By Neil Durham and Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Sunday 11 July 2022, tour runs to 23 September 2022
SETLIST: Chic Cheer; Dance Dance Dance; Everybody Dance; I Want Your Love; I’m Coming Out/Upside Down; He’s The Greatest Dancer/We Are Family; Like A Virgin/Material Girl; Modern Love; Spacer; Lost In Music; Thinking Of You; My Feet Keep Dancing; Get Lucky; My Forbidden Lover; Let’s Dance; Le Freak; Good Times/Under Pressure/Rapper’s Delight
Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon credits guitarist Rodgers with saving the group in the 80s as he joins the band to play songs he collaborated on them with.
- Read on for reasons including Rodgers’ thoughts on Madonna whose Like A Virgin album he produced
During Rodgers’ expansive 80-minute support set he talks of all those fellow artists he has collaborated with since the 70s and asks us, his audience, to collaborate with him tonight by joining in and singing some of his greatest hits with him and his band.
Rodgers has had an extraordinary career working with acts including Diana Ross, Chic, Sister Sledge, David Bowie and Madonna.
We’ve seen him outdoors at Lovebox in east London as well as indoors in IndigO2 and this greatest hits set has been 1 he has been honing for many years.
We particularly enjoy his insights into Madonna and the Like A Virgin album he produced for her, selling a career best 28 million copies for him, and he plays the title track and Material Girl, the song he advised should be the debut single from the album – vetoed by the star.
There are so many hits that some are Interpolated into each other as part of medleys and several of the riffs are familiar to us thanks to their regurgitation by 1 of our favourite Swedish boy/girl bands, Alcazar.
We caught the set times on the BST Hyde Park app and Rodgers is on about 10 minutes earlier than expected and finishes about 10 minutes later than advertised but he’s clearly having a great time and Duran Duran are very much in his debt.
He’s got so many hits, performs them so memorably with his band and exudes such a fun vibe that he’s a brilliant opener for Duran Duran and we always consider we’ve ‘got lucky’ whenever we see him play.
A Humdrum Mum adds: ‘Most poignant was Nile’s videoed tribute to Bernard, Chic’s original bassist. This was followed by a huge screen slideshow of old Chic snaps of band members and collaborators. Ms Humdrum’s eyes misted over seeing Nile and his band brother in full axe-mode guitar pose.’
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