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Rewind South 2024 Review "Let's go to the place that's the best!"

Henley on Thames 16-19th August 2024

It’s nearly September, and that can only mean that it’s time to head to Henley on Thames: a place where Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and music lovers come to Relax. Whether you want to get Into the Groove, Rock the Casbah or Party like it’s 1999, where else can you go but Rewind Festival?

This year’s throwback festival encompasses some acts from the 80s along with dipping a toe into the 90s. Some Rewinders may not have relished the inevitable Quantum Jump into the next decade, but others were there for the friendly atmosphere, the music and just to have a great weekend.

As always there’s plenty of choices of places to eat and stalls to purchase some 80s inspired accessories along with a Silent Disco and Fun Fair to give you that dopamine hit before the music begins. If you fancy nipping off to get married, the beloved inflatable church was also open for business too!

The music on offer over the weekend appealed to a range of tastes and ages, it’s almost like having a playlist that's the soundtrack of your life. Some of the people we spoke to in the crowd had fond memories of the artists and their songs. It only goes to prove what a lasting impact music has.

UK Ska legends Bad Manners kicked off Saturday to get everyone in the party mood. 90s heartthrobs Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy from Boyzone and Westlife joined forces for their boyband explosion Boyzlife - a set sure to bring out the inner teenager in people of a certain age!

Speaking of teen idols - Altered Images’ Clare Grogan returned to the Rewind stage for a set filled with some early 80s classics like ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘I Could Be Happy.’ Later on Saturday Jason Donovan took his shirt off in the sunshine to perform some of his hits including ‘Especially For You’.

Another trip to the 90s saw Gabrielle who brought some more Sunshine to Temple Meadows. She still has a terrific voice and will be going on tour to celebrate her new album next year!

The woman who brought us Eurovision glory in 1997, Katrina, put on another high energy set for the crowd. Tiffany also returned to Rewind South in the afternoon. She’s another singer with an incredible voice and even though she’s often remembered for the track ‘I Think We’re Alone now’ (she definitely wasn’t - there were plenty of people singing along) she’s sold 15 million albums! Check out some of her performances on The Masked Singer to get the measure of her terrific vocal ability if you’ve not had a chance.

Rewind favourite, and local lass, Kim Wilde returned with her brother and niece on stage and belted out iconic 80s tracks ‘You Came’ and ‘Cambodia.’ Heather Small delighted with songs from her solo career along with hits from M People.

Saturday saw the legendary Billy Ocean finally taking the coveted headline slot. He was certainly a popular choice over the weekend with many Rewinders displaying Billy Ocean banners and masks.

Looking dapper as always his voice is ageless and his songs timeless. The crowd enjoyed a sing a long of hit’s such as ‘Red Light Spells Danger’ and ‘When the Going Get’s Tough’. ’Suddenly’ was an absolute highlight and he delivered this song with as much emotion as he did 40 years ago. For the last song ‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)’ Heather Small joined Billy on Stage for a terrific round-up of Saturday night.

After all that partying on Saturday, 80s jazz funk band, Shakatak eased us into Sunday with a smooth set that featured their big hit ‘Night Birds’ from 1982. The laid back vibe continued with reggae band Aswad who made a welcome return to Rewind.

With any cobwebs now dusted off, former Joy Division and New Order member, Peter Hook rocked things up with a healthy dose of electro-punk. ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ were highlights of his set.

Sunday afternoon saw music royalty take to the stage by the way of Al McKay and the Earth Wind and Fire Experience. Al McKay is the guitarist, co-writer and producer for EW+F and cut his chops playing for the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. Although the band were energised with some new singers and band lineup, their jazz fusion hits ‘September’, ‘Serpentine Fire’ and ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ went down a storm.

Living in A Box put on an enjoyable show and had the audience dancing around with cardboard boxes during their smash hit ‘Living in a Box.’

Men Without Hats', Ivan Doroschuk, gave us permission to dance if we wanted to 40 years ago, and the Rewind crowd took advantage of their permission slip and partied along to the electro sounds of ‘Pop Goes the World’ and ‘Safety Dance’.

During the afternoon The Doctor, from Doctor and The Medics celebrated Team GB’s wins by getting the crowd to join in in ‘Sweet Caroline’ and also ‘Spirit in the Sky’.

Vocal coach to the stars and all round nice guy, David Grant from Linx has started performing again after a sizeable gap: it’s like he’s never been away! There was also another sing-a-long with ‘You’re Lying.’

Hue and Cry were still ‘Looking For Linda’ during Sunday afternoon. ‘Labour of Love’ was a popular choice among the crowd and their lesser known songs ‘Violently’ and ‘I Refuse’ also provided a trip down memory lane.

Another Rewind favourite, Roland Gift performed some of his most well known hits with Fine Young Cannibals, which included ‘Suspicious Minds’ and ‘She Drives Me Crazy’.

Nik Kershaw, who heads out on tour later in the year to celebrate 40 years of ‘Human Racing’, performed a similar set to last year. Even though there were no surprises in the set list his slot was just as enjoyable.

Closing the festival was a group whose musical legacy needs no introduction: The Jacksons featuring (Marlon, Jackie, Tito and 3T’s Tyrell) had the Henley crowd grooving to those timeless tunes with bags of energy tracks like ‘I Want You Back’, ‘Can You Feel It’ and ‘Blame it On the Boogie.’

Despite being in their 60s and 70s, Marlon, Jackie and Tito have been performing for their whole lives, so it’s no surprise that their dance moves and vocals are well rehearsed - they certainly know how to put on a show. With footage from their heyday along with their brother, the King of Pop - Michael, not only was this show a real joy to watch, and relive so happy memories from songs that mean so much. It was filled with memories, melodies and complete euphoria. A real high to end the festival.

Of course Rewind wouldn’t be one of the most fun and welcoming festivals out there without the amazing people who attend. One of the most terrific and fun things about Rewind, apart from the music of course, is the festival goers who are a lovely bunch of people and the costumes they wear are a real boost to the festival. This year we had bubble-blowing unicorns, a McFlurry of Ronald McDonald's, Challenge Anneka, and some seriously scary clowns and even Michael Myers (Halloween not Austin Powers - although both are pretty scary!)

One Rewinder brought a banner to the front of the stage for The Doctor to read that takes inspiration from the ‘Spirit in the Sky’ lyric which read: 'Let’s go to the place that’s the best!’ - which pretty much sums up the festival. Rewind: it’s our happy place, here’s to next year.