26 July 2025 (gig)
31 July 2025
Nostalgia proved it's still got a future as some of the UK's leading heritage bands put on a show at the business end of this retro-fest.
Fans of 80s music north of the border were delivered twin body blows this year with the postponement of the Scottish editions of the Rewind and Let's Rock events.
However, Dundee's first all-star outdoor gig since 2019 to turn the clock back four decades certainly helped to fill the void.
After a female-led opening section, it was mostly down to the boys to bring it home at the city's functional, centrally located park, with one of two current touring versions of Big Country taking to the stage for the festival's teatime slot.
Featuring drum legend Mark Brzezicki and recent Big C members Simon Hough and Gil Allen along with veteran folk rock guitarist Ken Nicol, the four-piece are officially known as From Big Country, to avoid confusion with the Bruce Watson-led outfit now fronted by Tommie Paxton.
Which version most of those present were expecting to appear in Dundee was open to question, but it became clear from the off that the recently formed combo would be pandering to their staunchest fans.
Harvest Home was a suitably anthemic opener for the occasion, but following it up with the B-side Winter Sky and, soon after, a bleak rendition of the lost classic Fragile Thing with Brzezicki on vocals didn't energise the watching throng.
Hough took over on a poignant Ships, with the magnificent Celtic march that is Lost Patrol setting up a rousing finish comprising five serious crowd-pleasers.
What happened then was that Look Away, Wonderland, Chance, Fields Of Fire and In A Big Country provided the essential balance to an hour-long set that showed FBC are determined to do things their own way.
The Christians, on the other hand, probably aren't a band most casual observers will associate with stacks of big hits.
However, the Scouse popsters quickly won over the colourful Dundee masses with their soulful offerings, with denim-clad frontman Garry Christian in typically cheeky form in between numbers.
The six-piece, whose last all-original album was 2015's We, showed the kind of reliability that's made them near omnipresent figures on the touring circuit and often the support of choice for some of the country's biggest bands.
It all started to come back to some of those who were perhaps wondering why the band were quite so high on the bill as the infectious strains of Forgotten Town and Harvest For The World put more than a few smiles on faces.
To the Christians' credit, their set sounded fresh, with the likes of Hooverville and When The Fingers Point still hitting the mark almost 40 years on.
The smooth jazz-funk of The Bottle was another highlight – with the bold Gaz enjoying a swig or two from a flagon of Jack Daniels just to illustrate the song's message in timeless rock'n'roll fashion.
Best of all though was a stunning rendition of Ideal World, which connected with the good-natured turnout in a way few other songs managed on the day.
Returning to Dundee for the first time since headlining at the same venue in 2019, ABC had the challenge of going on immediately before fellow Sheffield icons Human League.
That wasn't something that was ever likely to faze Martin Fry and co, who've built a reputation as one of the best turns on the retro-fest circuit – and anywhere else for that matter – over the past decade and a half.
Resplendent in a rose red suit and black shirt, the frontman cut his usual classy figure as he led six musicians and backing singer Tracy Graham.
Being able to throw in early two of the most memorable singles of the entire 80s in the shape of Poison Arrow and When Smokey Sings shows ABC's total assurance, and this was a performance that didn't disappoint.
Viva Love from 2016's Lexicon Of Love II nestled comfortably alongside the vintage material, with 67-year-old Fry's voice remaining as outstanding as it's always been.
One especially noteworthy highlight was a reworked and slowed down That Was Then But This Is Now, transformed from bombastic guitar rocker into a shimmering delight worthy of mid-70s Roxy Music, principally thanks to stunning interventions from sax player Rob Hughes.
If there was any criticism, it was possibly that How To Be A Millionaire sounded a tad clunky alongside the sweeping majesty of the rest of the rest, but that's a minor point.
ABC returned to the same album that yielded that single to grand effect with an effervescent Vanity Kills and Be Near Me, surely one of their most underrated songs.
And then, inevitably perhaps, it was back to 1982's original Lexicon for the big finish.
The contrasting delights of Tears Are Not Enough, All Of My Heart and The Look Of Love between them sum up the essence of sophisti-pop and here proved that ABC remain capable of instilling admirable vigour into past glories.
A similar thing could be said about the Human League, who continue to re-energise their back catalogue with a verve and a swagger that cocks a snoot at critics who point to their recording output having dwindled to just one album since 2001.
Phil Oakey, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall continued to defy the march of time in Dundee with a hit-laded performance that featured multiple costume changes.
Nothing is more synonymous with the 80s than Human League's album Dare, and opener The Sound Of The Crowd took everyone back to synthpop's heady days of 1981 in all its outrageous Vogue-inspired ambition.
Fittingly, Phil tipped his hat to his old chart rival Adam Ant in his intro to Mirror Man as the audio-visual feast was ramped up for maximum excitement.
Mid-set the little-heard Soundtrack To A Generation made for a pleasant surprise. The quirky single from the League's 1990 album Romantic? stalled at 77 on the UK singles chart in late-1990 but showed its longevity amid some delightful vocal interplay between Oakey and Sulley.
The moody Seconds saw the focus switch to the band's three-strong musical wing behind them, although a graphics overload diminished the overall effect.
Co-vocalists Susan and Joanne bring the Human element to the League and the show was all the better for a run of songs in which they figured prominently, including One Man In My Heart, Tell Me When and, of course, Don't You Want Me.
It was back to the over-dramatic in the encore with Being Boiled, but all was right again as a euphoric Together In Electric Dreams brought the curtain down on a memorable set, and festival.
Picture of Susan Ann Sulley and Phil Oakey by shotbyagunnphotography.com.
