REWIND! SCOTLAND 2019 - SATURDAY // SCONE PALACE, PERTH
EVEN SCOTLANDS DAMP WEATHER COULDNT PUT A DAMPNER ON THIS FESTIVAL!
REWIND FESTIVAL SCOTLAND! 2019
PICTURE BY: STEPHEN WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★☆ (4/5)
The miserable Scottish weather gives no guarantees of sunshine, but it didnt stop the huge crowds from returning to Scone Palace in Perth for the annual Rewind Scotland event. Party go-ers and campers flocked in their thousands for another weekend of 80s nostalgia, and they wernt to be left disappointed.
Hosting the Saturday, Doctor (without The Medics!) got the crowd going between acts and welcomed the big names to the stage, beginning with Hispway.
Formed in Glasgow in the mid 80s, Hipsway made it big when one of their songs was selected for a lager commercial. The self titled album tho included some classic tracks, which the band played today, and they still sound fantastic. Ask The Lord, The Honeythief, Broken Years and Tinder. A fine start to the afternoon, and right on queue, the rains stopped and the sun broke thru. Very heavy rain on the Friday had made the ground rather muddy in the morning, and closed off large sections of the car parking areas, but this was nothing to the Scottish crowd!
Following on from Hipsway were Coventry’s indie rockers The Primitives. Famous for their 1988 smash hit Crash, they performed a tight set of catchy pop tunes, which kept the crowd on their toes, before finishing with their big number. Great stuff from Tracy Tracy and Paul Court.
Derry punks The Undertones were next onto the Perth stage. Minus Fergal Sharkey, the band continue with Paul McCloone on lead vocals. They may have lost the shrill of Sharkey’s vocals, but they havent lost any of the power and energy, and the songs still sound great performed live today. Jimmy Jimmy, Get Over You, Here Comes The Summer, Its Gonna Happen, My Perfect Cousin and the anthem Teenage Kicks. Fabulous stuff from the Irish men.
The Dire Straits Experience followed, the tribute band performing many of Mark Knopfler’s bands biggest numbers, including Walk Of Life, Romeo and Juliet and Money For Nothing. The band were on top form, and full marks to the singer Terence Reis, turn your back and thats Mark Knopfler on stage. A remarkable band, and definitely one worth seeing on their own right, they closed with a first class rendition of The Sultans of Swing.
Italian house band Black Box were next to entertain the crowd with the impressive Celestine walcott-gordon on lead vocals, covering a few of the bands singles including Everybody, Everybody, and Ride On Time. All of a sudden it was 1989 again.
Joyce Sims was next up on stage to cover a few tunes including her 1987 top 10 hit Come Into My Life before the Scottish legend Eddi Reader took to the stage. In 1988, Fairground Attraction hit the number one spot with their single Perfect. Reader, lead singer with the band, was the next to wow the crowd and take them back in time, with this song and a few others including her 1994 solo hit The Patience of Angels. A mass karaoke ensued with Perfect, with Reader and the crowd having a competition to see who could sing the loudest. Full time result, Crowd 1, Reader 0 !!
1980s crooner Paul Young was next to take to the stage. In the 80s he was often to be found at the top end of the charts with hits like Come Back And Stay, Love of the Common People, Everytime You Go Away and Wherever I Lay My Hat, and 30 years on, though the once famous voice is fading slightly, Young still knows how to entertain a crowd, and left the stage to rapturous applause.
Saturdays penultimate act was Scottish 60’s sensation Lulu. Born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in 1948, she found stardom at the tender age of 15 with her cover of the Isley Brothers Shout, and went on to regularly chart throughout her career with other hits such as To Sir With Love, the theme to the film she starred in, Boom Bang a Bang which she represented the UK in the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest and came joint first with Spain, Holland and France and a cover of the David Bowie classic The Man Who Sold The World. Take That revived her fame when she collaborated on their 1993 cover of Dan Hartman’s Relight My Fire. She has also written hits for the likes of Tina Turner. Tonight in Perth, she wowed the crowd and for a lady with a bus pass, she isnt anywhere near hanging up her microphone. An energy fuelled powerful set from the Glaswegian singer songwriter.
Finishing off the 1st night of Rewind Scotland were American rockers Foreigner. They belted out a set of album tracks and hit singles, including Cold As Ice and Waiting For A Girl Like You, But the one song that they are instantly known for brought the house down. I Want To Know What Love Is was a number one single in many countrys across the world, and the response from the Scottish crowd showed why. A great way to finish up and get ready for another day of throwback music and nostalgia.