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Southsea Old Guard First XI 2016

“So I asked 11 mates if they wanted to play an hour’s worth of records each, to save me having to do too much actual work, then I swept in at the end and took all the glory at the end of the night…genius.”

Sometime in early 2011, someone from Southsea fest asked me if I’d like to ‘do something’ at The Wine Vaults on the day of their festival. I was pretty much left to do what I liked, within reason, and in keeping with the vibe of the day. It didn’t take me long to come up with what I wanted to do, the hours were noon til midnight in the Vaults at the time, 12 hours. So I asked 11 mates if they wanted to play an hour’s worth of records each, to save me having to do too much actual work, then I swept in at the end and took all the glory at the end of the night…genius.

In actual fact, it was brilliant, I never intended for it to be a definitive list of Southsea DJs, it was more like a quickly scrawled list of my mates than a carefully curated bill. There have been many more terrible omissions than actual players, but that’s ok, I think most people get it. Someone who got it from the first year was my lovely friend ‘Monkey’ Paul Keeler. Everyone’s lovely friend. He was someone I looked up to and was inspired by when he was around, putting on party after party of brilliant and eclectic bills. Allowing me to rub shoulders with far better DJs than myself but always making me feel like I deserved to be up there. I like to think we had a bit of a mutual admiration society going on, and he was kind enough to play for the Old Guard 4 times before buggering off to the big old sound system in the sky.

Paul’s way was to be inclusive, not to be penned in by age or genre or trouser style. Just play what makes your arse wiggle, cause if you’re enjoying it, most likely others will too. That’s exactly the philosophy I’ve tried to keep going with SOGFXI. I have a ‘Once you’re in, you’re in’ policy going, which means there’s rarely an opportunity for fresh blood, as everyone loves the day so much they don’t want to lose their place. This year sees only one change from last year. We lose Weir, who has an awful excuse (Mum’s 70th), and welcome the Dave to my Chas; Handsome Dave Rocker, who has been billed about 3 times but pulled out every time cause his work was tricky. Hopefully he’ll make it this year. If anyone wants to play in future years, just let me know and we’ll see what we can do. Maybe next year even a Old Guard XI vs Rest Of The World XI Silent Disco…..?

Anyway, that’s about it, just wanted to tell you all a bit about it all, cause it’s literally my favourite day of the year. Last year Southsea fest wasn’t on so I decided to take it solo and relocate to Little Johnny Russells, we’re staying there I think so this coming Saturday, 12th November, swing by and pop your head in. I’m kicking things off at noon, then we’ve got Linda Spence, Matt Seeney, Morgan, Jimmy Barber, Rowan Kassassin, Ian Void, Austen McLean, Keef Hicks, Big Jim, Leon Windsor and Uncle Al. Then I’ll probably barge my way back onto the decks and play Windowlicker and Proud Mary. God it’s such a fun day.

In Paul’s memory, we now raise money for No More Durty Water, a cause that Paul invested a great deal of time and effort in, helping to provide clean running water in countries where that is a privilege, not a basic human right. Please give a little donation if you pop along, it’s not compulsory, but it is very much welcomed and appreciated. I believe there will be some of the ace DURTY tees available on the day, and the incredible Roy Of The Rovers style team poster created by local legend and street artist Luke Storkey AKA Dharma 77 is also going to be for sale as a print too…I think…I hope, I want one!

Here’s a playlist, ‘a tune a DJ’, so you know what you might get on the day.

Longlive the Southsea Old Guard First XI!!

12:00 – Charlie Longlive : Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell
13:00 – Linda Spence : Inside & Out – Feist
14:00 – Matt Seeney : So Long Forever – Palace
15:00 – Handsome Dave : King Of Rock – Run DMC
16:00 – Jimmy Barber : All Day Music – War
17:00 – Rowan Kassassin : Dreams – Beck
18:00 – Ian Void : Midnight Loving – RackNRuin feat. Jessie Ware
19:00 – Austen McLean : Sabotage – Beastie Boys
20:00 – Keith Hicks : Dogs Of Lust – The The
21:00 – Big Jim : Journey Of The Dragons – Underground Resistance
22:00 – Leon Windsor : Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor remix) – Mory Kante
23:00 – Uncle Al  : Vitamin C – Can


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