Soul Heaven 10th Anniversary
Ministry Of Sound London
“A Evening Touched By A Decade of Soul…”
Soul Heaven kicked off its 10th Anniversary year with an amazing celebration at the capital’s Ministry Of Sound. As the venue glamorously prepared itself with seductively polished disco balls readied to echo the sounds of Soul Heaven ‘s momentous party, all eyes were on the in-store event over at BM Records Soho.
Soul Heaven resident Phil Asher delighted those in early attendance at London’s Favorite record hive, by kicking the Saturday afternoon party off before Louie arrived straight from the airport to play a two hour set and touch base face to face with his fans. Louie’s affectionate in store appearance included several memorable cuts including Anane’s latest offering “Plastic People” proudly produced by non other than Louie himself. Ok so we might have understated how low key this in store event was going to be, as Barbara Tucker’s glamorous arrival was greeted by an already jam packed shop, playfully overflowing onto the streets of London.
The evening club event upon us; all of Ministry’s rooms were packed with an excitable and energetic crowd ready to celebrate this launch party along with the Soul Heaven resident’s & singers. The first PA of the night was Adeola Ranson singing her recent Soul Heaven hit “A little more love” in the newly refurbished bar while the UK residents kept the party flowing with a deeper groove that had bodies jiving then pausing to cheer when one beat was replaced with another. With the baby box crowd lost in classics, Loungin’ Recording’s representatives had the loft in full swing. Phil Asher started the proceedings in the box, setting the mood for a very cool evening until Louie Vega took over the decks ready to tease the crowd with a nice slow intro for Ms Jocelyn Brown, who sent shivers through the room with her rendition of “Nights over Egypt” and the classic “Its Alright”. The crowd’s reaction showed that they’d come to hear a certain sound, and their rapport with Louie was proof that their expectations were being met.
The Live PA’s moved seamlessly onto Louie Vega; who orchestrated the night playing some tracks from the forth-coming comp. As always Louie kept the main floor packed right through until Barbara took over the stage and powerfully delivered a passionate vocal performance covering everything from “Deep Inside” to the “Horn Song” as well as including “Precious Love” & her new release “Superstar”.
The party was never going to finish premature as the last hour extended into two where by Louie took to the mic announcing “we’re gonna go deep” before taking everyone on a musical journey; the highlight of which was the appropriately named London Roots; written by Louie with the Soul Heaven crew in mind. The crowd grooved in response as the master worked passionately joining the dots between his various loves. In a genuine celebratory mood he was impeccable; pulling older tracks perhaps picked especially for the occasion, who could blame him; It was of course a pretty special night.
“Saturday Night was a Party Jocelyn, Barbara & Louie smashed the dance And the Soul Heaven Gang. Blessed Up”
“What a party, you really did smash it. We had such a good night.”
“The music in every room was fantastic ……. J Brown and nights over Egypt was my highlight, That women can sing !!!!!!”
“What a great party! great crowd, great music (Louie was amazing the last hour…), great performances (Barbara especially…). “
“****B.I.G. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.****”
“Was a very good night indeed.. Fantastic in all rooms !! “
“Fanbloodytastic- I loved it x”
“We had an absolute ball. I have only just got the feeling back in my feet haha..We especially loved the Pa by Barbara Tucker, she was amazing.”
“Amazing crowd, amazing party n amazing line up … i like every set i heard … a night i’ll prob never forget … especially when Barbara Tucker was singing … xx …”
“Great night to be star struck, can’t wait for the next one!”
“Loved it, Great night!”
“It was a great start for 2010 ….x”
