Back to the future as 1970s funk band Chic play Galway Arts Festival Big Top show

Date Published: 10-May-2012

Funk fans can gear up for a great night out at the Galway Arts Festival, with the announcement that disco superheroes Chic will be playing the Festival Big Top on Thursday, July 19.

Chic debuted in the late 1970s, dominating, and rejuvenating New York’s fading disco scene. Their distinctive approach was categorised by Nile Rodger’s rhythm guitar, and the bass lines of fellow founding member Bernard Edwards.

Their first singles were runaway club smash hits, but it was their second album, C’est Chic, and the first single from it, Le Freak, that cemented their position as the kings of disco.

Chic worked on Sister Sledge’s 1978 album, We Are Family. It peaked at number three and remained on the charts well into 1979. The first two singles, He’s The Greatest Dancer and the title cut, We Are Family both reached number one on the R&B chart.

The 1980s saw Rodgers and Edwards move into production work, becoming involved with some of the biggest records of the era. In 1980 they wrote and produced the smash hits, Upside Down and I’m Coming Out for Diana Ross.

In addition to this, Rodgers rounded off the decade by producing the likes of Madonna’s Material Girl, David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, as well as seminal works by Duran Duran, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger and many others. They also have a lucrative career in movie soundtracks.

Chic played a rapturously received set at Electric Picnic in 2009 so punters at the Galway Arts Festival can expect a fine show from a party band.

A limited number of early bird tickets are available for €30; tickets will then be €33/€35.