1970s soul and funk sensation “The Real Thing” appeared in the Royal County last Friday evening as they headlined the first date of the two-day “Under The Sky” music festival in Wokingham. Elms Field came alive as the Under The Sky music festival kicked off in fine style on Friday night.
Local talent was showcased to great effect with Sophy Lole, a 16-year old musician from Wokingham. Former Kendrick School pupil Sophy said: “I love storytelling; to me the lyrics are more important than the melody. My main influences are James Blunt, Lily Allen and Radiohead.” Fans of Sophy’s music will be able to see her later this summer at the Wokingham Festival where she makes an appearance for the third year. Another acoustic guitar singer from the borough was 19-year old Saskia Josephine. Saskia, who a student at Canterbury Christchurch University reading Contemporary Music for her degree, and followed Sophy on stage with a short set of tracks which went down well with the audience.
Rock/Indie band “Off The Radar” were up next and launched into a stunning set of tracks heaving with a mellow sound of warm, deep bass and raw vocals of lead singer Tim Milbourne. Their sound was spliced with cutting lead guitar courtesy of Daz Gurney whilst drummer Ade Dacre confidently provided punchy percussion that Stewart Copeland from The Police would have been envious of. Their third album, “12 Shots From The Coffee Shop” was also available for fans to buy.
BBC’s Matt Allwright gave anything but a botched cowboy performance as he and his Rock band “The Swerves” heated the gathered massed up with a range of crowd pleasing cover versions from the 80s as well as a amazing rendition of the Kings Of Leon hit “Sex On Fire” which had the ladies baying for more!
Finally, the legendary “The Real Thing” took to the stage as they headlined the evening, bringing to the audience the sounds and melodies of old favourites such as “Can’t Get By Without You” as well as “You To Me Are Everything” and many more. They proved to everyone watching and listening why they are still going after over 42 years – their a-capella was faultless and their vocal register astounding. A burst of some Kool And The Gang classics reminiscing of late 70s funk and Soul Train era music wowed the crowds. Singer Chris Amoo said: “It’s been a great night; there’s a wonderful crowd out there who look like they’ve really enjoyed themselves and had a good time. We love hearing them sing along to our music. All in all, we just love what we do. We love performing and that’s why we’re still around after all these years.”
Last modified on Monday, 13 April 2015 08:01
