The flyer described the party as infamous, word of mouth described it as superb, and other Thames cruisers described it as noisy! In the past 9 months that I have spent in Wycombe, one party has been talked about more than any other. The highly revered Soul Together Boat Party.
This review is the story of a sunny Sunday night out cruising down the Thames. Sounds a bit sedate? Well, when you mix House music, partygoers and plenty of alcohol- then youve got yourself one hell of a party!
The afternoon began with a trip to a local pub called the Beech Tree. During the summer on bank holidays this quiet drinking establishment is transformed into an outdoor house party, courtesy of DNR. With DJ Pierre John, Scotty Dawg, Lee Harrison and the king of funk funky G each gracing the decks, good music is most certainly guaranteed. As usual the guys didnt disappoint, and the call to the bus was greeted with mixed emotions. I didnt wanna leave the Beech Tree, but the call of the cruise was too strong!
When I arrived in Maidenhead the first thing that caught my attention was the sizeable crowd that had gathered in the waterside pub. This was the pre party and by the time I got there it was already in full swing. I could sense real anticipation amongst the gathered revellers, who, like me where itching to get onto that boat.
Once onboard, I realised this was gonna be one cosy trip. Being 6ft 3 tall, I was probably a little oversized for the vessel, but I was here to party and a low roof wasnt gonna stop me. As well as a low roof, the boat has a wide and long main room and a top deck that allows space to chill out and take in the stunning scenery. There is the essential bar that caters for most tastes in drink and I found service to be surprisingly quick, bearing in mind the amount of thirsty people on board. All in all, a good venue.
The DNR DJs kicked off the proceedings in fine style. DNR has been getting a lot of respect for the deep soulful vibes that they have been championing recently, and this set was a perfect example why!
I heard tunes ranging from house breaks to deep groovers; disco to Latin and basically anything that had soul. Set list included; Roy Davis Jr- Closer 2 you, Samba La Bahia Outra Luga, Kaskade This Rhythm, Soldiers of Twighlight Believe and many other fine House records.
The DNR guys got things going and there where plenty of people on the floor. But the night was still young, it wasnt even dark yet and for most the alcohol induced ability to dance all night hadnt taken full effect. Si Sutton noticed this and decided to use his set to chill things out slightly. That doesnt mean a dip in the quality, but like all good DJs will tell you, to keep a crowd energised you have to bring them down as well as up, on a 6 hour cruise burnout can be a real problem. Si Sutton played a mixture of soulful vocal U.S garage and funk fused house. This was a set that the house heads on the boat appreciated; each track was greeted with plenty of nods and smiles. That was one of the key positives of the party, the crowd. They where knowledgeable and showed due respect for the music.
Si upped the tempo towards the end of his set and this was the perfect introduction to the main man, Dave ONeil. To many, Dave wont need any introduction, but to those that have never experienced a Soul Together party, check out his interview on the DNR website. Dave is renowned for being able to raise the bar when it comes to quality and on this occasion he did just that. His style is simply the ability to select outstanding music. I dont know the name of the track he opened with, I suspect it to be a couple of years old, but nonetheless it truly rocked the Casbah! A gospel stormer, that had the crowd whooping and clapping in appreciation. I guess this was a taster of what was to come. Uplifting, funky, body jacking House. The dance floor was packed, and to the other boats that where moored up along the river we must have looked a real sight. The party had arrived!
The set list I compiled is pretty sparse and only a reflection of the tracks Dave played that I recognised. These included the ultra rare, Yolanda Williams Yeah Yeah Yeah. Tweet Boogie Tonight (Bobby DAmbrosio Remix), Yolanda Williams Fat Rat, Reel People Cant stop, and the exclusive first play of my record labels first release; Amma Keep Hoping (cheers Dave). Like I said not an accurate list and Im sure that if I tried I could have found out more, but I was feeling the groove too much to start train spotting the tracks.
During his set Dave was joined by Greg, who accompanied Daves style perfectly. I remember Greg played a track by Gregg Gibbs called Glow of Love, this was extremely well received by the dance floor. This sort of musical sparing continued throughout the remainder of the night, culminating in a round of applause for the two aforementioned DJs.
In summing up, I would say, believe the hype. This is one party that cant be missed. Id heard a lot about the boat but seeing is believing. A big canal boat, a lot of booze and amazing music, its enough to make even Rosie and Jim reach for the lasers!
This review is the story of a sunny Sunday night out cruising down the Thames. Sounds a bit sedate? Well, when you mix House music, partygoers and plenty of alcohol- then youve got yourself one hell of a party!
The afternoon began with a trip to a local pub called the Beech Tree. During the summer on bank holidays this quiet drinking establishment is transformed into an outdoor house party, courtesy of DNR. With DJ Pierre John, Scotty Dawg, Lee Harrison and the king of funk funky G each gracing the decks, good music is most certainly guaranteed. As usual the guys didnt disappoint, and the call to the bus was greeted with mixed emotions. I didnt wanna leave the Beech Tree, but the call of the cruise was too strong!
When I arrived in Maidenhead the first thing that caught my attention was the sizeable crowd that had gathered in the waterside pub. This was the pre party and by the time I got there it was already in full swing. I could sense real anticipation amongst the gathered revellers, who, like me where itching to get onto that boat.
Once onboard, I realised this was gonna be one cosy trip. Being 6ft 3 tall, I was probably a little oversized for the vessel, but I was here to party and a low roof wasnt gonna stop me. As well as a low roof, the boat has a wide and long main room and a top deck that allows space to chill out and take in the stunning scenery. There is the essential bar that caters for most tastes in drink and I found service to be surprisingly quick, bearing in mind the amount of thirsty people on board. All in all, a good venue.
The DNR DJs kicked off the proceedings in fine style. DNR has been getting a lot of respect for the deep soulful vibes that they have been championing recently, and this set was a perfect example why!
I heard tunes ranging from house breaks to deep groovers; disco to Latin and basically anything that had soul. Set list included; Roy Davis Jr- Closer 2 you, Samba La Bahia Outra Luga, Kaskade This Rhythm, Soldiers of Twighlight Believe and many other fine House records.
The DNR guys got things going and there where plenty of people on the floor. But the night was still young, it wasnt even dark yet and for most the alcohol induced ability to dance all night hadnt taken full effect. Si Sutton noticed this and decided to use his set to chill things out slightly. That doesnt mean a dip in the quality, but like all good DJs will tell you, to keep a crowd energised you have to bring them down as well as up, on a 6 hour cruise burnout can be a real problem. Si Sutton played a mixture of soulful vocal U.S garage and funk fused house. This was a set that the house heads on the boat appreciated; each track was greeted with plenty of nods and smiles. That was one of the key positives of the party, the crowd. They where knowledgeable and showed due respect for the music.
Si upped the tempo towards the end of his set and this was the perfect introduction to the main man, Dave ONeil. To many, Dave wont need any introduction, but to those that have never experienced a Soul Together party, check out his interview on the DNR website. Dave is renowned for being able to raise the bar when it comes to quality and on this occasion he did just that. His style is simply the ability to select outstanding music. I dont know the name of the track he opened with, I suspect it to be a couple of years old, but nonetheless it truly rocked the Casbah! A gospel stormer, that had the crowd whooping and clapping in appreciation. I guess this was a taster of what was to come. Uplifting, funky, body jacking House. The dance floor was packed, and to the other boats that where moored up along the river we must have looked a real sight. The party had arrived!
The set list I compiled is pretty sparse and only a reflection of the tracks Dave played that I recognised. These included the ultra rare, Yolanda Williams Yeah Yeah Yeah. Tweet Boogie Tonight (Bobby DAmbrosio Remix), Yolanda Williams Fat Rat, Reel People Cant stop, and the exclusive first play of my record labels first release; Amma Keep Hoping (cheers Dave). Like I said not an accurate list and Im sure that if I tried I could have found out more, but I was feeling the groove too much to start train spotting the tracks.
During his set Dave was joined by Greg, who accompanied Daves style perfectly. I remember Greg played a track by Gregg Gibbs called Glow of Love, this was extremely well received by the dance floor. This sort of musical sparing continued throughout the remainder of the night, culminating in a round of applause for the two aforementioned DJs.
In summing up, I would say, believe the hype. This is one party that cant be missed. Id heard a lot about the boat but seeing is believing. A big canal boat, a lot of booze and amazing music, its enough to make even Rosie and Jim reach for the lasers!
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