FOUR STARS
It was the 1980s again - a huge party happening and no date.
Fast forward to now and the reasons for flying solo were rather different from those teenage years - everything from a poorly child to a temperamental boiler. The irony being of course that those who wanted the spare ticket were looking to escape for a weekend. Not escape their families – just adulthood.
Queueing to get through the time-travelling neon pink gateway, there were women in the lace, tutus, and multi-layered costume jewellery that defines the style of that time (what is the collective name for a group of Madonnas?). The men were in full Two-Tone gear, Frankie Says T-shirts – and tutus.
The opening act, The Bluebells, were a distant jangle in the queue – the two-hour window between the gate opening and the first band being perhaps a tad ambitious.
The whole ethos of Rewind is that the eclectic line-up, with Saturday including The Beat, The Average White Band, Hazell Dean, Leo Sayer, Go West, Marc Almond, Snap!, Rick Astley and Holly Johnson, play the hits. With Astley having a recent number 1 album, however, he felt justified in sneaking new stuff in, and there were a few cover versions from AWB and Purple Rain to Tony Hadley breaking the sound barrier as he foghorned through Somebody To Love.
Anything jar there? Of course, it could be argued that AWB are more 1970s and Snap! were a 1990s success. Sayer straddles decades and got perhaps the best response of the day.
Sunday was sodden, but a pretty sparkling China Crisis opened the day, looking out on a good poncho-clad turnout. The British Electric Foundation took up residence for a while, backing everyone from Mari Wilson to Thomas Dolby to Glenn Gregory. Closing the festival were Adam Ant and ABC, also on a comeback success streak.
The days tend to pick up momentum. The bill changes from full bands to solo singers and duos backed by an extraordinary house band, meaning the changeovers are seamless and the energy doesn’t drop.
Rewind is a bit like the eighties– the Marmite decade - love it or loathe it. No one can argue that it provides a colourful, joyous, nostalgic escape for many who are happy to forgive the decade its Thatcherite excesses and, for a weekend without bairns or bills, embrace the lace. With world events compounding the everyday strains of being a grown-up is it any wonder that nostalgia fests like Rewind are the future.
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