The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicLive music

Nile Rodgers and Chic open 2019’s Meltdown Festival at Royal Festival Hall

Nile Rodgers and Chic open 2019’s Meltdown Festival at Royal Festival Hall | Live review
3 August 2019
Musanna Ahmed
Avatar
Musanna Ahmed
3 August 2019

Music review

Musanna Ahmed

Nile Rodgers and Chic at Royal Festival Hall

★★★★★

Highlights

Let's Dance, Thinking of You

Links

Twitter Facebook Instagram Website

Southbank Centre’s annual festival Meltdown offers a rich variety of curated arts and culture by an alternating artist. 2019’s funky bill is selected by prolific hitmaker Nile Rodgers, who, alongside his “R&B/dance/disco/funk/soul” band Chic, opens the festival with a sold-out performance at the illustrious Royal Festival Hall.

It’s a poetic event because, in his introduction, the artist speaks of Chic forming after a night in London where he and Bernard Edwards saw Roxy Music and decided that they wanted to be the black version. To craft a similarly sophisticated image, they claimed to be from France, hence the band name.

A lengthy portion is devoted to David Bowie, which includes a play of Let’s Dance’s original arrangement – something only a handful of individuals have previously heard. In spite of his drug-addled heyday, Rodgers recalls a countless number of “rock’n’roll war stories”, which feature everyone from Miles Davis to Obama.

Few musicians have had such a Forrest Gump-esque involvement in the industry. As enlightening as it would be to continue listening to his anecdotes, it’s time for music. The band takes the stage in formal wear – Rodgers trades his patchwork jeans for a silver suit – and initiate a throwback evening with their first number one record, Dance Dance Dance.

As well as lead guitarist, Rodgers is on vocal duties, supported by singers Folami and Kimberly Davis, who fill in for Diana Ross (I’m Coming Out, Upside Down), Sister Sledge (We Are Family, Lost in Music) and other associated acts in this jukebox of hits. Their belting vocals impact the weathered eardrums of this mostly Gen X crowd.

The artist violates his pact with Madonna by performing Material Girl, but surely Madge would approve of this clean rendition. Thinking of You has a poignant subtext, preceded by Rodgers dedicating the Sister Sledge hit to Edwards, accompanied by an endless photo album of the co-founders with artists from Paul McCartney to Avicii.

The lyrics project the reactions – everyone dances to Let’s Dance, freaks out for Le Freak and enjoys Like a Virgin like they’re hearing it for the very first time. Whilst singing and dancing are a concert’s basic tenets, this critic has seldom experienced a gig where singing and dancing was so ubiquitous. Few artists could put on a show like this: one that exhibits a peerless body of work whilst reinforcing its ideality for the dance floor.

★★★★★

Musanna Ahmed
Photos: Victor Frankowski

For further information and future events visit Nile Rodgers’s website here.

Watch the video for I’ll Be There here:

Related Itemslive musicreview

More in Live music

The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park

★★★★★
Sarah Bradbury
Read More

Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium

★★★★★
Bev Lung
Read More

Elton John sparkles on his Farewell tour at BST Festival in Hyde Park

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

Twenty One Pilots at Brixton Academy

★★★★★
Regan Harle
Read More

Imagine Dragons at MK Stadium

★★★★★
Katherine Parry
Read More

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at Kenwood House

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More

Nile Rodgers at Kenwood House Heritage Festival

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Interpol at the Roundhouse

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Music review

Musanna Ahmed

Nile Rodgers and Chic at Royal Festival Hall

★★★★★

Highlights

Let's Dance, Thinking of You

Links

Twitter Facebook Instagram Website

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • 50 Next: London chef Santiago Lastra recognised in Bilbao as one of the 50 young people shaping the future of gastronomy
    Food & Drinks
  • Only Murders in the Building: Season Two
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • Tigers
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Chelsea Flower Show 2022: Greenery and wellbeing
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Baby
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Nitram
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • “He used to spit at the audience, roll on the ground, he did, in fact, hump that plastic dog – he was the original punk rocker”: Baz Luhrman, Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge and Alton Mason on Elvis
    Cinema & Tv
  • Eagles bring a nostalgia-laden evening to the BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Brainiac Live! at Garrick Theatre | Theatre review
Playmobil: The Movie | Movie review