Nile Rodgers is relentless. Diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in 2010, the Chic guitarist responded by turbo-charging his work rate of writing, producing and gigging. After his impeccable contribution to Daft Punk’s globe-eating hit Get Lucky, he presumably could have retired. But even after being pronounced cancer-free in 2013, Rodgers has remained unstoppable: the charismatic, white-suited commander of a substantial groove armada.
The current Chic live show seems like an extension of his personality: a two-hour cascade of influential disco, flawlessly delivered in cluster bombs of maxi-medleys. When this incarnation of Chic is in full flight during I Want Your Love or My Forbidden Lover, it creates the not-unpleasant feeling of being steamrollered by a gigantic mirrorball.
It’s not just an avalanche of Chic’s monster hits: the eight-piece band can convincingly recreate anything touched by the hand of Rodgers, from Duran Duran’s Notorious to the best of Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. “You’re watching my life history in music,” says Rodgers, after a punchy version of Like a Virgin.
His admirable single-mindedness extends to promotion. If the sold-out crowd were curious about I’ll Be There, Chic’s first single for 23 years and the precursor to a new album inspired by lost tapes from their heyday, Rodgers plugs it like a pro. Live, it slots in seamlessly, not least because it recycles a snippet of Everybody Dance. This cannibalistic sampling seems justified: countless dance producers have profited from a disco dip into Chic’s back catalogue, so why shouldn’t they?
After monumental versions of Le Freak and Good Times, it feels like there’s really nowhere else for the show to go. But Rodgers returns to cue up the video for I’ll Be There, featuring supermodel Karlie Kloss bopping along to Chic in her smalls. Juxtaposed with Rodgers, now alone on stage, playing meticulous air guitar along to his own song, it’s a surreal end to an otherwise euphoric evening.
At O2 Academy, Birmingham (box office: 0844 477 2000) 24 March, and 02 Academy, Birmingham (0844 477 200) on 25 March.
