REVIEW: Everybody Dance - Nile Rodgers and Chic rock Dalby Forest
Musical legend Nile Rodgers brought Chic and an array of guests to Dalby Forest on June 22.
The trailblazer - whose songwriting talents have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide - performed to a sun-kissed crowd at Dalby Forest.
The atmosphere was phenomenal as a crowd of 4,500 people soaked up the sun and got settled for a night of good music ahead.
The night started with DJ Sam Flannagan who played a set of iconic 70s and 80s dance songs to get the crowd going.
He was followed by upcoming band Deco, who are known for their talented covers with an 80s twist.
They got the crowd toe-tapping away as the sun slowly went down over the trees.
Their set consisted of a mix of feel-good pop songs, new songs from their upcoming debut album and a surprise cover of The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony - perhaps a nod to the following night as Richard Ashcroft was set to hit the Forest Live stage.
The night well and truly began with the Queen of pop herself - Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
The entertaining star began her set with a handful of songs including Crying At The Discoteque, Take Me Home, Get Over You, and Hypnotized.
The crowd were clearly enjoying themselves as everyone was up and dancing to the hit songs.
Ellis-Bextor then sang a medley of her own song Groovejet, Modjo’s Lady Hear Me Tonight, Abba’s Gimme Gimme Gimme and her own Can’t Fight This Feeling, before covering Madonna’s Like A Prayer and Freemason’s Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer).
She ended her set with her hit song Murder On The Dancefloor, which recently gave her her highest chart position yet after it went viral after it appeared in the film Saltburn - much to the crowd’s delight.
The crowd were then left anticipating the King of dance pop Nile Rodgers and CHIC, who hit the stage at 9pm.
They came onto the stage and immediately played hit song Le Freak - which received a warm reception from the crowd as they got dancing away.
The maestro and band then played Everybody Dance, Dance Dance Dance, and I Want Your Love.
He chatted to the crowd quite a lot, but he also infused his set with a lot of songs he’s written for some other artists over the years.
He included Diana Ross’ I’m Coming Out and Upside Down, Sister Sledge’s We Are Family, Lost In Music and He’s The Greatest Dancer, Notorious by Duran Duran, Madonna’s Material Girl and Like A Virgin, David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Modern Love, Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Lose Yourself To Dance, Cuff It by Beyonce.
The star ended the set with a selection of Chic songs which left the crowd happy and all danced out, and no doubt an enjoyable day was had by all who attended.
The gig showed off the beauty of Dalby Forest and the organisation from all involved was great - we managed to leave the car park straight away and I would attend another Forest Live gig at the forest again in the future.