A rare opportunity to catch some of the world’s legendary soul, funk and pop acts in our road today as Cameo, Shalamar, Lisa Stansfield, Gabrielle and many others attracted over 10,000 fans to the latest edition of Soultown in Croydon Rec, Beckenham. My wife Julie – celebrating her birthday – producer Greg Fitzgerald, his wife Jennie and daughter Emily, plus long term friends Mark and Dawn, made the short walk to the venue’s site previously best known for its association with the Bowie bandstand.
We arrived at 3pm to see the final moments of a set by Birmingham’s Musical Youth and in addition our group was soon appreciating the plethora of bars, stalls and sideshows on offer. There were two stage areas: the main live performance installation, plus a Club stage at the far end of the park. The atmosphere was upbeat and the crowd understandably in party mode, which along with the welcome sunshine made for a very enjoyable few hours.
Funk legends Cameo were the first act to totally engage the locals and soon had groups of dancers in the crowd demonstrating the ‘electric slide’ to their song Candy. They were followed by Shalamar, who delivered an excellent set and were for me the highlight of the day, thanks to sublime versions of I Can Make You Feel Good, Take That to the Bank, The Second Time Around and the radio classic, A Night to Remember.
It proved a lengthy wait for Lisa Stansfield, however it gave me the opportunity to meet trumpeter and flugelhorn extraordinaire John Thirkell, who I was delighted to see was playing in her band on the day. Great to briefly catch up with him and discuss developments on my Waterloo Sunrise project. (John had contributed his masterful playing to three of the tracks). Lisa proved to be in very good vocal form and led her band particularly well through her stage favourites, including Change and All around the world.
Scheduled headliner Dionne Warwick had to pull out of the event this week, and Gabrielle had agreed to close the show, which she did with total aplomb, delighting fans with a selection of her hits plus a suitable inclusion of Walk on by.
Thanks to everyone we met throughout and all involved for delivering a remarkable event.
