17 June 2018 (gig)
24 June 2018
Nocturne Live returns in June 2018 for its forth outing in what can only be described as the best backdrop to any festival in the UK, possibly the world, at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Walking up the famous Palace driveway with views of the lake to your right, before the Great Court opens up in front of you where you find your seat, the surroundings are beautiful.
The team behind this relative new festival have pulled out another strong line up in its short history. Previous years have included Elton John, The Jacksons, Van Morrison and Gregory Porter.
Down towards the lake a good selection of food and drinks kept the crowds happy in-between the music.
Thursday 14th June 2018 - Nile Rodgers & Chic, Soul II Soul, MF Robots
Thursday saw this year’s event opened up by MF Robots followed by Soul II Soul, before the headliners Nile Rodgers & Chic took to the stage. Almost a year to the day from playing close to 100,000 people on the famous Glastonbury Pyramid stage, Nile Rodgers & Chic brought the disco movement to the famous palace. Opening the evening with ‘Everybody Dance’ got the crowd up and moving. The evening had a few covers from Madonna, Daft Punk and David Bowie, before finishing off with ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Good times’. What better way could this year’s event have got started than these guys putting us in such a happy place with the sun shining down.
Friday 15th June 2018 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Coral, Neon Waltz
Friday's proceedings were kicked off by Neon Waltz and then Noel Gallagher's pals The Coral rattling through 13 tracks including classics like ‘Jacqueline’, ‘Pass it on’, ‘In the morning’ and bowing out with ‘Dreaming of you’. After the interlude, the crowd then started taking their seats in anticipation of one of rocks true greats in Noel Gallagher.
Noel took to the stage at 9pm right on cue, and rattled off his HFB material including ’Holy Mountain’, ‘In the heat of the moment’, ‘Riverman’, ‘Ballad of the Mighty I’ and ‘If I had a gun’ which all sound fresh and just cements his fantastic song writing ability.
At this point he decided to unleash some Oasis tracks, which you could tell a fair share of the audience had come for. ‘Little by Little’ and ‘The Importance of Being Idle’ were sung loudly by the crowd back at Noel, before returning to the solo numbers of 'If Love Is the Law', 'Dead in the Water', 'Be Careful What You Wish For', 'She Taught Me How to Fly'.
The former Oasis frontman certainly wasn't shy in conversing with the crowd, at one point telling them his house and garden were bigger than the palace.
He then came back with some more Oasis crowd pleasers with ‘Half the world away’ and ‘Wonderwall’, which had the crowd with their arms round each other embracing, enjoying the moment. A few more solo numbers before finishing the evening with ‘Go let it out’, ‘Don’t look back in anger’ and the song he has been finishing on recently ‘All you need is love’, a Beatles cover.
The evening had not disappointed with everyone leaving knowing they had seen a legend performing in an amazing venue. We will probably never see Oasis reunite, but at least we get to witness some of the best songs still sung by the great man.
Saturday 16th Junee 2018 - Elvis Costello & The Imposters, The Waterboys, Nick Lowe
Saturdays evening began with Nick Lowe opening proceedings, followed by The Waterboys and then Elvis Costello & The Imposters headlining the show. The headliners rattling through a full twenty one song set entertaining the strong crowd.
Sunday 17th June 2018 - Gary Barlow, Rumer, Ferris & Sylvester
To round off this year’s four night run, one of the UKs top song writers, multiple Ivor Novello award winner and all round good guy, Gary Barlow took to the stage and did not fail to disappoint.
The largely female crowd loved seeing one of their heartthrobs in all his glory, to which Barlow proceeded to inform the men in the audience that they will never have to queue to use the toilet at one of his gigs!
In a set that was packed with twenty five songs, Gary opened with ‘Since I Saw You Last’ and then fired into ‘Greatest Day’ which had the sold out crowd up, dancing and singing along.
The set continued to combine both solo tracks and Take That songs, including ‘Prey’, ‘A million love songs’, ‘Love Ain't Here Anymore’, ‘Everything Changes’ and ‘Shine’.
With a slight drizzle coming down on the Great Court enhancing the atmosphere, Barlow started to wind up his set with classic Take That numbers ‘Patience’, ‘Back for good’ before firing into the most upbeat and modern TT song of ‘Cry’, a collaboration with Sigma, which was good to see something different.
The evening was finished with ‘Rule the world’ and ‘Never Forget’, which was a magical moment and one that will not be forgotten for the thousands in the audience.
Barlow has spent the evening engaging with the crowd between every song, and it’s easy to see why he has such a nice guy reputation.
The vibe over the whole weekend has been great with a really friendly crowd all happy to chat.
Further Details
Fingers crossed Nocturne Live is back in 2019 with another amazing line up.
