Review: Heatwave, Odyssey, Rose Royce, Colston Hall

I wanna be… inside out

Arriving late to the Colston Hall for this goodtime cheesefest of classic groups, my disco accomplice and I quickly grab our pints in the foyer and file up to the upper balcony, as the lovesick strains of Wishing On A Star by Rose Royce drift from the open doors.

We find a minimal setup onstage; Gwen Dickey (the voice of Rose Royce) sat on a stool amidst the other bands equipment and belting out her hit to a backing track. Clearly enjoying herself, and still finding the high-notes effortlessly, the stripped down performance is somewhat marred by fairly shoddy sound and the usual disconnect between a live vocal and a pre recorded track.

Despite this, a packed Bristol crowd respond warmly as she raises the tempo and energy with her 90’s cover of Chaka’s, Ain’t Nobody. The crowd pleasing doesn’t end there as she finishes in style with a rousing rendition of her breakout smash, Carwash, causing the crew in fancy dress down in the stalls to throw some serious shapes and giving the disco ball a bit of spin…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1rH_iaZkv0

Through the flashing lights, and heralded by a ‘Price is Right’ style voiceover, Odyssey stride out to cheers, and launch straight into arguably their biggest hit, Native New Yorker. A divisive track, in that a lot of people consider it very schmaltzy and perhaps a touch “Broadway-Disco” I like it FOR those reasons and feel drawn to its yearning, for a time and a place that I have never, and never will, visit.

I love it, and it kicks things off in fine style

As with so many acts of the era, this incarnation of the band has few of the original members. Steven Collazo, son of the late Lillian Lopez, leads the charge here, ably assisted by a tight band and flanked by Jerdene Wilson and Romina Johnson providing the harmonies and the instantly recognizable hooks.

A barrage of classics follows; The latin swing of their breakout UK smash Use it Up, Wear It Out; the more Odyssey than Odyssey throb of Taste Of Honey’s Boogie Oogie Oogie; The low slung, soulful strut of Inside Out gets things moving up a gear and the combo of McFadden and Whitehead’s Ain’t No Stopping Us Now followed by Thinking Of You by the mighty Chic, takes the party into the obligatory encore.

Back to my Roots by Lamont Dozier, by way of Orlando Julius, and then via Richie Havens is a classic. All versions rock hard and Odysseys’ is no exception, whilst being the slickest and perhaps most accessible of the 3. It was always going to end this way, and this great singalong bumper, finds the whole of Colston Hall moving to its rootsy affirmative chug, and the band exit on a warm wave of applause.

Zipping up our boots indeed

Next up were Heatwave and being less familiar with their catalogue (bar the obvious hits), I was a little curious to see what they would bring to the party. Founding members Rod Temperton and the Wilder brothers having passed away, the current line up utilizes the SOS live band to lay out it’s thick funk and soulful message, and they waste no time in bursting out of the gates with Too Hot To Handle and Jitterbuggin. With more of a jazz funk bent, reception is slightly muted in the face of the change in pace but once their choice cover of Withers’ Lovely Day hits, and the soul stepper vibes of Mind Blowing Decisions grinds things a little slower, the crowd begins to warm up again.

Posin’ ’til Closin’ leads into the smooch of Always and Forever, and then after a tender tribute to Wilder, they up a give it the gas and get the place rolling with a medley of Temperton’s post Heatwave successes:

Rock With You, Give Me The Night and Off The Wall (Michael Jackson and George Benson respectively) are such wedding / school disco standards that even in such truncated form, achieve total domination on the floor and still have the power to amaze, and it’s an inspired move to segue straight into arguably their biggest hit Boogie Nights. Everyone knows that smooth churning bassline and band and crowd ride it like the disco train it is, keeping the energy high then slide to a greased yet graceful stop The stage clears, but everybody knows to stay, and indeed, back they all come, for a spirited run through their big UK hit Groove Line, with its fan friendly whoop whoop refrain.

Good times

I’ll just say this. I love disco. Love it in all forms. Big Philly string-laden monsters, NY styled moog-fuelled boogie, gritty and (sometimes) inept backstreet bangers recorded for a dollar and dripping in funk. Cold and emotional Italo has its hooks in me and all the jazzers and soul artists who crossed over for one record at Discos peak had a fairly good hit rate too. But I also love a lot of the big stuff. The cheesy stuff. The overplayed tracks that sold a million copies and everyone is sick of. There’s a place for that music, and yes, at times it has a whiff of Butlins entertainment about it, but in a good way. Tonight as far as I could tell, it gave people a bit of a smile, they had a bit of a dance and then went home happy. Job done as they say.

Never been into the wigs mind.