The 1980s never really ended, they just got their own music festival. Launched five years ago in Henley-on-Thames, Rewind has since expanded into an international brand with an annual sister event in Scotland and, as of last weekend, in northern England too. Held in the handsome lakeside grounds of a grand 18th-century manor house in rural Cheshire, the inaugural Rewind North felt like stumbling into a Smash Hits annual from 1985. The middle-aged audience treated it like a retro-themed fancy dress party, many spending the weekend in neon-pink legwarmers, Boy George dreadlocks and Ghostbusters overalls.
The seemingly insatiable demand for 1980s popstalgia takes many forms, of course. Kate Bush, Prince and the Pet Shop Boys are still selling out arenas without milking the retro angle. Rewind, however, concentrates on a more mainstream cohort of vintage acts, chiefly veterans of the Live Aid generation such as Nik Kershaw, Billy Ocean and Midge Ure. Each was allotted between 15 and 50 minutes to play a condensed set of greatest hits, all accompanied by the same in-house backing band.
Rewind was full of easy targets for scathing rock critics. After all, no one of sound mind could possibly enjoy witnessing two-hit wonders such as Cutting Crew or T’Pau singer Carol Decker still flogging their dead horses of big-haired bombast. Even a relatively contemporary star, Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley, was all foghorn blast and charmless smarm. The supergroup collective pairing Mike and the Mechanics with Roachford must surely have been dreamt up by Alan Partridge.
Fortunately, Rewind North also featured some more cultish 1980s icons who transcended the festival’s cosy karaoke format and reminded us of a richer, darker, more politically charged decade. One was the eerily ageless Jimmy Somerville, who transformed the entire arena into a joyous disco party. By contrast, Holly Johnson and Marc Almond provided some much-needed melodrama and salacious innuendo. “What song should I play next?” Almond teased, “perhaps an obscure B-side from one of my concept albums...?” Cue Tainted Love, of course.
Rick Astley also gave a hugely engaging performance, punctuating his burnished bass-baritone pop-soul anthems with deadpan music-hall humour and a sparkly sing-along version of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky: “I’m a bit too old to sing this,” noted the 48-year-old Astley, “but bugger it, what do I care?” The Rewind manifesto in a nutshell.