Fresh off of receiving the Global Icon award at the Rolling Stones UK Awards, Nile Rodgers & CHIC delivered an excellent, high energy, disco-infused set which was practically bursting at the seams with songs from a long and storied career and only goes to show that age is but a number.
The O2 Academy in Leicester. At a surface level it might not seem like the place for a multi Grammy award winning, artist, writer, singer, producer and quite frankly, legend of the game Nile Rodgers and the current line up of his ’70s born Disco group CHIC, but I was proven wrong.
Despite its size, the 1400 people in the main room made it feel like a stadium sized show. The venue was packed to the gills with an extensive and wide variety of attendees from disco lovers who were present at its peak, to a few younger fans and even entire families. This variety in audience members, really drove home the versatility and reach Nile Rodgers & CHIC have on individuals of every age.
To say the night started with a trio of the group & Nile’s biggest hits would be a disservice to the rest of the evening. Armed with his two singers, a trumpet, a saxophone, keyboard, a bass guitarist and overflowing love for the UK, Nile Rodgers sauntered out to the crowd, fist bumping and high fiving a lucky few members of the front row.
Before playing any music Nile took a moment to deliver an anecdote about his first ever UK performance being in the midlands, which is a delightful memory and it was quite touching given his long and illustrious career since that first UK performance. Following on from this introduction, Nile and CHIC started out with an incredible opening quadruple medley of “Le Freak”, “Everybody Dance”, “Dance, Dance, Dance” and “I Want Your Love”.
This then began a long stream of songs that Nile had been heavily involved with, whether it’s producing, writing or featuring. The band only had a few short pauses in between songs to share with the audience small peaks behind the creative curtain.
First up, a medley of Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down” before a mash-up of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and “Material Girl”. Next was covers of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” and Duran Duran’s “Notorious” – the latter which I was surprised to find Nile had involvement in. Shortly after, it was time for the Daft Punk double which included “Get Lucky” and “Lose Yourself to Dance” before a quick rendition of Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT”.
The rest of the set was a hard focus on some of CHICs greatest hits before finishing with a double feature of “Good Times” and “Rappers Delight”, which unsurprisingly got everyone in the room dancing before the rest of their Friday night.
Overall, it was an outstanding evening of live entertainment, the vocals of Kimberly Davis & Audrey Martells were unparalleled and their elegant style, along with Nile’s striped suit & signature popped collar, really helped create a retro disco-esque vibe.
It’s hard not for the audience to not have an amazing evening as I did when you’ve a certified legend of music performing with a band that are clearly so full of enjoyment for their craft and adoration for each other, it truly did make the evening and the music feel timeless.
Words and photography by Sam Huntley
