In these uncertain days, when we’re all being forced to be terribly adult, imagine a place where the only navel-gazing that goes on is checking out a crowd of Like A Virgin-era Madonnas. Take yourself away to a land where the colours are day-glo rather than party political – and any parties on site will be singing the praises of Holly Johnson rather than Boris.
Welcome to Rewind, the retro festival. It’s such a stalwart of the summer music calendar now that it’s possible to rewind to the first Rewind, which took place in Henley-on-Thames in 2009, with the Scone Palace event added in 2011. It’s a weekend of colour, a living, breathing Top of the Pops, where only the biggest hits are welcome – and there’s no Simon Bates to kill the buzz. Ultimately, it’s a weekend of escape.
Rewind can measure its success best by the raft of similar festivals that have followed in its lace-covered wake. Perhaps that’s the reason that Rewind, under fresh management in 2018, has been restocking its jukebox of joy from the original celebration of the 1980s, to the hitmakers that populated our record collections in the decades before and after.
Event manager Katt Lingard says that it’s a natural expansion of what the festival has been doing for the past decade. “By not restricting ourselves to purely 80s music, we can invite a much wider range of bands and solo artists who we know will be just as attractive to the Rewind crowd.”
Of course many of the names featuring on both days will span several decades, such as Sunday night headliner Bryan Ferry, The Stranglers, Leo Sayer, Eddi Reader and Hipsway.
The 80s still have a strong presence, with Foreigner headlining the Saturday night slot, Belinda Carlisle, Lisa Stansfield, Hazel O’ Connor, The Primitives, Paul Young, and Toyah who acts as MC on Sunday.
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This is only Paul Young’s second appearance at Rewind. “It took me a while to do it,” he says. “The first time I performed with the Go West band and this time I’ll be singing with the house band, which is always excellent. I really enjoy it. It’s a great experience. The organisers choose beautiful settings and the feedback from the crowd is pretty special. It’s good to know that some people set out with the intention of having a really good time.
“Even though this year’s festival hasn’t even happened yet, I know I’d like to come back and do it with my own band in the future.”
Like many of the 80s acts who appear at Rewind, Young is still touring regularly. There was a 35th anniversary tour last year for his first album No Parlez, he is a part of the roving Tex-Mex band Los Pacaminos, and he goes out on double headline tours with friends such as Tony Hadley and Midge Ure, who is also back for another Rewind this year.
Young agrees that the artists still out on the road tend to be those who put in a decent apprenticeship before having any kind of major chart success. Perhaps paying their dues has given them a stronger constitution than those who are catapulted into the charts by way of TV talent shows.
“When I was with Streetband in the late 1970s we had a hit single with Toast, but when some of that line-up went on to form the Q-Tips we never really got a break, so we had to make our living by going out and playing a lot of gigs. When I was successful on my own I did a lot of touring.
“Having sold a lot of records in the 1980s, it can be quite hard to get your head around the fact that selling records isn't the way to make a living anymore. But having had that long run-up before there were any hit singles, touring and gigging really isn't a hardship for me. I really enjoy getting out and playing.
“I also think that having that apprenticeship means that when success does come you’re maybe a little bit older and know something about the pitfalls of the business, so it doesn't really turn your head as much. It's great that the hard work pays off, but you maybe appreciate it more and realise it’s hard work that got you there in the first place.”
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Young says that the range of projects he’s involved in keeps performing interesting. Los Pacaminos, for example, play in small clubs and bars and along with the core members has a revolving band of honorary members that includes Midge Ure and Hamish Stuart from the Average White Band. “They’re a great bunch of people and it’s great to step away from the singing at times and play guitar for a change.
“I think, too, that I've got a new-found hunger for it. There was a while when I didn't really do anything. I got really depressed about the business and in some ways couldn't see my place in it. Then when it starts to happen again, it really is such a big thrill.
“I don’t think anyone at Rewind could have predicted that they would still be playing their hits to such big crowds 30 and 40 years on.”
The festival site has also expanded with extra entertainment and a second stage, the Forever Stage, with DJs and stand-up comedy. It will be something of a hometown gig for Fred MacAulay who is part of a comedy line-up which also feature Phill Jupitus fresh from Glastonbury, Jimeoin, Emmanuel Sonubi and Christopher Macarthur-Boyd.
On Friday night Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet will open the festival with a party DJ set.
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The beauty of Rewind has always been its smaller, friendly feel, however, but Katt Lingard is aware that the formula works and it’s wise to take care of it.
Her previous experience includes working at the much larger-scale T in the Park, which was held on the Balado site owned by and maintained for organisers DF Concerts by her father, Douglas Alexander. Two years after leaving Balado for Strathallan, T was no more. There were many reasons for its demise, but some more mature festival-goers began to peel away when tents like Pet Sounds were retired and an increasingly dance-oriented line up changed the audience demographic.
“We know what works for our Rewind audience,” she says, “We’ve just made everything a little more colourful.”
One addition to this year’s festival could see audience members on the main stage on Sunday. “Rewind’s Got Talent” is the festival’s own star search. “The audience for Rewind is so loyal that we want them to have the chance for a moment in the limelight,” adds Lingard.
One regular Rewinder says she’ll be giving the competition a pass but will be back at Scone for her sixth year. Donna Herron is 53 and was first tempted by friends to give it a try. Husband Raymond came along and soon they had a regular crew who would dress up, take along some camping chairs for the long days in front of the stage and get ready for a nostalgia-fest.
“I loved it straight away,” she says. “We’re just travelling from Dundee so it’s down the road for us. We did camp at first and that was a laugh but we’re taking the special buses this year.
“The atmosphere is friendly, and people seems to let go. Of course, you see folk who’ve maybe drunk too much but I’ve only ever seen one little bit of trouble and it was dealt with quickly. We do the fancy dress stuff too. Raymie was a brilliant Super Mario one year. That’s the good thing about Rewind. No-one looks down on anybody else. People are all there to have fun, a bit of a laugh and remember the music they loved as teenagers.
“To be honest, I don’t love everything that’s on the stage. I’m more of a Nik Kershaw girl than a ska fan. The good thing is, though, because they only do the hits, at least you know every song.”
The appeal of nostalgia is a strong one, though as Lesley McHardy from Aberdeen explains. “Being absolutely honest, I go for the whole experience rather than just the music. Camping at a festival feels a bit exciting at this age – the groans from the tents are people just trying to get up in the morning though… I probably stopped buying records in the early 90s when I got married, but when I hear the 80s stuff it really takes me back to a time when I had no worries, especially the likes of Midge Ure. I loved seeing the Human League here a few years ago too. One of my daughters has joined our crowd now and she gets a laugh out of seeing us know every single word.”
The loyalty of some fans is strong. Paul Young still sees groups of fans at shows who have supported him since the 1980s.
“At that time they started out as pen friends, maybe from columns in teenage magazines and now they meet through fan pages on the internet. Some have been friends since the 1980s and arrange to meet up at gigs around the world. So you can get American, Canadian, English, and German fans all meeting up at gigs. It’s great to know that you’ve facilitated people building up networks of friends as well as making music that people enjoy after 35 years and more.”
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