Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Indigo at 02

Is there a more recognizable bass line in music history than the one than underpins ‘Good Times’? The late Bernard Edwards’ fragment has spread through the DNA of pop, from Queen and the Sugarhill Gang to Daft Punk and Shakira. But heard in its original form, surrounded by Nile Rodgers’ slick guitar, insistent lyrics taken from Depression-era vaudeville and swirling keyboards, it forms part of magnificent whole, both an irresistible invitation to dance and a luxuriant bath of sound. It’s a combination that informs much of Chic’s finest work. At a time when much disco was becoming kitschy and melodramatic, Chic transformed it into something subtle yet passionate, clever yet foot-moving and instantly timeless.
Between 1976 and 1980, Rodgers’ band poured out an incredible, never-bettered stream of classic hits, all taken from impeccably sequenced albums. ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’, ‘Le Freak’, ‘Everybody Dance’, ‘I Want Your Love’, ‘My Forbidden Lover’ – the scale of their invention remains staggering. And they are only the hits – their catalogue abounds with melancholy jams and rhythmic experimentation, all carried by a poised sense of momentum. It has ensured them musical immortality.
But the band performing at the Roundhouse are dubbed ‘Chic featuring Nile Rodgers’ for a reason. If their recent shows are anything to go by, they will be drawing on both their own discography and Rodgers’ other musical triumphs. There is the string of hits he produced for Sister Sledge, including ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’, ‘Lost in Music’, ‘Thinking of You’ and ‘We Are Family.’ There is his re-invention of soul stalwart Diana Ross as the ultimate disco diva, including ‘I’m Coming Out’ and ‘Upside Down.’ And there is his string of hits with the likes of Madonna, Duran Duran, INXS and even David Bowie (‘Let’s Dance’). Add to that the work of recent years – Daft Punk’s summer anthem ‘Get Lucky’ and the yet-to-be-unveiled new single ‘I’ll Be There’, Chic’s first in over two decades – and you’re almost guaranteed an evening of unfettered delight. Book now, and lose yourself to dance.