Nile Rodgers at the Barrowland Ballroom

I'm still basking in the afterglow of seeing Nile Rodgers and CHIC at the Barrowland Ballroom! A phrase and tantalising thought that will bring smiles to the faces of anyone fortunate enough to have been there for years to come.

My wife, friends and I snapped up tickets immediately upon release, super excited by the prospect of this legendary hit maker and his crack band playing the best venue in the world.

We were not disappointed!

What an honour it was to see a master of songwriting, arrangements, guitar playing and production up close and personal. 

I should also name Nile's current line-up of CHIC; Jerry Barnes on bass who delighted the crowd with his exceptional and energetic style, Ralph Rolle on drums - he brought the funk, Kimberly Davis and Audrey Martells on exquisite and sublime vocals, Russell Graham and Richard Hiltons on keyboards and Brandon Wright, Steve Jankowski and Ken Gioffre on horns.

These are good times

Leave your cares behind

This was 105-minutes of pure escapism, much needed from a world troubled by climate change, wars and conflict and right wing politics, with the cost of living crisis and housing emergencies impacting many.

Nile and CHIC lifted the crowd from the off with an outrageous opening medley of Le Freak, Everybody Dance and Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah). They were just getting started! Band and audience were definitely warmed up and raring to go.

More hits? Nile's got 'em!

I Want You Love was dreamy, beautiful and seductive. Kimberly Davis treated us to some truly sensational vocals afterwards, Nile looked on with a beam. What a gorgeous smile this guy has! 

With so many songs to get through, Nile and CHIC merged some together. We had I'm Coming Out and Upside Down by Diana Ross from her 1980 album Diana, written and produced by Nile and Bernard Edwards, the friends who co-founded CHIC. Two slices of impeccable pop; hooks, grooves and super cool.

More?

We then had He's The Greatest Dancer and We Are Family from the Sister Sledge album of the same name that Nile and Bernard wrote and produced in 1989. Utterly brilliant disco pop. 

What else did Nile get up to?

Oh yeah, he produced Madonna's Like A Virgin album in 1984. Nile told us how he wanted Material Girl to be the lead single as he could imagine everyone calling Madonna 'the material girl'. Madonna told him it was going to be Like A Virgin. So Nile played both! The crowd went nuts.

The year before, Nile produced a Bowie album and so we had a joyful blast through Modern Love. Nile then brought us into present times with CUFF IT by Beyonce and Get Lucky and Lose Yourself to Dance by Daft Punk. A career overview was being played out before our eyes.

Lost In Music was outstanding. Everyone in the Barrowland was lost in music, the structure, arrangement and feeling of that Sister Sledge song is utterly perfect. Notorious by Duran Duran was very popular with girls and women around me, then we had the sublime Thinking Of You - sheer perfection.

Phew, Nile and CHIC kept going, Jerry Barnes on bass was co-frontman with Nile, delighting the crowd with his facial expressions and incredible riffs. Meanwhile Kimberley and Audrey on lead vocals were absolutely exquisite. Their voices were like angels.

Drummer Ralf Rolle then led the band through an extended jam called Maximum Funkocity which was superb, great fun. There was a call and response section with the crowd, hand were in the air, hand were waved ... amazing.

My Feet Dancing, Chic Cheer/Love Like This, My Forbidden Lover was a glorious run of CHIC songs before the place went truly nuts for Bowie's Let's Dance.

We were all having a good time, so there was only one way to end it. And that was with the monumental hit Good Times, with a nice segue into Rapper's Delight. 

The Barrowland roar of appreciation was as loud as I have ever heard, so there was an encore of the full length Le Freak to send everyone home deliriously happy. What a night!