NILE RODGERS & CHIC + HOT CHIP – STANMER PARK, BRIGHTON 9.7.23
The fourth and final Brighton Valley Concert Series at Stanmer Park drew to a close on Sunday with the arrival of Nile Rodgers & Chic as well as Hot Chip, Horse Meat Disco, Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, Barulho, Alice Russell, J-Felix, English Disco Lovers and Funk The Format.
The first event was held last Wednesday and was headlined by Sir Tom Jones. Two days later witnessed N-Dubz in action, and then Paolo Nutini was on the case on Saturday.
During Sunday’s event, I was discussing the capacity of the Brighton Valley Concert Series and I was informed that it was 10,000 people. I was taken aback as it honestly felt that there were many more music fans in attendance basking in the newly found sunshine.
With events of this magnitude, there will always be a few things that don’t go to plan or could be improved upon, such as buses arriving on time, not herding fans out of the venue in sheep pens, and letting fans bring in their own food if they have severe food allergies. But having said this, in the main, it would appear that a large proportion of attendees came away from the four nights happy with the fact that they had made the effort to attend and felt uplifted by the sights and sounds that they had witnessed.
In all honesty I’m not really bothered about DJ sets, unless they are very special, thus the decision to arrive in the late afternoon was taken. I arrived on site and the venue was filling up very nicely as folks of all ages (from babies in carriers to the retired) made their way from Falmer train station through Sussex University campus and onto the site which was spread across quite a large area located near the Stanmer Park entrance.
It had adequate food and drink facilities, although not quite as good as the ‘Seaview’ festival in Bexhill yesterday. Today, however, there were bumper cars and another ride in order to keep some folk further engaged
On arrival, I was greeted by the silky smooth soul vibe sounds of Alice Russell and her six bandmates booming across the field. I was told that they were running half an hour late and thus I had only missed three songs. Many fans were standing watching Alice’s set and many others were chilling in the sun, which had decided to grace us with its presence. I was busy looking for colleagues, friends and liquid refreshment in order to properly study Alice’s set, but you can find out more about her at www.instagram.com/alicemcrussell.
Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy was on the decks next for her DJ set, but at the same time we noted what initially appeared to be a Morris dancer style marching band emerging from behind the tall green metal barriers.
Turned out that they were called Barulho and are actually a Samba Reggae Funk band based in Brighton, who blend Afro-Cuban and South American traditional forms with contemporary funk, hip hop and drum & bass. They looked an interesting prospect and thus we followed them to the other end of the venue where they ran through their paces. I can remember watching many marching bands when I was a little lad and lapped up the sound of the drums, and occasionally bagpipes. I thought that I might take up drumming, but then ‘Autobahn’ by Kraftwerk dropped and the world was a different place.
Colleen then handed over the reins to the Horse Meat Disco duo who continued the vibe for some of the punters who were on the spot grooving throughout this DJ set. We instead headed off for sustenance as we knew that from here on we would be based at the front of the event for the two remaining sets.
The first of these being later than planned (6:45pm) were Hot Chip who played Glastonbury on 23rd June. They eventually graced the expansive Stanmer Park stage at 7:16pm. I swear the volume had increased for this set, or was it simply the case that we were nearer to the speakers. I’m not complaining though, as for an outside event, the quality of sound was rather good.
This was my first ever encounter with indie dance band Hot Chip despite them being formed in London back in 2000. Records show that the group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin, supplemented by Rob Smoughton and Leo Taylor for live performances and studio recordings. Five of these guys have worked together since 2004, so they have a solid lineup, but I couldn’t possibly swear who all six on stage this early evening are. But as you would expect from their sound, there were no less than five banks of synths interspersed with the usual, two guitars, bass, and drums and percussion, that were all utilised throughout their 59 minute set which concluded at 8:15pm.
It was pleasing to note that 5 of the 6 band members weren’t actually wearing black, unlike a majority of acts I have witnessed over the past few days. I must say that after two DJ sets, it was great to see real live music up on the stage. The Sun had done its job for the day and as Hot Chip entertained us, the light started to diminish.
Hot Chip were serving us 11 career spanning tunes, ranging from seven different long players, the oldest of which being 2006’s ‘The Warning’ release, and the newest material was culled from their 2022 ‘Freakout/Release’ album. They opened with ‘Huarache Lights’, which is found on their 2015 ‘Why Make Sense?’ album. After which we were given ‘Down’, the first of a trio from their latest 2022 ‘Freakout/Release’ platter. ‘Flutes’ from 2012’s ‘In Our Heads’ followed. I have to say that I rather liked the vocoder style vocals that were frequently used by frontman Alexis Taylor, who bears a slight resemblance to Timmy Mallett. Alexis was very much the focal point, being clad in pink from foot to toe, as he switched from keys to guitar.
I must confess that I was surprised that Hot Chip were of more mature years than I had anticipated and if their minivan pulled up at a petrol station that I was also at, then I feel it likely that I would more than likely fail to recognise any of them. I’m sure they would like it that way, rather than being hounded by tons of obsessive fans!
After 2010’s ‘One Life Stand’ title track, they dropped their last two numbers from the latest ‘Freakout/Release’ album, these being ‘Eleanor’ and ‘Freakout/Release’. It was radio friendly funky Electro Disco numbers all the way and at this midway point, there was even more vocoder action from one of the other guys and his bass guitar parts were taken over by a seventh person that took to the stage, who I thought was called Nick Beale, who remained on stage for a couple of numbers.
Hot Chip played us out with another handful of numbers, these being 2008’s ‘Ready For The Floor’, 2019’s ‘Melody Of Love’, 2010’s ‘I Feel Better’, 2019’s ‘Hungry Child’ and 2006’s ‘Over And Over’. No matter what tune they played, you couldn’t really guess what year they came from, as the outfit found their unique sound and very much ran with it. It was an enjoyable body-jigging set, except…….that there were five people standing right next to me who insisted on continually shouting to each other throughout the whole of the set, and when I say “whole of the set”, I really mean, the whole of the set! I asked myself what on earth were they doing there, as surely they should have been in the Irish bar in Torremolinos instead! Catch my drift! Meanwhile back on stage, it’s fair to say that Hot Chip went down in an absolute storm.
Hot Chip may have been:
Alexis Taylor – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, percussion, piano (2000–present)
Joe Goddard – vocals, synthesizer, percussion (2000–present)
Owen Clarke – guitar, bass, synthesizer, percussion (2004–present)
Al Doyle – guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer, percussion, bass, flugelhorn, steel pans (2004–present)
Felix Martin – drum machines, synthesizer, programming (2004–present)
? Nick Beale – bass guitar
Hot Chip setlist:
‘Huarache Lights’ (from 2015 ‘Why Make Sense?’ album)
‘Down’ (from 2022 ‘Freakout/Release’ album)
‘Flutes’ (from 2012 ‘In Our Heads’ album)
‘One Life Stand’ (from 2010 ‘One Life Stand’ album)
‘Eleanor’ (from 2022 ‘Freakout/Release’ album)
‘Freakout/Release’ (from 2022 ‘Freakout/Release’ album)
‘Ready For The Floor’ (from 2008 ‘Made In The Dark’ album)
‘Melody Of Love’ (from 2019 ‘A Bath Full Of Ecstasy’ album)
‘I Feel Better’ (from 2010 ‘One Life Stand’ album)
‘Hungry Child’ (from 2019 ‘A Bath Full Of Ecstasy’ album)
‘Over And Over’ (from 2006 ‘The Warning’ album)
After a half hour break it was finally time for the multiple Grammy-winning composer, producer, arranger and guitarist Nile Rodgers & Chic (stylized as CHIC) to grace us with their presence. The band was formed back in 1977 by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, but sadly in Tokyo in 1996 Bernard passed away from pneumonia, he was only 43, and 70 years old Nile has been flying the flag on and off ever since! Chic are widely considered to be one of the most creative and innovative bands of the ‘Disco Era’.
Rodgers was famously the co-founder of CHIC and the Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame He pioneered a musical language that generated chart-topping hits like ‘Le Freak’, (the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records) and sparked the advent of hip-hop with ‘Good Times’. He transcends many styles of music across every generation (as bore witness in Stanmer Park), with a body of work that’s garnered him inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as he liked to point out to us at the Brighton Valley Concert Series.
He’s famed as a guitarist, but certainly likes to blow his own trumpet, but I guess if you have pioneered a funky guitar sound that has endured and survived nearly 50 years and worked with the who’s who in the music business, then I guess you have earned the right to (continually) tell us all about it! Especially as his unforgettable live performances with CHIC have been included in “festival best performances” at both Glastonbury and Coachella resulting in a BBC Music Awards nomination for “Best Live Performance”. Nuff said!
At 8:44pm the intro tape of ‘Kill The Lights’ came booming out of the soundsystem whilst the backdrop was filled with the corresponding beats. On the right hand side of the stage (our left) I spied a unit with two Roland keys on offer, RD 700 and RD-800, which were the responsibility of Richard Hilton (who has worked with the lot including Dylan, Bowie, Clapton, Donna Summer and the Ramones!) and I immediately knew all would be well with tonight’s performance. There was also another keyboard on the opposite side (stage left, our right) which was under the control of Russell Graham, with Ralph Rolle’s drum kit to the rear, and Nile’s well worn Fender Stratocaster guitar was there, as well as Jerry Barnes’s Atelier Z bass, and a saxophone and a trumpet (not Nile’s, it’s Steve Jankowski’s, who incidentally was a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears).
At 8:49pm the musician arrived to rapturous applause, Nile’s first statement was “Alright are we ready to paaarrrty?”. You certainly couldn’t miss this legend as he was looking resplendent in his lime green suit, white hat and long dreadlocks. He was flanked either side by two lady singers, Kimberly Davis and Audrey Martells, both of which were equally striking. Audrey was wearing a seafoam green dress with purple hair and Kimberly was wearing a blonde yellow dress with white hair.
The nine members of Chic kicked off with my favourite tune of theirs, this being ‘Le Freak’. But rather than seriously getting down to it, the musicians shortly segued into ‘Everybody Dance’ and then again with ‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ and ‘I Want Your Love’. This had been a Chic hits mini-mix, one which I wished had been a Chic maxi-mix. The backing films accompanied the music for that overall immersive experience.
Before the next tune, Nile informed us that when he was 22 or 23 years old that he played a gig on Brighton Pier, this would have been circa 1974 or 1975 by my reckoning. I wonder if this is actually correct and if anyone out there knows anything about this, as it would be fascinating to find out more and add it to our ‘History Of Brighton & Hove Concert Venues’ articles.
The smooth set continued with a couple of numbers that he had written and produced (with Bernard Edwards) for Diana Ross, these being ‘I’m Coming Out’ and ‘Upside Down’. Then we had two Sister Sledge numbers, namely ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ (which included a brief nod to Will Smith’s ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’), followed by ‘We Are Family’. These last four tunes all segued into each other and certainly assisted Kimberly Davis to show us how powerful her lungs are!
A couple of Madonna hits followed in the form of ‘Like A Virgin’ and the better ‘Material Girl’. History has it that in mid-1984, Madonna met with Nile Rodgers at New York’s Power Station studio to start working on her second studio album and Nile put together the rhythm section consisting of himself on guitars, Bernard Edwards on bass, and Tony Thompson on drums. Nile informed us that he didn’t want Madonna to record ‘Like A Virgin’, but she had her own way and the rest as they say is history.
There was a change of vocalist for tonight’s rendition of David Bowie’s ‘Modern Love’, as Russell Graham took up the mantle. It was here that Nile informed us that he had won his 6th Grammy this year as well as a Grammy for the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, the latter he pointed out that he wasn’t quite that ready for it yet, as previous recipients have usually received the award posthumously!
Next up was ‘Cuff It’, which is found on Beyoncé’s 2022 ‘Renaissance’ album. This was the only number in the set that I wasn’t aware of. This tune segued into the ‘Get Lucky’ Daft Punk’s earworm from their ‘Random Access Memories’ album. Incorporated into this was a nod to ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ from their 2001 ‘Discovery’ album. After this came ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’, which witnessed Richard Hilton switch from keys to guitar, and drummer Ralph Rolle requested that the audience “move side to side”, we obliged.
It is here that Nile told us that he wanted to play in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the ‘Random Access Memories’ album and the accompanying Daft Punk images were shown on the backdrop, as it was with each different individual artist, whose tune was being performed. Nile proudly added that ‘Random Access Memories’ was only the second album in history to win ‘Album Of The Year’, with the other coming many years before, that being the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack.
I had convinced myself that there was no chance that Nile and his chums would play Sheila & B. Devotion’s disco hit ‘Spacer’ and yet here it was up next during the set. The relatively forgotten ‘Soup For One’ from the 1982 film soundtrack was performed next and this segued into the timeless 2001 Modjo hit ‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ and then revisited ‘Soup For One’ again. The third of four Sister Sledge hits was up next in the form of ‘Lost In Music’ and we most certainly were! Duran Duran’s ‘Notorious’ then came along and I had actually forgotten that Nile had produced this. After which, Nile dedicated the following number to his dear friend Bernard Edwards, the song in question ‘Thinking Of You’ by Sister Sledge.
A couple of numbers from Chic’s 1979 ‘Risqué’ album were played, these being ‘My Feet Keep Dancing’ and ‘My Forbidden Lover’. The former also segued into ‘Chic Cheer’, and after the latter, drummer Ralph Rolle led a crowd participation section jam for “Maximum Funkosity!”, which then led onto Ralph singing lead vocals for David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ mega smash. I must say that Ralph did exceedingly well here and even sounded like Bowie as well, thus (surprisingly) this just sneaked in as my track of the night! The band saw the night out with Chic’s ‘Good Times’, which then segued into The Sugarhill Gang’s classic ‘Rapper’s Delight’, which saw Nile on rapping duty, after which they returned to ‘Good Times’ and then the large screen stated “Thank you Brighton” in giant lettering. Clearly there wasn’t going to be an encore, but I don’t actually think that Nile goes in for that anyway. Overall it had been a most enjoyable performance and I’m glad that I went along!
Chic tonight were:
Nile Rodgers – guitar, vocals
Jerry Barnes – bass, vocals
Ralph Rolle – drums, vocals
Kimberly Davis – lead vocals
Audrey Martells – lead vocals
Richard Hilton – keyboards
Russell Graham – keyboards, vocals
Steve Jankowski – trumpet
Ken Gioffre – saxophone
Nile Rodgers & Chic setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘Kill The Lights’ (from 2016 by Alex Newell, Jess Glynne, DJ Cassidy with Nile Rodgers from ‘The Essentials: Best Of Season 1’ compilation album)
‘Le Freak’ (from 1978 Chic ‘C’est Chic’ album) /
‘Everybody Dance’ (from 1977 Chic ‘Chic’ album) /
‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ (from 1977 Chic ‘Chic’ album) /
‘I Want Your Love’ (from 1978 Chic ‘C’est Chic’ album)
‘I’m Coming Out’ (from 1980 Diana Ross ‘Diana’ album) /
‘Upside Down’ (from 1980 Diana Ross ‘Diana’ album) /
‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ (from 1979 Sister Sledge ‘We Are Family’ album) including snippet of ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’ (from 1997 Will Smith ‘Big Willie Style’ album) /
‘We Are Family’ (from 1979 Sister Sledge ‘We Are Family’ album)
‘Like A Virgin’ (from 1984 Madonna ‘Like A Virgin’ album) /
‘Material Girl’ (from 1984 Madonna ‘Like A Virgin’ album) /
‘Modern Love’ (from 1983 David Bowie ‘Let’s Dance’ album)
‘Cuff It’ (from 2022 Beyoncé ‘Renaissance’ album) /
‘Get Lucky’ (from 2013 Daft Punk ‘Random Access Memories’ album) including snippet of ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ (from 2001 Daft Punk ‘Discovery’ album)
‘Lose Yourself To Dance’ (from 2013 Daft Punk ‘Random Access Memories’ album)
‘Spacer’ (from 1980 Sheila & B. Devotion ‘King Of The World’ album)
‘Soup For One’ (from 1982 Various Artists ‘Soup For One’ soundtrack album) /
‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ (from 2001 Modjo ‘Modjo’ album) /
‘Soup For One’ (from 1982 Various Artists ‘Soup For One’ soundtrack album)
‘Lost In Music’ (from 1979 Sister Sledge ‘We Are Family’ album)
‘Notorious’ (from 1986 Duran Duran ‘Notorious’ album)
‘Thinking Of You’ (from 1979 Sister Sledge ‘We Are Family’ album)
‘My Feet Keep Dancing’ (from 1979 Chic ‘Risqué’ album) /
‘Chic Cheer’ (from 1978 Chic ‘C’est Chic’ album) /
‘My Forbidden Lover’ (from 1979 Chic ‘Risqué’ album) /
“Maximum Funkosity jam” (Nile Rodgers & Chic song)
‘Let’s Dance’ (from 1983 David Bowie ‘Let’s Dance’ album)
‘Good Times’ (from 1979 Chic ‘Risqué’ album) /
‘Rapper’s Delight’ (from 1980 The Sugarhill Gang ‘Sugarhill Gang’ album) /
‘Good Times’ (from 1979 Chic ‘Risqué’ album)
Nick, are U Attending rebellion this year?
I would like to meet you in person to thank U for the article of our concert last year.
I.m the lead singer of Redlightz.