Music

Rewind Scotland

Scone Palace, by Perth

Lorraine Wilson

four stars

THERE can be few musical gatherings where it’s possible to time travel from the Sex Pistols to Stock Aitken and Waterman in the space of a few hours, but that happened on Sunday afternoon, in the grounds of Scone Palace, on the second day of this year’s Rewind Scotland festival.

Primarily a paean to the shiny, sleekly produced pop of the 1980s, the increasing credibility of Rewind with artists means it delivers ever more eclectic line-ups. It also affords an opportunity for some healthy reappraisal of individuals who might otherwise have been lost to the dusty realm of the Jackie pin-up.

The bill is split between those who are making a living on simply re-treading their musical footsteps and others who are recording and touring new music but can benefit from playing old hits in front of an appreciative crowd.

On day one The Undertones, the Real Thing, Chesney Hawkes, and Heather Small showed that Rewind’s theme is creeping into its adjoining decades, but it was the 80s that provided that day’s most spectacular performances.

It was the first Scottish gig for The Trevor Horn Band and as he said, his first gig in Scotland for 37 years. Kicking off with the sirens of Two Tribes, it was a blast through Horn’s career, covering his days with The Buggles and Yes, then producing Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Grace Jones among many others. He also managed to pull out a surprise guest, with Jim Kerr performing Waterfront.

Saturday’s other highlights were Tom Robinson, convincing the crowd that they could singalong if they weren’t gay or even if they were and not too happy about it and Nik Kershaw with a solid reminder of his songwriting prowess and guitar chops. He also joined Chesney Hawkes, as songwriter of The One and Only. Headliners The Human League, ended the night with magnificent synth pop, Phil Oakey managing to rock a floor-length sci-fi coat dress.

The second day brought some fleeting sun for Soul II Soul’s set, but the afternoon here was about Martyn Ware’s British Electric Foundation, where he was joined by a parade of vocalists including Claudia Brücken from Propaganda, Peter Hook for a spot of Joy Division, Glen Matlock thrilling the punks, and Heaven 17 chum Glenn Gregory.

The early evening was a solid run of big names from Nick Heyward, who despite having some major onstage technical problems, never missed a note or lost his smile during the sunny pop funk of Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl).

Belinda Carlisle, Jason Donovan, and Kim Wilde followed paving the way with hits for Billy Ocean, who always feels like something of anti-climactic headliner here.

Rewind is a good-natured, well-organised event. Although the changeovers are pretty slick, there is always time to fill and it’s at this point that it becomes a little like Butlins. The DJ team providing links on Saturday and Doctor (of Doctor and the Medics) on Sunday seemingly had no idea that the microphone in front of them provided all the amplification required, and despite clear audible evidence from the audience, it was difficult to convince them that the crowd was indeed ready for the next act.

The gathering might be filled with fancy dress and Day-Glo, but among the glitter are some excellent performances – who cares if they were also hairbrush in the mirror moments from 30 years ago.