REVIEW: CHIC with Nile Rodgers, Manchester Ritz

May 30, 2013 — by John Anson, Features editor

THE ultimate hitmaker that is Nile Rodgers gave a sold out Ritz a masterclass on the history of pop music over the last 35 years in one incredible night in Manchester.

Surely the coolest man in music, he appeared overwhelmed at the ecstatic reaction he and Chic received from a sweating, ecstatic audience who had danced the night away.

“You’re so hot my strings have swollen” he said, retuning the most famous guitar in the world halfway through the two-hour set.

From the moment the band came on stage, all dressed in white, and the first words Everybody Dance rang across the venue, we didn’t need a second invitation.

Hit after hit rained down on us including those Nile Rodgers worked on with the likes of Madonna, Diana Ross, Duran Duran, INXS and even Sheila B Devotion.

On record disco may appear a little lightweight. But live, with Rodgers’ distinctive guitar sound and those pounding basslines, it’s a whole new beast.

Add a brass section, two keyboards, a manic drummer and two female vocalists with real soul in their hearts and the end result was a knockout.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get better, on came long-time Rodgers’ fan Johnny Marr for a wild version of Le Freak before half the female members of the audience appeared to be paraded on stage to act as backing dancers for Good Times.

At the end the crowd refused to let Rodgers leave the stage.

He ended the evening conducting them in a singalong as the PA played his current number one with Daft Punk, the grin on his face lighting up the room.

“We’re up all night to get lucky,” we sang. We weren’t just lucky, we were privileged!

CHIC LIVE in Manchester - Crowd sings "Get Lucky" #DaftPunk May 29, 2013

 

Read the original article here:
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/leisure/10452134.Review__Chic_with_Nile_Rodgers__Manchester_Ritz/