Chic featuring Nile Rodgers played a one-off show at London’s Indigo at The O2 last night (October 9th), concluding GoThinkBig’s ‘Le Freaks’ project with a two-hour, career-spanning set.
Following a disco-heavy DJ support set from The Reflex, Nile Rodgers made an impromptu and brief appearance onstage to acknowledge fans prior to Chic’s main set, fueling the sense of anticipation amongst the 2000-strong crowd.
Returning on his own a few minutes later, dressed in his signature all-white suit and holding a camera to take pictures of the audience with, Rodgers said: “With GoThinkBig and Rudimental, we launched a project to find 70 talented young people and then with them we remixed and revamped, ‘Le Freak’.”
Rodgers was then joined and hailed as a “music legend” by the CEO of O2, Ronan Dunne, before premiering the official music video for the remix of Chic’s 1978 hit on a screen situated above the stage.
The multiple Grammy winner was then accompanied onstage by the rest of Chic, as they launched into their disco hit, ‘Everybody Dance’, followed by the band’s first official single, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’. Rodgers occasionally partook in choreographed dance routines with lead vocalists, Kimberly Davis and Folami.
After listing a multitude of musicians that he has previously worked with, Rodgers then said: ‘‘We’re going to play a medley of some Number One hit records that I have done’’. Chic then proceeded to play a medley of Rodgers’ most prestigious collaborations, such as Sister Sledge’s, ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ and ‘We Are Family’, Diana Ross singles, ‘I’m Coming Out’ and ‘Upside Down’, and the Rodgers-produced Madonna hit, ‘Like A Virgin’.
Having kept the dialogue between songs to a minimum throughout most of the set, Rodgers broke his silence and took time to speak about his battle with cancer after performing the Sheila and B. Devotion track ‘Spacer’, stating “I feel lucky to be here.” He then played a slow rendition of his 2013 collaboration with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams, ‘Get Lucky’.
Chic’s take on David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ followed ‘My Forbidden Lover’, and fan favourites ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Good Times’, saw out the night in true disco fashion, prompting a stage invasion of dancing audience members.
Chic featuring Nile Rodgers played:
‘Everybody Dance’
‘Dance, Dance, Dance’
‘I Want Your Love’
‘I’m Coming Out’
‘Upside Down’
‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’
‘We Are Family’
‘Soup For One’
‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’
‘Like A Virgin’
‘Lost In Music’
‘Notorious’
‘Original Sin’
‘Thinking Of You’
‘Spacer’
‘Get Lucky’
‘Chic Cheer’
‘My Forbidden Lover’
‘Let’s Dance’
‘Le Freak’
‘Good Times’
This report was written by George King (Essex) who was selected through the O2 GoThinkBig programme. For more info go to gothinkbig.co.uk