Good
times
These
are the good times
Our
new state of mind
These
are the good times
Anticipation
buzzes
the venue
as the mirror
ball revolves slowly, sending
a spangle
of light over the concert-goer,
one of a crowd
of people in very good form.
A dj
works at a record deck, but all eyes are on the stage where rock
band
equipment
is in
readiness. Stage-crew
crouch
about in
earnest
poses, settling, adjusting,
fitting and tweaking.
A slim black man
comes out with a camera. He is casually dressed, his long locks
bunched under a woollen hat. He waves at the crowd and takes photos.
The crowd at the front go crazy when they recognise him. It is Nile
Rodgers, guitarist, writer, producer, creator of funk and disco
music. Legend.
Funk and disco is a form of popular music, originating in America, and in a
sense the historical bridge between R&B and Soul and recent forms
of hip-hop. Nile Rodgers is the enduringly genuine human link in that
chain of popular music.
The crowd surges
forward as Chic, the band, comes on. There is a stylised long pause, with band
members, including Nile Rodgers, now resplendent in a white suit,
turning their backs on the audience, before facing them with the
opening chords of the disco party.
Everybody dance
The concert-goer and
everyone else does. Men, with arms folded across their chests, let
them fall by their sides as they begin to shimmy. Women wave their
arms in the air. The atmosphere heats up and becomes mega-sultry.
Must
put an end
To
this stress and strife
I think I want to
live the sporting life
In the throes of
disco frenzy, Nile Rodgers takes a moment to dedicate a medley to the
memory of a local man, a friend of the promoter, who recently died.
It is but one instance of the groundedness of the whole event. The
keyboard player looks like the concert-goer's Uncle Jack. The singers
are stunningly statuesque African-American women. The music is
high-end pub band, with star voices and musicians. There is a modesty
and self-deprecation that is alluring and charming.
Good
times
These are the
good times
The spangles from the mirror ball flash across the
smiling faces of the dancing crowd. The band's sound is crisp and
clear. The trumpet solos, in particular, draw the concert-goer's
ears.
And it all ends thrillingly with Nile Rodgers taking the acclaim of
the crowd to the sound of the dj playing Daft Punk's hit single of
2013, Get Lucky, on which
Nile Rodgers features, riffing his trademark funk-guitar chords.
We've come too
far
To forget who we
are
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