Party At The Palace – Linlithgow Palace, Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 August 2015
With Deacon Blue and Simple Minds headlining the inaugural 2014 Party At The Palace, it was always going to be a challenge to top this but when Scottish band Travis and the legendary Nile Rodgers and his band CHIC where announced as the 2015 headliners it was clear Linlithgow was about to experience a weekend to remember once again. Building on the success of last year, Heart Radio joined the party whilst organisers secured sponsorship with McEwans and supermarket chain Lidl and introduced a camp-site to accommodate party-goers.
Saturday
Saturday headliner Travis were proceeded by a number of quality acts with 100 Fables, Little Eye, Horse, Justin Currie and The Feeling all taking to the stage. Led by Allan Sieczkowski, Little Eye impressed with their energy and connected well with the audience. Scottish singer/songwriter Horse returned to the Linlithgow stage after proving a popular hit last year and was once again in fine voice.
With Deacon Blue and Simple Minds headlining the inaugural 2014 Party At The Palace, it was always going to be a challenge to top this but when Scottish band Travis and the legendary Nile Rodgers and his band CHIC where announced as the 2015 headliners it was clear Linlithgow was about to experience a weekend to remember once again. Building on the success of last year, Heart Radio joined the party whilst organisers secured sponsorship with McEwans and supermarket chain Lidl and introduced a camp-site to accommodate party-goers.
Saturday
Saturday headliner Travis were proceeded by a number of quality acts with 100 Fables, Little Eye, Horse, Justin Currie and The Feeling all taking to the stage. Led by Allan Sieczkowski, Little Eye impressed with their energy and connected well with the audience. Scottish singer/songwriter Horse returned to the Linlithgow stage after proving a popular hit last year and was once again in fine voice.
Del Amitri front-man Justin Currie greeted the crowd by saying he was “too cheap to bring his band” and then proceeded to do a fantastic job of entertaining the crowd with material from his solo-work as well as stripped back Del Amitri classics including ‘Always The Last To Know’, ‘Move Away Jimmy Blue’ and the poignant ‘Nothing Ever Happens’.
The Feeling took to the stage next with a storming set including their break-through hits ‘Fill My Little World’, ‘Love It When You Call’ and ‘Never Be Lonely’. In a pulsating covers medley including ‘Day Tripper’, ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Pinball Wizard’, ‘Brick In The Wall’ and ‘Parklife’, The Feeling sent the party on the Peel wild.
With only one previous live performance this year fans travelled as far as Spain to see headliner Travis and they did not disappoint. Led by singer Fran Healy (sporting a Rip Van Winkle style beard), Andy Dunlop, Dougie Payne and drummer Neil Primrose rolled back the years to delight fans with a hit packed set including all the big hits. Highpoints were a constant with ‘Driftwood’, ‘U16 Girls’ and ‘All I Wanna Do Is Rock’ sounding terrific whilst the perfectly timed rain as ‘Why Does It Always Rain on Me’ played brought the night to a Hollywood style close.
Sunday
With the sun shining and headliner CHIC to look forward to, Sunday promised to be a day like nothing ever experienced in Linlithgow before. Arriving at the site last years ‘Battle of the Bands’ winner Jamie and Shoony were tearing up the stage and once again went down a treat with the crowd.
Renowned Scottish sensations The Red Hot Chili Peppers were next up and thrilled with their unique ‘Bagrock’. The kilts and on-stage dance moves also caught the eye of the ladies in the crowd.
With the sun shining and headliner CHIC to look forward to, Sunday promised to be a day like nothing ever experienced in Linlithgow before. Arriving at the site last years ‘Battle of the Bands’ winner Jamie and Shoony were tearing up the stage and once again went down a treat with the crowd.
Renowned Scottish sensations The Red Hot Chili Peppers were next up and thrilled with their unique ‘Bagrock’. The kilts and on-stage dance moves also caught the eye of the ladies in the crowd.
Scouting For Girls followed and got the crowd bouncing with joy as they blasted out their big hits ‘She’s So Lovely’ and former number one single ‘This Ain’t A Love Song’. With their catchy tunes their blend of pop/rock set the stage perfectly for the headliner.
Now it is not every day a legend like Nile Rodgers and his band CHIC come to town and the organisers deserve massive credit for bringing the ‘Hitmaker’ to Linlithgow. With the imminent arrival of the ‘Hitmaker’ the buzz around the stage all day was ecstatic and I was more than delighted to get the chance to have a brief chat with Nile prior to him taking the stage.
With Nile and his band currently touring and having recently presented the FOLD Festival in New York, this was not the sound of a tight band but one of perfection. As the set progressed through the music of Nile’s life it was literally a set that continued to elate from start to finish. The CHIC classics ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ and ‘I Want Your Love’ sounded impeccable and set the scene for a memorable night. Having over 200 production credits, Nile laced the set with classics spanning the decades from the 70s to the present day. Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’, David Bowie’s ‘Let’ Dance’ through to Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ ensured a euphoric crowd went home debating whether they had just witnessed the best gig of their life. Words: Bazza Mills Twitter: @bazzamills |
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