Chic in Cork review: A bit of Freak at the Marquee was just what we needed
Nile Rogers and Chic including backing singers Audrey Martells and Kimberly Davis brought the funk to the Live at the Marquee series in Cork last night. Pictures: Ray Keogh
In this crazy world of uncertainty, predictability can be a good thing. Nile Rodgers showing us a good time? A 100% definite.
"You people in Cork like to party," says he, more a statement than a question, as he struts on to the stage in his immaculate white suit and trademark black beret.
We do, Nile, we won't lie. The crowd know it's in safe (groovy) hands as soon as the curtain-raising 'Dance Dance Dance' moves the Marquee to bop to the beat.
Alas, the disco divas and the hip cats making their way to the tent couldn't depend on the weather, with many a glorious '70s outfit ruined by a lumpy, uncoordinated umbrella.
But not even the Leeside showers could dampen the glitter and the glitz of the occasion, and while there was definitely a vintage air to those worshipping at the altar of Chic, there was a gorgeous sense of giddiness among the sequined faithful bopping their way down the marina to the penultimate night of gigs in the Marquee.
Fresh from Halifax’s Piece Hall, 69-year-old Rodgers didn't disappoint, he showed us just what a hit maker and shaker can do.
He's had five decades to get it right, after all. Armed with multiple awards, cool collaborations (Sister Sledge, Madonna, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Pharrell Williams, Diana Ross to name but a few) and backed by the magnificent vocals of Audrey Martells and Kimberly Davis, Russell Graham and Richard Hilton on keyboards, Ralph Rolle and Jerry Barnes in the rhythm section, and a rocking horn section, Rodgers gave Cork a show to remember.
Crowd favourites were 'Le Freak', 'Get Lucky', and the instructive 'Everybody Dance' – believe me, they did.
It was two perfect hours of air pointing, shoulder shaking, and soul sharing as Rodgers and his dreadlocks whipped the crowd into a funky frenzy.
That's what happens at good live events. By the time 'Good Times' was finishing the set, the Marquee was witnessing a kind of magic, you know the sort – when the music transcends time and rain and dodgy knees and brings us all together as one.
We ARE family, Nile, and you're the patriarch of it all.
In what has been a long-awaited, much-loved, and well-supported session of LATM, Olivia Rodrigo closes on Wednesday night.
