Through the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of July 2023, Perth’s Scone Palace hosted some of the biggest bands, artists, and talents of the 80s. This included two electric headline slots over the Saturday and Sunday from Erasure’s Andy Bell, and The Squeeze making their Rewind debut. Held in the beautiful setting of Scone Palace grounds in Perth, the serene weather conditions made it all the more welcoming and breathtaking to experience.
I was very pleased at how incredibly well organised the weekend was. This was actually a comment I heard from several members of the audience as well as others in the VIP section. This wouldn’t have been possible without the work of all of the festival and event staff, particularly to Verity Walker who was so attentive and helpful throughout the whole weekend. She kept the interviews running smoothly which, in turn, helped the whole festival run easily. This paid off with acts playing completely within their time slots and when conducting interviews, these were completed without a hitch.
For the majority of the crowd, this opportunity to see the bands and artists they grew up listening to was such a wonderful sight to see. It was a lot of fun to see the creativity with outfits and the effort put into these. Everywhere you walked within the festival grounds, there were groups with obvious outfit themes including Sesame Street, Wizards of Oz, and the general 80s decade. The artists and bands were all lovely and the vast majority gave absolutely phenomenal performances.
Some of the most memorable acts from the weekend included Martin Fry from ABC, Ultravox’s Midge Ure, Andy Bell from Erasure, Slim Jim Phantom from Stray Cats, and Nick Heyward from Haircut 100. The amount of talent that was accumulated to make this weekend a huge success was immense. While I never personally grew up in this era of music, I was familiar with most of the lineup, which made it even more rewarding meeting some of the people behind the voices I’d become accustomed to.
The crowd were kept occupied and entertained in between the acts by Pat Sharp on the Saturday. On Sunday, this job was given to Clive Jackson, better known as the Doctor from Doctor and the Medics. Not only did he keep the audience laughing all day, I was kept intrigued by the vast array of coats and jackets he had to show off. Every time he entered the stage, he looked like he had a completely different outfit on.
Hearing the power behind these voices was an experience like no other. These were people that had worked at their crafts for decades and to see the looks on the crowd’s faces was such a lovely view. I’ve never cried at a gig but I was very close to it when the voice of Scotland’s own musical legend Midge Ure filled the air.
The dates for Rewind 2024 have recently been released, which are listed in the Instagram post below.