Keeping the faith! The story of Northern Soul
From its origins in the clubs of Wigan and Manchester to its present day revival, the music, culture and love of Northern Soul lives on.
Fans and musicians alike are keeping the faith alive; to celebrate the legacy of this northern phenomenon, we chatted to returning fan favourites Northern Live, ahead of their latest show at The Varieties.
Written by Ben Fletcher and Darren Watson
The roots of a movement
Tainted Love, Fred Perry polos and packed dancefloors. You may know the songs, but do you know the story of Northern Soul?
In the late 1960s, funk and soul music from the United States, predominantly from labels like Motown, Stax, Atlantic, migrated across the pond – finding a new home in the north of England.
The music flourished in the form of a competitive DJ scene at nightclubs across Wigan, Blackpool and Manchester – including iconic venues such as The Twisted Wheel (Manchester) and Catacombs (Wolverhampton) – where young people would congregate on the dancefloor.
Emerging from the ashes of the ’60s mod scene, a new youth subculture was thus born, christened ‘Northern Soul’ by Soul City Records boss Dave Godin. This crowd sought out community, belonging and escape from the working week (and of course, shared a love for soul music) – they duly found it in the sweaty clubs of the north.
Most will know the scene for its iconic style of dance. Glides, shuffles, spins, high-kicks and drops, perfectly complimented by a distinct fashion sense – namely the baggy trousers, high-waisted skirts, brogues, Fred Perry and Ben Sherman shirts (themselves rooted in the classic Mod style that preceded it). And let’s not forget the iconic patch of the clenched fist. ‘Keep the Faith!’
Deptford Northern Soul Club. New Century Hall, Manchester, 2022. Credit Greta Kaur-Taylor
Marked by the closure of the Blackpool Mecca and Wigan Casino, the Northern Soul scene diminished in the 70s, exacerbated by government and local police intervention to combat drug use. Inevitably, the scene also needed to expand its sound to more contemporary work – given the unstable reliance on discovering older classics, of which there is an inherently limited number…
Keeping the faith!
However, the scene lived on – notably in Leeds and West Yorkshire.
“Some club nights from the old days, such as the Leeds Central Soul Club, are still going strong with the original DJs as back in the 1970s, and venues like The Harold Club in Bradford continue to host Northern Soul events on a regular basis to crowds both new and old.” (Ben Forrest, Far Out Magazine).
In the 2020s, the music continues to survive – and thrive – in the form of DJ collectives across the country (in Europe and beyond, too), like Manchester-based Northern Grooves, Deptford Northern Soul Club, Bristol Northern Soul Club, and, of course, much-loved live bands such as Northern Live.
In changing times, the music, dance and culture continues to resonate – with new generations of young people discovering the records, the community and finding space to coalesce as like-minded lovers of Northern Soul.
Deptford Northern Soul Club. New Century Hall, Manchester, 2022. Credit Greta Kaur-Taylor
Deptford Northern Soul Club. New Century Hall, Manchester, 2022. Credit Greta Kaur-Taylor
Deptford Northern Soul Club. New Century Hall, Manchester, 2022. Credit Greta Kaur-Taylor
Northern Live
We spoke to Darren Watson of Northern Live, a show celebrating the music of Northern Soul around the country – and returning to The Varieties in September 2026!
Introduce us to Northern Live.
Northern Live: Do I Love You is a live celebration of Northern Soul, bringing more than 30 favourites to the stage with an 11-piece band and four vocalists.
The idea was inspired by stories from my friends and family about their experiences travelling to some of the scene’s most iconic venues, including Wigan Casino, Blackpool Mecca, The Torch and the Twisted Wheel. Those stories made it clear that Northern Soul was about much more than the records themselves — it was about the venues, the people, the atmosphere and the shared experience.
Northern Live came from wanting to capture some of that energy and share the music with audiences in a full live setting.
The cast is made up of plenty of northerners (and Leeds locals!) What’s your relationship to the birth of Northern Soul?
We’re all much too young to have been part of the birth of Northern Soul ourselves, so I’d never want to pretend otherwise. Our connection comes through people close to us who experienced that original scene first-hand.
Personally, I’m a huge Motown and Northern Soul fan, but I’ve always approached the music slightly differently from a record collector. I became fascinated by what was actually happening inside the records — the arrangements, instrumentation and vocal parts — and wanted to unlock them note by note.
A big part of Northern Live is imagining how those original musicians might have performed these songs in the room.
Northern Live: Do I Love You
Northern Live: Do I Love You
There is a real tradition of Northern Soul music in DJ culture, but of course there is also a thriving live scene. Why do you believe it’s so important to perform this music in a live setting?
One of the things that makes Northern Soul so interesting to perform live is that the music often has to be worked out completely from the original records.
With many styles of music, you can find sheet music or published arrangements fairly easily. With Northern Soul, sometimes finding a clean copy of the original recording is difficult enough, never mind finding written notation. A huge part of the process for us is listening closely and working out the arrangements, instrumentation and individual parts by ear.
We do sometimes adapt songs slightly so they work better in a live theatre setting than they might have in the studio, but we take a lot of pride in getting as close as possible to the feel and instrumentation of the originals.
Any favourite memories (or challenges) of touring the show?
My favourite moments are often the ones I don’t even know about until after the show!
There’s a couple who have been to see us many times, and the gentleman is living with dementia. His wife has told us that he can sometimes struggle to find his words or feel disorientated, but when the music starts, something seems to reconnect. For those two hours he sings every word, gets up to dance and is completely absorbed in the songs. Hearing what those moments mean to them both has stayed with me and always will.
As performers, it’s very easy to get caught up in our own little bubble — thinking about the next cue, the next song or whether everything is going to plan. Then you hear a story like that and realise that just a few feet away, music is creating incredibly important moments in people’s lives.
And the beat goes on…
Northern Soul has persevered as a movement throughout the years, with recent revivals going strong across the country. How do you think the music scene has changed over the years?
More recently, we’ve noticed a new wave of younger Northern Soul fans coming through. Quite often they’re the children, grandchildren or even great-grandchildren of people who lived and breathed the original movement. You can really see how that passion has been passed down through families and through the music itself. I’ve never experienced that with another style of music on quite the same scale as I have with Northern Soul.
Northern Live: Do I Love You
The original scene was around 50 years ago, yet the music has stood the test of time. What’s particularly interesting now is that younger audiences aren’t necessarily treating it as nostalgia — they’re discovering the records for themselves and making their own connection with them. For me, that’s a big part of why Northern Soul continues to thrive rather than simply being remembered.
How do you see Northern Soul continuing to evolve in the future?
Hopefully we’ll start to see more grassroots artists coming through, like Brooke Combe, who are taking that influence and doing something new with it. It’s an interesting thought that in only a few years we could find ourselves considering material written in 2025 or 2026 alongside classic records.
I also think the collectors’ market could influence that next generation. There are still thousands of affordable records out there for someone starting a collection, but many of the most sought-after records are now financially out of reach for younger fans. Rather than trying to go that route, it could encourage people to create their own music inspired by the sound.
That, for me, would be a really interesting next chapter for Northern Soul — not just preserving what came before, but inspiring new records to be made.
What can audiences expect from your show?
Audiences can expect two hours of high energy, passion and a lot of music.
We intersperse the songs with animated videos featuring real interviews with friends and family, telling some of the funny stories from their travels up and down the country to hear their favourite records each weekend.
On stage, we give everything to the performance. We want the audience to feel part of it rather than simply sit and watch, and we love seeing people up dancing, singing along and – for some – reliving some of the best moments of their lives through the music.
Northern Live: Do I Love You
Thu 10 – Sat 11 September 2026
Keeping the faith to the original sounds of the underground movement that started on the dance floors in the North and eventually swept the nation, including an 11-piece band with four lead vocalists performing over 30 original hits.
Book now
Support us
Theatre For All
Help us increase our number of Accessible shows and bring the connection of live performances to new audiences.
Donate now
Name a Seat
Every seat tells a story. To keep writing the chapters, we’re inviting audiences to Name a Seat at one of our venues.
Find out more
Memberships
Join one of our membership schemes today and be the first to hear about forthcoming shows and screenings.
Join now
Gift vouchers
Give the gift of world-class live performance and cinema across The Grand, The Varieties and Hyde Park Picture House.
Buy now
