“So… Can I dance?”

So, last Thursday, at the latest Room 2 residential session on Queen’s Street, we had DJ Krest lighting it up, with a mix of old soul and current afro-beats.

Now, Room 2, tucked away as it is, is actually a very low-key stunning venue. It has all of the classy elements of a jazz bar, little glowing lamps, food if you so wish and space to dance if you are feeling it. It’s small and mighty in a lot of ways. Soultrane picked it because of its’ sheer potential to offer a little bit of it all - extrovert, introvert, every type of person, every type of catch-up, within the soul, jazz, hip-hop and funk music community.

One thing, however, that I noticed that night was something in our NI culture, sometimes at its’ root, that prevents people really allowing themselves to let go. And it’s something Soultrane is trying to crack open here in Belfast. That something is called setting. And it is where we look around us for permission. We want others around us doing it first, an open dance floor, an excuse to vibe, whether we paid in or not, otherwise most will just vibe from their chair. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this approach, in this type of environment, that is, if it’s a conscious choice. You see, not all cultures have this level of self-consciousness when it comes to spontaneous rhythm, and when you actually see people forget themselves and join in, even if they don’t feel like they’re any good at it, it’s really quite beautiful to watch.

I’m saying this because as I was sitting in my seat with the team that night, I noticed so many people looking like they wanted to just get up, go over to the DJ and hang out near him, but they weren’t sure.

Do I get up from my table?

Will anyone mind?

What if people are still eating?

They were waiting for the perfect setting, the ideal moment. Well, it’s not like that. Because the second a few do, people follow, and no one minds. You can’t hate on joy. As long as your shirt isn’t wrapped round your head and you’ve devolved into yelling the wrong lyrics, it’s not illegal to get up and dance where you please. In fact, why does it have to take us to get drunk first sometimes, to do what we feel like doing? For example, the woman behind me, after a glass or two of wine, finally leaned in and said to me- “So, what is the Soultrane thing?” and once I told her, she paused (and it was the cutest moment)- she said, “This DJ is so good, I just really wanna…is it OK if I dance?”.

I said, “Yeah! Come with me!” And I brought her in front of the DJ and we just danced. It’s not a huge dance floor, like I said, but that’s the point, there’s space across the whole room to get up, if you feel like it. Once others saw her letting go, they got up too, from wherever they were.

The bar staff were bopping away behind the bar as well, and one of them said to me, “We are really happy Soultrane is back, we missed it.”

This is the very point. Soultrane isn’t a set of musicians and DJs just out there killing it and having a good time, get paid, get home; it’s a form of expression that we are trying to build here, an overall vibe of surrendering to the flow.

With each other.

For each other.

Building up confidence, crew, and community, making unlikely friends, showcasing under-represented talent, giving it all one-love, in a way that keeps us connected and supported (and in touch with all of our collective roots), and how that should manifest.

Connecting in this way through music is at the heart of Soultrane. Doing so, gives others unconscious permission to do the same, and you just never know who might need it.

(If you want to check out the next FREE Room 2 gig, it’s first Thursday of every month. 7pm. You are so welcome.)