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OTTAWA - KC & the Sunshine Band and a few of their friends turned Bluesfest’s Festival Plaza into Studio 54 for a closing night party.
And if unsolicited audience participation is any indication, it was clear that fans were in a major mood to party.
Despite the lingering high temperatures, a surprising number of people turned out in tacky disco wear, with one woman bringing her own disco ball hung from a fishing rod.
Not since the New York Dolls gig last year have so many fans been eager to relive a bit of their youth, and enjoy some absolutely fabulous funk with KC & The Sunshine Band’s free-spirited Boogie Blast with ’70s disco icons Tavares, Sister Sledge and Gloria Gaynor.
Never regarded as a serious musical talent, KC’s Disco Blast nonetheless turned out to be a totally entertaining, with nonstop dancing, cheesy DJs and a pageant of dance hits that made disco a global phenomenon.
With the main stage decked out like a disco, complete with lounge chairs and giant disco ball, the revue-style show kicked off with a funky fanfare of Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours and a platoon of boa-ed dancers in various states of undress while KC, looking remarkably unchanged from his ’70s heyday, saddled up behind the keyboards to play his anthem Shake Your Booty and later Boogie Man.
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“This is what Justin Timberlake is going to look like in 33 years,” the 55-year-old KC joked.
A quick costume change and KC was back to sing another hit, Boogie Shoes, an overheated romantic plea Please Don’t Go, a solidly phat cover of Brick House and a booty-shaking That’s The Way I Like It.
Much of KC’s vocals and dance floor moves have survived remarkably intact. Sadly, time hasn’t been quite as kind to Tavares, who had a hard time staying in tune during More Than A Woman, although they had a much better time of it later on with Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel.
Sister Sledge was also terrific rallying the crowds with We Are Family.
Meanwhile, the fans were dancing anywhere they could — on the sidewalks, in City Hall’s foyer, the Festival Plaza fountain, even their own VIP chairs.
The hit of the show was diva Gloria Gaynor, who sang her anthems Never Can Say Goodbye and I Will Survive.
It was the biggest, baddest night to send off the 2006 festival. Perhaps Bluesfest organizers should consider launching a whole new dance series.