Party in the Park 2008 - Sell-out Crowd
Review by Tony Barker
It was more like singing in the rain than the Motown number on stage, “Dancing in the Streets”, but the appeal of Lulu and the Magic of Motown managed to attract a sell-out crowd to Macclesfield’s West Park for the start of the Big Party Weekend.
Organised by Macclesfield Borough Council, the event on Saturday 16 August was held in probably the worst kind of mid-August weather with rain from the word go, but at £10 a ticket, who could complain? Those who doubted the climate even decided to turn up towards 8pm when the heavens had eased, albeit temporarily.
The Party opener was the slick touring show, the Magic of Motown, and despite any rain, spirits were not dampened as the crowds danced. It was either that or stay huddled under a brolly, and there was a colourful range of big and small of those before my eyes.
The wait seemed long – probably many of the concert-goers felt the weather was getting the better of them - before Lulu suddenly appeared without announcement on stage with her band, declared she was so happy to be here, and launched into the Take That number "Relight My Fire". Dressed in black with black and white stripes on the arms, she revelled on the stage and proved her voice had not lost the magic.
She performed Footsteps followed by a song about her home town Glasgow, before introducing her guest and friend Kiki Dee who delivered “I Got The Music in Me”, and the first of two inevitable duets with Lulu, in which the tiny Scot dressed as Elton John with over-sized jacket and glasses for the classic “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart”. The line-up continued with “We’ve Got Tonight”, the duet first performed with Ronan Keating, “Don’t Want to Fight”, penned by Lulu but which Tina Turner made a hit, and then Lulu’s top song, “To Sir With Love”, before hitting us with the one that is Lulu magic, "Shout". The show ended with another Kiki duet.
Lulu described the crowd as "fabulous" though she could have paid tribute to us dedicated party-goers who were drenched at the end. Organiser Bill North was an understandably happy man. He said: “We sold all the tickets and, apart from the weather, everything was perfect. When I asked the crowds where they’d come from, the loudest shout hailed from people from Manchester. The audience was great and I was surprised at how many people braved the weather.”
Mancunians could not claim to be the farthest-travelled, however. Listeners to the post-Party show on 106.9 Silk FM texted in to suggest party-goers came from as far as Scotland, but there were visitors to the UK from New Zealand as well. It all put Macclesfield on the map – and showed that we Brits party stoically, no matter Glastonbury-like the conditions!
