Out of
Time sells out - and quickly! People look forward to this night for weeks, so
what is going on inside this rambling old building that makes it one of the
‘must’ places to be seen?
Arriving
about 9.30pm, there had been delays for some travellers due to an accident, but
in my case it was just time getting ready... Unfortunately this led to missing
the early DJ sets, sorry!
Ali Bongo
Goby was behind the decks on arrival; the entrance aisles to the main hall had
a couple of stalls with records, clothes and interestingly dress making
materials to browse.
Well first
impressions count and WOW! Standing in the doorway to the main room 3 things
hit me: -
1)
The
room was packed; the only room available was on the dancefloor.
2)
The
lighting in the room is amazing, controlled manually on lighting decks through
the night, colours changing but not in some bizarre on-off fashion but smooth
tone changes from pink to lilac to purple to green and so on... The effect
gives the good sized dancefloor its own mystique and is fantastic for taking
photos. (Also through the night there were at least 2 photographers roaming the
room to capture moments and people, now you know where all the fantastic photos
come from for the Out of Time Facebook page and advertising).
3)
How
many smart, sharp, hip, cool people can you cram into one room? Out of Time
certainly knows how to attract the right crowd!
Before I'd
even got inside I'd bumped into Andrew Money looking very sharp, then stepping
inside the room there was everybody's friend Howard Gibson, in his grey/silver
double breasted suit (I love that suit), before the bar was reached welcomes
were shared with Rob Glover, Kass Jones and Dave and Julie and a few nods to
familiar faces, while Julian Clapton, Sean Sexton and Chris Leslie were not far
from the bar... (as usual?) It was beginning to feel like a home away from
home...
Drinks
choices were fairly limited, not being a proper 'bar' as such and quite small
in size, but adequate and easily served for saying the room was full. 2 rows of
tables and chairs were packed solid and all the free standing space was taken.
However this did not feel uncomfortable, lots of chatting and people catching
up or making new friends in a warm friendly environment. The room is large but
cozy, well laid out with large hanging white balloon type objects decorating
the ceiling (it is an Arts centre!) a light control box and a small bar at the
rear with a good sized dancefloor and raised DJ stage at the front. Often a
room full of 'posers' (let’s be honest, a lot of us have a bit of the peacock
tendency) can sometimes feel intimidating or get your back up.... Not at Out of
Time! Such warmth, smiles, enjoyment and friendliness was outstanding. Despite
all the 'sharp looks' and 'coolness' the atmosphere was quite laid back,
welcoming and fun.
So back to
the dancefloor to enjoy Ali Bongo's set (great it was too) followed by Glyn
Preece, Sean Chapman and Alan Handscome (for the life of me I can't remember
which order) but the night was definitely finished off by Glyn Preece. Each DJ
skilled and excellent BUT imagine when you combine the talents and tunes of
these DJ's with the atmosphere in the room and the lighting effects on a great
wooden dancefloor you might realise why Out of Time sells out and looks like it
will again rapidly for October's event. Out of Time has a magical, almost
surreal, feel to it, something you do need to experience for yourself, if you
can get a ticket!
The music
played was a mix of classic Mod sounds, soul, R'n'B, latin, jazz and ska,
exactly as it says on the tin! The smiling faces on the dancefloor and around
the room didn't stop all night, cameras flashing, meeting new friends; catching
up with old friends and hitting the dancefloor... people were having fun!
Around midnight
the room did start to thin but by 2.30am on Saturday morning the room was still
half full, the dancefloor was still packed and Glyn Preece slipped in 2 if not
3 extra tracks after finishing time...
The extra
tracks were unplanned; at one point even Glyn was unsure what he had lined up
to play! but the final track was very very apt for Out of Time, goodbyes were
said, hands shaken, hugs (even man hugs) were exchanged all over the room as
Steve Marriott belted out... 'It’s all too beautiful.....It’s all too
beautiful...'
It was
'beautiful' and like many others I can't wait to do it all again in October!
No comments:
Post a Comment