Boxing Day bash at Tall Trees

by Andrew Pain, Evening Gazette

A PROMOTER organising a massive celebration of northern dance music is to have a reunion with a band he has booked before - 30 years ago.

Nigel Wanless, DJ and organiser of Phreek - a Boxing Day bash at the Tall Trees Hotel - has announced LIGHT OF THE WORLD will be playing a live set at the one-off shindig.

The booking is extra special for Nigel, who will also be DJing on the night as FUNKY NIGE, as he first booked the funk and soul band for a gig at Gaskin’s on Linthorpe Road in 1979.

Looking forward to the Boxing Day bash which will have a host of big names taking to the stages and decks of five differently themed rooms, the promoter says: “I had them on in Gaskin’s on Linthorpe Road in 1979 and at Durham University as well.

“That was a packed night and we are expecting a massive turnout on Boxing Day as well. The night is shaping up to be something spectacular.”

Each area will host a different strand of northern dance music incorporating everything from the last 40 years of the genre.

The Phreek event will have the top DJ talents from Teesside, the North of England, the UK and the USA all tasked with the same job of re-uniting revellers and music fans with the scene.

One of the many top names on the bill will be superstar TODD TERRY (pictured, Grammy Award nominated DJ/producer who has been immersed in dance music since he first started listening to European dance music records while growing up in Brooklyn.

He heard something different in those tracks and he “went for the difference. I never got a break in New York, but England happened right away, so I catered to them.”

Todd is one of the world’s most celebrated figures in dance music. With almost two decades of dancefloor domination under his belt, the quality of his productions goes from strength to strength.

Other names on the bill include CHAD JACKSON, KARL FRAMPTON, CJ MACKINTOSH and STEVE SUTHERLAND.

Tickets are available from www.skiddle.com/tickets or in person at the TFM reception in Thornaby and Changes in Middlesbrough.

Phreek - A Celebration of Northern Dance Music:

Tall Trees Hotel, Yarm Boxing Day. Tickets £15