Solihull Summer Fest Sunday (28/7/19) Review

Organising a music festival in the UK is a risky business. whether you make your money back or make a loss depends almost entirely on how the weather turns out on the day. So spare a thought for the organisers of The Solihull summer fest who booked their acts to play on the week of the hottest day on record and yet still had rain pouring down on both days. In true English fashion this didn't stop the crowds from sitting down on their deckchairs, putting on their wellies and drinking their prosecco. For the first hour or so entertainment was provided by some local bands and tribute acts. A guy named Garry Pease looks and sounds almost exactly like a younger Rod Stewart. Garry gave the crowd the hour of cheesy Rod-ness they needed to keep their spirits up but without a live band it had the feel of karaoke. Mercury might not look that much like Queen (put that down to their singer being older than Freddie ever got to be) but their costumes and tunes were on point, hitting most of the high notes and delivering all the loved tunes. Mercury might not be queen but their a damn good copy. 

The first actual band to grace the stage was 80's ska Bad Manners, led by the incomparable Buster Bloodvessel. Buster is still as charismatic as ever and his band are a reminder of what made ska so great in the first place. Dancing around the stage with their instruments and playing some hilariously joyous covers of Frankie Vallie's  'I love you baby  and 'The Can Can'. Buster also had a go at (badly) playing the trombone and still making fat jokes which in 2019 could be seen more as an embrace of body positivity than a crass joke. Bad Manners were a blast. (7.6/10) The same can not be said for 80's yuppie has-been's Go West. Who put on the worst set I've seen a band play all year. While Go West are musically competent it's the confusing mix of covers that made their set annoying. Especially considering as this festival had already booked two cover bands. Covering younger artists such as Sam Sparro (as if they don't have their own 80's tunes to play), older artists such as Smokey Robinson (Sacrilege!) and bad 90's RnB covers. All with the sophistication of a shitty pub band. I left after they played a cover of 'Rio' by the far superior Duran Duran. Fuck this band (3.2)

Luckily by this point things were kicking off on the Hedkandi stage as DJ Storm alongside backing dancers and percussionist Chris Budd and saxophonist Ellie Sax delivered a masterclass in seamlessly mixing house and disco classics. 

The Proclaimers have had a long and fruitful career since having a fluke hit with that one song many years ago. Still recording albums and touring following last years 'Angry Cyclist' album. The Proclaimers live set is short on thrills or chatter but is packed full of great songs. Such as the brilliantly authentic country style 'Sunshine on Leith', and the lovably blunt love song 'Lets Get Married. The Proclaimers have survived because their unapologetic sentimentality is what makes them so special. Of course 500 Miles inspired a mass singalong but the 50 minutes before that proved there is much more to love them for. (7.6)

The Human League know how to make an entrance. Dressing the stage with white keyboards and electronic drums and being introduced by their two keyboardists playing an instrumental 'Sound of the Crowd'. Singer Phil Oakey joined Susan and Jo on stage in full Matrix mode, in a full length black trench coat and tiny sunglasses. Surprisingly Phil Oakey revealed that he was originally from Solihull, having moved when he was 14. The Human league reeled off the hits, 'Mirror man', love action and a brilliantly dark 'Seconds' The only low point was when Susanne took over the lead vocals for the dull 'One man in my heart' (while Phil did one of many off stage costume changes). While The Human League may have struggled to follow up Dare 'Fascination', 'The Lebanon' and the brilliantly poignant Human' proved they they never stopped writing great songs and the response to 1995's 'Tell Me When' shows that it's unfair to simply see them as an 80's band. As the keyboardists played an instrumental version of 'Don't you want me baby' The mass crowd managed to sing everyone of the words flawlessly and unprompted. Some may have left after Phil and the girls came back to sing it themselves, but they missed an encore of the bleakly industrial 'Being Boiled' and brilliantly cheesy Giorgio Moroder collaboration 'Together in electric dreams', which despite it's naffness seems to have predicted the rise of VR and technology being used to maintain long distance relationships. The Human League may have been going through the motions slightly but their hour set flew by, the set design and backdrops looked fantastic as did the band themselves. The Human League delivered an effortlessly  engaging and enjoyable set. A very British synthesizer group closing a very British festival (8.4)