Shed Seven raised the roof on Friday, Example set a good one on Saturday but it was Sunday that set Culture Vultures Rich Jevons and Amy Cockshott alight with a frenzy of festival fever.
It’s a lovely balmy night in Bingley for Naughty Boy to showcase the scintillating album Hotel Cabana. The crowd are ecstatic from the very start of the show when Think About It highlights the kind of soulful funk that Naughty Boy so excels at.
There’s a really positive yearning for good times in the anthemic Home which has the crowd swaying along. And the version of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky is made all their own – slowed and pared down to make it all the more emotive a summer anthem second time around. The crowd sing along: ‘We’re up all night to get lucky!’ and our luck really is in with this magnificent performance.
Naughty Boy introduces Pluto with a reference that we are on the way to heaven and this sublime track pounds out in the evening air to vibe up the crowd into fever pitch. Ironically the track is really about being down to earth in the midst of success and stardom and the search for true love and meaning. There’s a great rap climax too.
I’m running out of superlatives to describe Lifted – euphoric delight will suffice with Culture Vulture Amy here pointing to the sky to show exactly how high emotions are running here ‘even if I’m dancing on my own’ in the press area. (I swing a bit but I’m under doctor’s orders not to pogo!)’I’m not afraid, I’m not alone,’ – strong sentiments sung with great depth.
Please don’t blame me for crying every time I hear La La La – it’s just so simply beautiful. ‘I’m covering my ears like a kid .. I go La La La’ – it’s a song about coping with ‘issues’ that can result in a kind of jubilance through strength, a song of hope and joy, you could say. Of course, it’s a massive crowd-pleaser, it’s a terrifically catchy tune and ideal for a singalong finale.
Pet Shop Boys keep the crowd waiting a tad putting up a film screen in front of the stage- but when they do surface it’s well worth the wait. I’ve been waiting for years for an opportunity to see PSBs live. We were meant to meet up for an interview in the late 90s for Art & Architecture but my editor fell ill at the time.
But here they are blasting out One More Chance with the usual dry vocals and the ultimate in electronic backing. The old classic Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) still sounds as crackingly ironic as ever and as the screen goes up we see Neil Tennant’s lavish kitsch costume with huge shoulder pads and shiny appendages.
A couple of tracks off Fundamental precede another old fave Suburbia that is still as evocative and rich as ever and, quite fitting for this friendly fest, is I’m Not Scared (and yes, Neil can hit the high notes).
One noteworthy thing, in the midst of a fantastic light show are the dancers in stag head costumes that give the scene a Roman touch to this inventively theatrical production.
Amy by this time is crushed up against the front barrier while I stay at the side of the stage with a good view of both screen and set amidst a host of revellers. The song that set off their blistering career, West End Girls, goes down fabulously with the crowd despite the fatigue of a long weekend’s frolicking fun!
