Nile Rogers & Chic

What an honour and a privilege it was to watch the legendary Nile Rogers and his band Chic, perform at the picturesque Kenwood House on Saturday 18th June 2022. The rain fell but the mood certainly was not dampened.

Nile was a huge bundle of joy and energy, dancing, giggling, singing and wielding his guitar across the stage. When he sang the chic classic everybody dance oooh oooh clap your hands clap your hands and encouraged the crowd to sing with him, like a well-oiled machine the crowd chimed with gusto and danced and clapped with complete abandonment. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I marvelled at this large throng of people, all different ages and races dancing and singing together in unison, firstly because that’s what the arts and music does, but also was great to see people out again enjoying themselves after the last couple of years of lockdown and isolation.

I knew Nile Rogers collaborated with a load of artists, such as Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, David Bowie and Daft Punk to name a few, but it was a revelation to find out that he worked on Like a Virgin and Material Girl with Madonna.

Nile and the band kept the crowd entertained by performing number one hits that he had a hand in writing and producing. The music was pulsating the atmosphere palpable (it felt like the ground was moving) and the crowd phenomenal. Many people had purchased their tickets three years ago and said it was worth the wait. You know you are in for a great evening when the warm up acts are legends, such as Norman Jay and Billy Ocean.

Norman Jay spun the discs and got the crowd rocking and Billy Ocean had us singing, dancing and reminiscing with classics like, Red light spells danger, Love really hurts without you and Caribbean Queen.

You know you have had a brilliant night, when you leave wanting more. Thank you Nile Rogers and Chic for the music.