Music > Live Reviews
Let's Rock Norwich 2023
Earlham Park
21/08/23
The Let's Rock Caravan of Nostalgia rolled into Norwich on Saturday, the last date of its tour. Unashamedly a retro festival, it’s often a curate's egg of one hit wonders, war horses and hardy-perennials, but the roll call for Norwich was particularly eclectic. The day started with a hint of this, as Neil X of Sigue Sigue Sputnik performed within the Hit Factory segment of the day. Sandwiched between Livin' Joy and Janet Kay they made for strange bed fellows, but he made a good fist of it - only Junior Escombe making a comparable impression.
Nathan Moore stepped in for Midge Ure, and though the long shadow cast by Midge's absence was hard to ignore, Nathan did his best to get a sparse early afternoon crowd going with a selection from the songbooks of Brother Beyond and World's Apart. Blancmange got a measly fifteen minutes afterwards, which seemed all wrong for an act still recording new and interesting material. He tried out some of that material on the Let's Rock crowd, with mixed results, but Living On the Ceiling alone proved Neil Arthur should have been higher up the bill, and on for longer.
Blancmange
By way of contrast, both Toyah and Carol Dekker delivering coolly efficient nostalgia packages afterwards, with Toyah's infectious enthusiasm going some way to excusing the familiarity of her material. What is perhaps best described as a fallow period followed, with Johnny Hates Jazz working their way through their minor hits, after which Denise Pearson, as the last Five Star standing, took a while to warm up what proved to be a great singing voice. She did so alongside a couple of dancing pals, which livened things up a bit, but (with the exception of ill-served Blancmange) was one of over ten acts using the same backing band.
Toyah
Carol Decker
Johnny Hates Jazz
5 Star
The band were fine musicians, and kept the party going, but inevitably lacked character, so it was a welcome gear change when Neville Staple came on stage with his own band. The vocals were a little rough and ready, to be honest, but this was nonetheless a crowd pleasing set that drew heavily on his time with both The Specials and Fun Boy Three.
Neville Staple
The Farm signalled a further move away from the festival's default sound, eventually winning over a crowd unused to hearing such an overtly indie sound on the bill. Positioned somewhere on a line between Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses, they brought welcome variety to the day, not least by sneaking in a Clash cover, a sneaky nod to Sister Sledge, and were canny enough to limit what was self-deprecatingly referred to as the new stuff.
The Farm
Heaven 17 haven't produced or performed new stuff in over 30 years, but with a back catalogue as strong as theirs, it's hard to imagine what would elbow out the classic tracks. The first truly great performance of the day, every song was a gem. Proceedings may have closed on Temptation, and it was as good as ever, but Penthouse and Pavement, Crushed by the Wheels and Fascist Groove Thang were just as good, as was a cheeky cover of Bowie's Let's Dance.
Only hours before, Tony Hadley joined Midge on the absentee list, having broken his leg in Italy. Rather sweetly, his last-minute replacement Marc Almond led a chorus of Gold before his set. Frankly, it proved just how good a singer Hadley is, but while Almond may not have the greatest voice, he can deliver a song, and did so with humility and - let's not forget - very short notice. He seemed genuinely touched to be so warmly greeted by a crowd that must, in part, have bought a ticket expecting someone else.
Marc Almond
Happy Mondays were a shambolic, profane marvel, with Bez, the Lord of Misrule shaking his maracas while Sean Ryder ambled on as if he had just parked the car. Ryder tried to deliver what he termed a PG version of himself in deference to a family audience but failed within seconds. Having twisted their melon and hailed Hallelujah, they departed the stage to muted applause, greatly appreciated by some, while confusing the many.
Happy Mondays
By way contrast, Bananarama were a classic Let's Rock band. Personable, self-effacing, and with more hits than you think you know, they were thoroughly entertaining. I'm not convinced they were a headlining act, though, and I'm not sure they thought so either. Two lovely ladies backed by a pair of session musicians, they sometimes came across as French and Saunders having a go - fun, but ultimately an anti-climax to what had been an uneven day.
Bananarama
Let's Rock has managed to make a success of what seems to me a genuine desire to offer good value for money, while discreetly ensuring the acts conform to a broad, but tacit, formula. That formula is early eighties, keyboard based synthesiser acts with some straightforward pop thrown in for good measure. By throwing into the mix the likes of The Farm and Happy Mondays they broadened the offering and in the process made the festival more about music and less about mullet wigs. Whether that's by design, or just who they could get is hard to say. And whether it's a recipe for commercial success remains to be seen, but I hope it proves a fruitful direction for this good-natured family event. It still may not be the coolest show in town, but it does seem to be tentatively taking itself and its audience more seriously, and that has to be a good thing.
Full photo gallery HERE
Crowd and VIP area photos HERE