We were in attendance for last year’s first soul festival at The Bell House and can tell you that it was a fantastic weekend. Great acts, great atmosphere. With a sold out venue both nights last year and disappointed folks turned away at the door, it’s no wonder that the folks at Dig Deeper have put together a 2010 line-up.

This year’s festival is coming up in a couple of weeks and tickets are thankfully still available. Once again the venue is Gowanus’ The Bell House on Friday October 8th and Saturday October 9th. The music kicks off at 8pm on both nights with Shakey’s Record Fair providing some rare vinyl hunting on Saturday during the day.

Once again, the festival is MC’d by the fantastic baby-faced Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the acts back by his band on Friday night. You won’t believe the voice this white boy can kick out. Brooklyn’s own The Sweet Divines back the headliners on Saturday night.

This year’s line up is another who’s who of soul legends:

Barbara Lynn, Vernon Garrett and Don Gardner take the stage on Friday night with Betty Harris, Harvey Scales and Renaldo Domino taking to the stage on Saturday to round out the festival.

For more details on the event, visit the festival’s Facebook event page.

Click here for tickets for Friday night, and here for Saturday night. Naturally we recommend you make both nights with the weekend pass. At $20 a night the cover price is phenomenal value for a great night of legends.

Friday Night Headliners

Barbara Lynn – You’ll Lose a Good Thing

Vernon Garrett – If I could Turn Back The Hands of Time

Don Gardner – My Baby Likes to Boogaloo

Saturday Night Headliners

Betty Harris – Cry To Me

Harvey Scales – Get Down

Renaldo Domino – Don’t Go Away

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Initially the purpose of the site was to track my progress to getting back on to two wheels in the US after a number of years of absence since riding scooters as a teenager in the UK. But the ambitions of the site quickly outgrew its inception.

In the past twelve months the site has grown from strength to strength, gaining recognition from local scooter riders, local dealers and local organizations; brought in guest writers and interviewees; and has expanded to cover everything and anything to do with riding scooters in New York City.

To celebrate our one-year anniversary let’s take a look back on some of most significant stories of our first year month-by-month.

Taking a break during last year's Basic RiderCourse

March 2009
In March we covered my experiences taking Motorcycle Safety School’s three-day Basic RiderCourse on their range and in their classroom in the Bronx. The course is considered the perfect way for beginners to get comfortable on two-wheels with expert instruction; and walk away with a DMV test-waiver at the end of the course.

Parking NYC style.

April 2009
April brought us two milestones. First was the introduction of the Deals on Wheels section of the site, and in particular our first “Today on CraigsList” helping local scooterists find diamonds in the rough. Our very first posting was for a 2001 Vespa ET4.

Second, one of our most successful stories ever, our look at the do’s and don’ts of parking on the streets of NYC. The story looked into keeping your scoot safe from harm, and your pocket safe from tickets.

May 2009
May was filled with sorrow and joy. On the joy side, after multiple bureaucratic delays (which have since been removed entirely) my test-waiver finally arrived following my completion of the Basic RiderCourse allowing me to finally get on the road legally.

In the sorrow category, May was the month we bid farewell to Nick and the crew at Brooklynbretta, a local dealer who though in existence for a relatively short time made a hugely positive impact on the local scooter scene. We still miss you Nick.

Revellers at the NY Scooter Club Block Party '09.

June 2009
In June we covered our friends, the NY Scooter Club, as they celebrated their annual bash, the NYC Block Party including ride-outs to Coney Island and Flushing Park Meadows. It was fantastic to see so many great scoots on display and meet so many great folks. The NY Scooter Club have recently announced the date for this year’s bash, the 5th annual Block Party taking place a little earlier on May 14th and 15th and you can be sure we’ll be sharing plenty of news on this date as we get it.

July 2009
Like you, in July, we spent less time sitting in front of our laptops and more time out riding, so while the local news slowed, we still managed to get some great stories; this time from our neighbors in Boston and Philadelphia. Both cities revamped local scooter laws with Philly commencing its installation of official motorcycle and scooter parking and Boston cracking down on 50cc owners who had previously avoided license plate and parking restrictions.

DJ Josh Link.

August 2009
August brought the sad news that local DJ Josh Link was killed after his vintage Vespa failed him on the Williamsburg Bridge. While Josh’s death was sadly not the only scooter related death of the year, it brought us all closer to the reality of riding our idiosyncratic machines among the cabs, buses, SUVs and trucks of the Big Apple.

On a happier music related note, later in the month saw the Brooklyn Soul Festival that unearthed forgotten soul legends and brought them to our city. Fingers crossed for Brooklyn Soul Festival 2010.

Some of the insightful Gear Up! Project data.

September 2009
September was a busy month here at NYCS Towers and among all the scooter related news we began to place a lot of emphasis of scooter maintenance and repair articles.

In particular, a new addition to the family in the form of a 1985 Vespa PX150e began a series of restoration, or if you prefer rebuild, posts over the following months as I slowly brought the scoot back to its former glory.

September also saw our interview with safety advocate Kate Rhodes, founder of the Gear Up! Project which has been founded to draw scooterists’ (and motorcyclist’s) attention to the importance of wearing the right safety gear for the road.

October 2009
October saw fashion label, ScooterGirls sweep the first prize award during LA’s Fashion Week. The woman’s wear that goes a long way to ensure fashion doesn’t have to suffer at the hands of safety has since go on to a strong showing at the Dealer Expo in Indianapolis earlier this year and should begin appearing on local dealer’s shelves soon. We’ll keep you posted.

The month also saw a local Middle School teacher bring vintage Vespa restoration into the classroom as a teaching aid. We were there to scoop some behind the scenes photographs from NY Times coverage.

Finally, October was the month that we here at NYCS threw our two cents into the ongoing heated debate over restored vintage scooters emanating from Asia and their reputation as dangerous bodge-jobs: The NYCS Viet-bodge 101.

4 strokes under the hood.

November 2009
As the weather began drawing the 2009 riding season to a close, we were treated to some exciting news in readiness for the 2010 season as LML unveiled its 4-stroke iteration of the Vespa P-clone, the Star 4. Since we caught the story, Genuine have confirmed and begun prepping their 2010 Stella manifestations of the Star 4 for shipment and they are expected to arrive at local dealers in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for our first local sightings and review.

December 2009
In the continuation of scooter news out of India, the final month of 2009 saw Bajaj announce its withdrawal from the scooter business, bringing an important piece of scooter heritage to a close. The move came in part due to increased competition from its rival, and manufacturer of the Stella, LML.

January 2010
In January, local scooter parking advocates from the New York Motorcycle and Scooter Task Force made local headlines as they drew attention to NYC’s poorly thought-out Muni-Meter Zones as they pertain to two-wheeled parking. And while the parking debate continues on without definitive action, it’s always good to bring more attention to the issue. We’ll keep you up to date in 2010 as the discussion continues.

Photograph courtesy of Carbon Negative.

February 2010
Finally, last month saw the Williamsburg branch of Vespa SoHo reinvent itself as Carbon Negative, continuing to sell and maintain scooters but expanding their reach to covering the two-wheeled categories less gas, no gas, 100% human. We look forward to bringing you more news from Carbon Negative as we enter spring.

So that’s it folks. It’s been quite a year. We look forward to seeing you out on the streets of New York, New York State, Long Island and New Jersey as the rain and snow subside and the sunshine arrives. Don’t forget that we’re expanding the team and looking for your input in the 2010 editorial calendar.

Thanks for your support over the past year, and we look forward to you jumping in with more of your insightful comments in the year ahead.

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Photograph by Zombizi, Flickr.

Thanks to local Facebook group, New York Mod Squad, for the heads up:

Tomorrow night (Saturday 14th November,) Greenpoint’s Blackout Bar is hosting Flip City, a night of rare disc spinning from DJs Dyan “Otto” Bahn (of Barf-0-Rama) and Jumpy (of Soul a G0-G0) spinning a bunch of snarling ’60s punk, one-hit wonders, blue-eyed soul, British Invasion, obscurities and big hits.

The Blackout Bar is located at 916 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint, NY. 11222 ,718- 383-0254.

The night begins at 10pm and runs through 4am. Free entry.

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Coming up on Saturday, September 26,  Marva Whitney, the woman whom James Brown called “Soul Sister #1″ returns to NYC after a 40 year absence (her last show in town was 1969 at the Apollo Theater) – this time backed by the Sweet Divines and the Divine Soul Rhythm Band, who will also open for her. Marva will no doubt be performing among others her hit “I’m tired I’m tired I’m tired.”

The show will be at Park Slope’s Southpaw.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, available here.

Also coming up?

Friday, October 30, the four surviving members of Walter and the Admerations aka the Green Berets who will be flying from Chicago for their first show together in nearly 20 years, and their first show ever in NYC to perform, among others, their classic “Man oh man (what have I done)” for the first time in decades, as well as their downtempo harmony funk masterpiece “Just an ugly rumor”.  Again, the Divine Soul Rhythm Band will back them, and play a special opening set backing the Sweet Divines, in celebration of their debut 45.

Once again, the show will be at Southpaw. Tickets are priced the same as September’s show and available here.

For more details on both shows, don’t forget to visit Dig Deeper’s myspace page.

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Photograph by Zombizi, Flickr.

Hot on the heels of the very successful sweaty, crowded Brooklyn Soul Festival, co-organizers Subway Soul have announced in partnership with Smashed! Blocked!, The Itchycoo New York Mod Weekender.

No details yet on the Subway Soul website, but here’s what we know so far:

Subway Soul Club New York City and Smashed! Blocked! present A whole weekend of Mod frenzy with live performances, record fair and two nights of dancing to guest DJs spinning 60′s Beat, Soul and Garage and more fun sixties stuff!

Friday, November 6th at The Beauty Bar

Saturday, 7th November. Location to be confirmed – Record Fair, vintage clothes, DJs, afternoon drinks.

Saturday 7th November at The Bell House – 10pm-4pm. Cover TBC.

Keep your eyes on the Subway Soul and Smashed! Blocked! websites for further details as they are announced.

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Featuring Soul legends Otis Clay, Barbara Lynn, Maxine Brown, Roscoe Robinson, Hermon Hitson, together with backing bands Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves, and the Sweet Divines.

Two nights of full sets from legends of soul music from around the country, rarely seen individually, never before on the same bill together – backed by two of the most in-demand bands in soul music today. Before and after the live performances, top soul DJs from around the world (Germany, Italy, LA, and NYC confirmed so far) plus your favorites DJ Honky & Mr. Robinson of Dig Deeper and Phast Phreddie The Boogaloo Omnibus, who will spin the finest 45s for this huge dancefloor.

Tickets are a recession friendly $15 in advance or $20 on the door, providing the show isn’t a sell-out. Or you can buy a two-day pass for $25. Day 1 tickets can be ordered here, Day 2 here, and the 2-day package here.

Finally – fellow bloggers Brooklyn Vegan has some great videos of Otis Clay and Barbara Lynn at their post.

See you there.

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10pm-4am. Free entry. 21+

A couple of pieces of news:

This is the last night at Fontanas and so will be followed by a short break while the team look to locate to a new venue (suggestions welcome).

A big bash is being planned for Gowanus’ Bell House in July to match the scope of their sold-out New Years Eve Party.

Keep up with all the news via their website, or myspace page.

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