Classic_Pop_Issue_30_July_2017

109

LIVE & EVENTS

Music fans at Ashton Court

witnessed great sets from

Heaven 17, Gloria Gaynor

and The Lightning Seeds

Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and

Rowetta bring a little rock’n’roll

chaos to Let’s Rock Bristol

Kim Wilde was in full-on

studded leather jacket

rock chick mode

A contender for set of the fi rst day was

Heaven 17 who absolutely smashed it.

Temptation was extraordinary – a huge

moment of grin-inducing sonic overload.

popular) chantalong songs of The

Village People and a Howard

Jones set that failed to capture

the imagination of the crowd,

Kim Wilde was in full-on studded

leather jacket rock chick mode.

Her band looked like they wanted

to be in Metallica, and amped

up the rock elements of Wilde’s

sound impressively on Never

Trust a Stranger, The Second

Time (Go For It) and a fantastic

Kids in America.

Gloria Gaynor’s headline set

was something of a revelation.

The legend herself was on great

form but equally magnetic was

her premier league backing

group. Essentially an old school

soul review band with three-piece

horn section and backing singers

stealing the show, they made the

very best of what is already a

cracking back catalogue. Hats

off to the spell-binding Jon Arons

on trombone, terrifi c throughout,

for his mid-set cover of Pharrell

Williams’ Happy.

I Am What I Am got the

crowd onside early and blended

seamlessly with another disco

classic Never Can Say Goodbye.

There was a hat tip to Barry

White on You’re The First, My

Last, My Everything while Stop In

The Name of Love was given a

radical overhaul.

Gaynor’s vocals were

wonderful on Killing Me Softly

and the extended version of I Will

Survive was as close to glitterball

perfection as you can get – a

Back on the main stage, festival

veterans Stereo MCs had to work

hard to get the crowd moving but

highlights from their Connected

album, including Fade Away, a

reworked Step It Up and the title

track, built momentum nicely. MC

Rob Birch pulled out all the stops

to urge the crowd ever onwards

with some fi ne assistance from

backing singers Cath Coffey and

Aina Roxx.

An early evening set from ‘The

La’s lite’ Cast proved what an

underrated and unfairly maligned

Britpop outfi t they are. John

Power rattled through the hits

in muscular fashion (Finetime/

Alright, Guiding Star), every

now and again stretching the

disciplined songwriting into more

expansive terrain (Free Me). The

slowie Walk Away (can we call

that a Power Ballad?) was a

highpoint alongside the very

La’s-like Live the Dream.

There was more Scouse

songcraft, too, from The

Lightning Seeds. Ian

Broudie’s band now

boasts former Zuton

Abi Harding on

keyboards and

sax and son

Riley on second

guitar. For the

fi rst half of the

set, Broudie

Snr seemed

to be having

a nightmare

with his

monitors. Out front, you would

never have known as they

served up one perfectly formed

power pop nugget after another.

Marvellous lived up to its title

with a cracking coda and the

evergreen Lucky You and Life of

Riley never fail to disappoint.

It’s been four years since I

last caught the reunited original

line-up of Happy Mondays. Back

then they were remarkably slick

(yes, really). Here, they were a

glorious mess − at times, Shaun

Ryder didn’t seem quite at the

races and the band felt a little

under-rehearsed. We can, of

course, count on Bez’s Tiggerish

charm as well as the always on-

point Rowetta. There was plenty

to love musically; Gaz Whelan’s

kicking drums and Paul Ryder’s

subterranean bassline elevated

Hallelujah and the setlist shoe-ins

of Kinky Afro, Loose Fit, and Step

On hit the mark. It was also nice

to hear a deeper cut like Clap

Your Hands getting an airing.

Timing’s never been their strong

point and they pass through

the curfew with Wrote For Luck

before they can play 24 Hour

Party People. Shaun offered to

sing it a capella when the rest

of the band refuse to come back

on and the whole thing fell apart

amid a fl urry of c-bombs and

chaos. The Mondays may have

embraced the nostalgia circuit

but they still can’t help but bring

a little rock’n’roll chaos along for

the ride, too.

slick hour of hits and soul classics

to end Day One on a high.

There was a heavier fl avour

to Day Two as Let’s Rock delved

into the 90s. After Damage and

Toploader eased us into Sunday,

we’re given much more of a jolt

with a sweary smash and grab

set from EMF. The knee-length

shorts were still present and

correct as was the brattish energy.

Lies packed a real punch and

the glorious Unbelievable and

I Believe remain fantastic.

A torrential downpour

threatened to derail Republica’s

set but Drop Dead Gorgeous

and Ready To Go just about got

things back on track. Meanwhile,

it’s time for a quick jog up the hill

to catch some old school rave

anthems with a live PA from SL2.

With a tent packed to the rafters

of former ravers experiencing

Ecstasy fl ashbacks (can you

have an E fl ashback?), their

30-minute sprint through

some of dance music’s

classics left us grinning

and gurning in equal

measure. Way In

My Brain and

especially On A

Ragga Tip − the

latter boasting an

impressive d&b

makeover − were

particularly fi ne.

CP30.Reviews_LetsRock.print.indd 109 09/06/2017 16:08