Melissa Weber can’t remember exactly how she discovered “Soul Train,” but on New Orleans TVs, the groove-filled music and dance show dedicated to R&B, soul, funk and Black empowerment aired at 11 a.m. Saturdays.
Weber fell in love with the show as a child, and later, when she started performing as DJ Soul Sister, she began to specialize in mid-’70s to mid-’80s R&B, funk, soul, disco and hip-hop — music matching her favorite era of “Soul Train.”
Dancers at Soul Sister’s Hustle! parties and listeners of her long-running WWOZ show, “Soul Power,” on Saturday nights know her vinyl-only, rare groove style. And over the years, Soul Sister has highlighted her love for “Soul Train” and its influence during her New Year’s Eve Soul Train events, which marked their 20th edition in 2022 at the Civic Theatre.
“I brought out two of the original ‘Soul Train’ dancers from Los Angeles to be part of the (2022) event and, you know, they’re in their late-60s, early-70s, and they were partying in the opera box with the then-Booty Patrol dancers, and it was great,” Weber says. “I’m just committed to keeping that ‘Soul Train’ energy alive, because it was about dancing and having fun.”
Soul Sister returns to the Civic Theatre — itself a former disco — for her 21st New Year’s Eve Soul Train party at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31. Soul Sister will spin funk, disco, soul and R&B, and videos from the iconic show will be projected on the ceiling and walls. Soul Sister’s Groove Express Dancers (formerly called Booty Patrol) also will be participating.
“This is a very special party to me,” Weber says.
Weber, who was born in 1975 in New Orleans, remembers the New Year’s Eve parties her parents would throw in the late-’70s and early-’80s. They would invite family over “and have all the fun, finger foods and play all the music that I love,” she says.
When she got a little older as a pre-teen and didn’t necessarily want to be hanging in the same room as the adults, she would invite the other young people into another part of the house where she could play the music she wanted on the turntable.
Weber started her New Year’s Eve party during her time DJing upstairs at Mimi’s in the Marigny, and after leaving Mimi’s in 2013, she moved the party to One Eyed Jacks, where it grew across several years. The Civic then approached Weber about throwing her Soul Train party at the venue.
“So this party really is a collaboration between me and the Civic Theatre, because they have designers or video mappers who edit the videos and they map them along the ceilings and wall,” Weber says.
Past New Year’s Eve parties have been filled with music by Con Funk Shun, The Bar-Kays, the Gap Band, Rick James, Teena Marie and artists from the Sound of Los Angeles Records label. Weber, though, could never commit to playing any special songs, she says — except for the period’s two “Soul Train” theme songs: “Up on Soul Train” by The Whispers and O’Bryan’s “Soul Train’s a Comin’.”
“My parties, and especially this New Year’s party, is for everyone,” Weber says.
Weber in September celebrated her 50th birthday, and she figured it was time to make some adjustments to a couple of the events she hosts. She decided to end her annual special guest-filled Soul Sister Birthday Jam in September after its 19th edition dedicated to the Gap Band. Weber plans to host similar shows in the future but not necessarily tied to a September date — it’ll be easier and make more financial sense to add flexibility when booking guest musicians for those shows, she says.
Weber also decided to end her monthly Hustle! parties at No Dice (formerly Hi-Ho Lounge) and will instead throw them once a quarter at Tipitina’s.
“That just shows the evolution of what I’m seeing, what I’m wanting to do, and also still do something and just not completely retire,” Weber says.
Tickets for DJ Soul Sister’s New Year’s Eve Soul Train are $35 in advance and $39.50 on the day of the show. Premium tickets, with an open bar, balcony access and champagne toast, are $135. Find more info at civicnola.com.
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