The first ‘Soul at the Castle’ event was held on Friday 6th October 2006 and was hosted by ‘Matty’ (Matthew Rogers) and ‘Ro’ (Roland Hawes).The idea for the event came to Matty and Ro after returning from the world famous ‘Caister Soul Weekender’ in Great Yarmouth earlier that year. ‘Caister’, as the event is usually referred to by soul devotees, which began in 1979 so recently celebrated it’s 30th anniversary, takes place twice annually, usually over the May and September bank holiday weekends. Thousands of soul music lovers descend upon, and take over, the Vauxhall Holiday Park for three or four days, to be entertained by soul DJs and acts, and enjoy the company of like-minded individuals in a laid-back environment.Having realised that there is still a demand for events playing high quality soul music, Matty and Ro decided to host a one-off event locally in Surrey. After struggling to find a suitable venue locally they arranged a meeting with the management of Farnham Castle, who thankfully agreed to host the event. Having secured this prestigious and historic local setting, it was decided that all profits from the event would be donated to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham. Subsequent events have continued to raise money in this manner, and have also made donations to the Kylie Grimes Trust.The first event boasted a line-up of fifteen DJs, playing three separate rooms, mixing a variety of soul, funk, and soul influenced tracks from the last four decades.For this first event in 2006, Matty had called upon two friends in particular with an interest in DJ’ing and similar tastes in music. Mark Dunn, known to most now as ‘Dunny’, and Leeroy ‘Da Soulboy’. These three went on to make up the core of what is now a loose collective of like-minded soul loving friends ‘The Vibe Tribe’. They now play regular DJ slots at soulconnexion.com, and have promoted or co-hosted soul nights at other venues such as the House of Blues in Godalming, Fennells in Guildford and the Tally Ho in Eastbourne. A recent highlight for the boys was when they got to play support slots at an event at The Cambridge Hotel in Camberley for the legendary UK soul radio pioneer Greg Edwards, and ‘Da Buzzboy’ Fitzroy of soulsurvivors.comThe most recent ‘Soul at the Castle’ on Saturday 9th October 2010 was a resounding success, tickets were sold out in advance, and the new stage layout in the main room provided better acoustics and made for a more intimate atmosphere with the DJs being closer to the dancefloor (in previous years the DJs have played from an elevated balcony in the main hall). DJs Ro, Ivan and Dunny kept the hardcore soul lovers happy in the club room, playing a mix of ‘Northern’ through to modern soul classics. The evening’s finale set in the main hall was played by Matty and Leeroy, and included tracks from The O Jays, Maze and Gwen McRae, which rounded off the evening on a high.“A big thank you to everybody who attended the event, we hope to see you all again later this year.” - The Vibe TribeDesign and hosting: Osiris Systems
The first ‘Soul at the Castle’ event was held on Friday 6th October 2006 and was hosted by
‘Matty’ (Matthew Rogers) and ‘Ro’ (Roland Hawes).
The idea for the event came to Matty and Ro after returning from the world famous
‘Caister Soul Weekender’ in Great Yarmouth earlier that year. ‘Caister’, as the event is usually
referred to by soul devotees, which began in 1979 so recently celebrated it’s 30th anniversary,
takes place twice annually, usually over the May and September bank holiday weekends.
Thousands of soul music lovers descend upon, and take over, the Vauxhall Holiday Park for three
or four days, to be entertained by soul DJs and acts, and enjoy the company of like-minded
individuals in a laid-back environment.
Having realised that there is still a demand for events playing high quality soul music, Matty and
Ro decided to host a one-off event locally in Surrey. After struggling to find a suitable venue
locally they arranged a meeting with the management of Farnham Castle, who thankfully
agreed to host the event. Having secured this prestigious and historic local setting, it was
decided that all profits from the event would be donated to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in
Farnham. Subsequent events have continued to raise money in this manner, and have also made
donations to the Kylie Grimes Trust.
The first event boasted a line-up of fifteen DJs, playing three separate rooms, mixing a variety of
soul, funk, and soul influenced tracks from the last
four decades.
For this first event in 2006, Matty had called upon two friends in particular with an interest in
DJ’ing and similar tastes in music. Mark Dunn, known to most now as ‘Dunny’, and Leeroy ‘Da
Soulboy’. These three went on to make up the core of what is now a loose collective of like-
minded soul loving friends ‘The Vibe Tribe’. They now play regular DJ slots at
soulconnexion.com, and have promoted or co-hosted soul nights at other venues such as the
House of Blues in Godalming, Fennells in Guildford and the Tally Ho in Eastbourne. A recent
highlight for the boys was when they got to play support slots at an event at The Cambridge
Hotel in Camberley for the legendary UK soul radio pioneer Greg Edwards, and ‘Da Buzzboy’
Fitzroy of soulsurvivors.com
The most recent ‘Soul at the Castle’ on Saturday 9th October 2010 was a resounding success,
tickets were sold out in advance, and the new stage layout in the main room provided better
acoustics and made for a more intimate atmosphere with the DJs being closer to the dancefloor
(in previous years the DJs have played from an elevated balcony in the main hall). DJs Ro, Ivan
and Dunny kept the hardcore soul lovers happy in the club room, playing a mix of ‘Northern’
through to modern soul classics. The evening’s finale set in the main hall was played by Matty
and Leeroy, and included tracks from The O Jays, Maze and Gwen McRae, which rounded off the
evening on a high.
“A big thank you to everybody who attended the event, we hope to see you
all again later this year.” - The Vibe Tribe
Design and hosting: Osiris Systems
