How Sweet it is...

Last Friday I went to Chatsworth with my good friend Sheila, to an Ultimate Motown outdoor evening concert. I saw the Temptations ( or a group claiming to be them) at the CIS in Manchester back in the late 60s. I saw Smokey Robinson at the Bridgewater Hall about 5 years ago. I saw Junior Walker and the All Stars and Curtis Mayfield in Manchester in the early 80s. Sheila and I have been to a couple of good Motown tribute shows over the last few years.We weren't familiar with this particular version of the Motown back catalogue, and at first I wasn't sure if it was more Merseyside than Stateside. But it was a beautiful evening, they had great harmonies and slick moves. There were many people of a certain age there, revealing their misspent youth with Northern Soul moves and exuberant shapes. For me it was a collision of worlds - Chatsworth House as a backdrop, set in Capability Brown's apparently natural landscaping - I used to be a guide there. The skies were clear, and the moon had just turned from full. These were the songs of my youth,they helped me discover my love of dance through a youth club in Patricroft, and lunchtime record sessions at my Salford girls' school. Candles, lanterns and tablecloths, picnic baskets and champagne flutes, crisps and beer. A Lathkill Coaches bus full of a hen party.High heels and walking boots, sandals and wellies.Evening dresses, linen suits and panama hats, jeans and fleeces. Anything goes and anything went. And all on the Salisbury lawn, looking down towards the house, with the Cascade behind us. The same Salisbury lawn that couldn't be used for the Antony Gormley sculpture installation a few years ago, because of the possible presence of fungi. There were plenty of fun guys there on Friday night. The band used to back Edwin Starr. If you are interested they have a website and facebook page, and they get around all over the country on tour. Look them up as Ultimate Motown or How Sweet It Is. Go and relive your carefree youth.