229 Great Portland Street
London W1W 5PN

If you have ever doubted the quality of British soul artists on our shores, obviously you haven't been introduced to the likes of Omar and Reel People. Well, the aforementioned artists joined forces for this night of soul heaven, just a stone throw away from Regents Park.

The crowd consisted of industry types and just good ol' music lovers who were entertained by the MBE awarded DJ, Norman Jay and Bugz in the Attic. I must admit that when I got to the event, I was wondering if they had chose the correct venue - weighing up the size of the place and the amount of people inside, something didn't seem quite right, but sure to UK fashion; everybody was running late and by the time Reel People actually took to the stage; the venue was full and the audience were having a ball.

Although the show was late to begin, Reel People are a strong act to reckon with; their voices were on top form and they had the entire UK soul movement (as I named the crowd) dancing hard to their feel-good tracks like; 'So Amazing'. They got the crowd warmed up for a visit from legendary soul artist, Omar who had the crowd in frenzy from the first 9 bars of the cult classic "There's Nothing Like This"...if I am totally honest there was a moment that I wondered whether or not Omar had forgotten the words to the song as he appeared to be reading from a sheet of paper on the music stand - but I doubt that would be possible - I've managed to hold the words firmly in my memory for a number of years.

Omar left the stage after giving the audience a taster of tracks like "This is not a Love Song", he had them eating out of the palm of his hands. When Omar had left the stage, I then realized that one thing was missing from the Reel People performance... interaction with the crowd. Omar was comfortable exchanging banter with the audience, whereas Reel People were positioned to the side of the stage and rarely stepped forward to engage with the crowd.

Musically, this was a very successful night. The showcase could not have been better; the live Orchestra on the stage brought a special mood to the show and both Reel People and Omar satisfied the audience's quest for true UK soul... I'm practicing my dance moves for the next "This is UK Soul" event, I'll keep you posted.

Written by Christy Black