Chilfest 2017, now in its fourth year and always proves to be a must do an event every year, once again 2017 did not disappoint!
The 80’s music event saw, the usual mixture of music genres to cater for all tastes with a mix of Soul, Funk/Disco and Electro & New Wave giving a typical 80’s vibe.
Sadly the normal 2-day event, well Friday Night and Saturday is now a single Saturday event, however, the weather was glorious so what more would you want than the sunshine great people and good music.
This years line-up saw Soul II Soul, Real Thing, Alexandar O’Neil, Midge Ure, heaven 17, Roland Gift, The Rael Thing, Mari Wilson and headline act OMD ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’.
The host for the day was childrens TV Tiswas legend, Sally James.
What ceases to amaze me is the pure energy these 80’s artists have, I mean let’s face it none of us are getting any younger and these artists have a few years on us!
The Real Thing as usual (In their 60’s) were jumping and flying around the stage like there was no tomorrow as they performed ‘Can you feel the force’, ‘Can’t get by without you’, You to me are everything’, ‘The World is a ghetto’ and more..
You certainly knew when Soul II Soul hit the stage with their pumping bass line! I mean I was wearing earplugs in the pit and my hearing was still muffled until late Monday, so for those that were at the front, it was probably Wednesday!
That said they were superb with Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler performing their classic hits ‘Back to Life’ and ‘Keep on Moving’.
These guys are not only great singers and musicians but performers that you can see love what they do and bring this to their performances.
Midge Ure an excellent musician performed ‘Fade to Grey’, ‘Vienna’ and ‘Dancing With Tears in my Eyes’.
In-fact considering some are not in the genres I personally like, I enjoyed all of it with Heaven 17, Mari Wilson, Roland Gift and Alexandar O’Neil all giving stunning performances and showing what variety we had back in the 80’s.
One thing I always like about Chilfest is the stage, sound and lighting. The stage is an ideal height and the gentle slope of the field also means that you get a great view where ever you sit. If your eyesight is not as good as it used to be there is a large screen either side of the stage displaying live what is going on on stage.
As the sun sets, you start to appreciate more the great lighting effects and background lighting that is second to none.
Well done Chilfest, can’t wait till next year.
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