REWIND SOUTH 2025
HENLEY ON THAMES
For the only Rewind weekend in 2025, the organisers picked the tranquil setting of Henley on the banks of the river Thames to host the biggest and best 80s (with a smidge of the 90s) party. SUGAR HILL GANG get the festivities started with an old school Hip-Hop masterclass. ‘Apache’ (Tonto get on it!), ‘ White Lines’ and of course ‘Rappers Delight’ kick things off in style. BOYZLIFE (a cocktail of Boyzone and Westlife) induce a few screams of delight with ‘Uptown Girl’ proving their highlight before THE SOUTH get twenty thousand happy souls singing along to ‘Perfect Ten’. KID CREOLE looks amazing for his age; however, the whole nightclub/showgirl routine is a tad creepy-ish in 2025. That said, an elongated ‘Annie I’m Not Your Daddy’ and ‘Stool Pigeon’ are pure Pop nightclub classics. The Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey looks resplendent and sounds in fine voice as ‘You Take Me Up’ and an emotive ‘Hold Me Now’ send a field full of pink flamingos into full-on Woodpecker Cider, ten B&H, spin the bottle and formation dancing school disco mode.
WANG CHUNG throwdown (and as an old punk this bastardisation of a cover of a cover sits slightly uneasily with me) ‘Should I Wang Or Should I Chung’ and ‘Everybody Have Fun Tonight’ while JUNIOR, expertly backed by The Rewind House Band, casually lobs ‘Mama Used To Say’ out just as the sun finally makes a fashionably late entrance. ‘I’ve Been In Love Before’ and ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight’ confirm what a clever and classy booking CUTTING CREW were as they get a massive sun-drenched smiling reception. GO WEST! Like many of the acts playing this weekend, they include a cover version in their four-song set, which begs the question: after five studio albums and a clutch of hit singles, why play someone else’s songs? Peter Cox is flying solo tonight due to Richard’s illness, and we all wish him a speedy recovery. ABC does what ABC always does, and that is to entertain, while SOFT CELL makes the thousands of inflatable Pink Flamingos wait until the encore before they get to wave the battle-weary pink birds in the air.
Sunday morning and bright blue skies welcome the bleary-eyed campers and fresh-faced day ticket holders to the final day. The ever-classy Roachford plays the Alan Partridge favourite ‘Cuddly Toy’ as extra sun cream is applied to thousands of arms, legs, faces, and a few shaved or balding skulls. THE SELECTER drew a huge front-of-stage crowd, and judging by the number of Two-Tone t-shirts seen over the weekend, they were obviously the one band many had waited for, and with good reason. Pauline Black leads the watertight band through ‘Three Minute Hero’, ‘On My Radio’, ‘Missing Words’ and the quite brilliant ‘Too Much Pressure’ to a receptive and semi-skanking crowd. HAIRCUT 100 led by Henley local Nick “see you in Waitrose” Heyward played ‘Love Plus One’ and a bellowed back to the stage ‘Fantastic Day’ before HEAVEN SEVENTEEN joined the ‘let’s do a cover’ gang with ‘Let’s Dance’, again, why? Before the blinding nostalgic slap of Pop majesty that is ‘Temptation’. I forgo BLUE for a delicious plant-based burger and chips, but I wasn’t going to miss MATT GOSS. The former Bros frontman looked and sounded superb, however, doing ‘I Owe You Nothing’,’ Drop The Boy’ and ‘When Will I Be Famous’ in a Vegas/cruise ship lounge lizard style for me, sadly missed the mark. These once uplifting slices of perfect Pop were disappointingly delivered as croonable fireside classics, and (IMHO) they’re not. TENPOLE TUDOR add some much-needed oomph as ‘Swords Of A Thousand Men’ gets a mass dance/sing-along going before CHESNEY HAWKES plays two surprisingly good new tunes along with a bizarre cover of ‘Stacey’s Mum’ and a rallying ‘The One And Only’. T’PAU’s local resident Carol Decker loves being here, and ‘China In Your Hands’ and the uber-cliched ‘Heart And Soul’ are another retro joy. Rewind fave MIDGE URE is about to undergo some urgent medical treatment, which has forced the postponement of his Autumn tour. Thankfully, he was well enough to perform today, and it just wouldn’t be Rewind without ‘Vienna’ and a punchy ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’. Finally, HOLLY JOHNSTON’s ‘Relax’, and the heartbreakingly beautiful ‘Power Of Love’ complete another weather-blessed, crowd-friendly and fancy-dressed REWIND SOUTH. Lastly, a massive shout-out to the weekend’s two compere’s, JENNY POWELL & THE DOCTOR, for making sure the train kept a rollin’, and of course, the superb REWIND HOUSE BAND & DJ JAMIE TAYLOR for keeping the party atmosphere going with a near-perfect balance (of in-between bands’) chorus-heavy tunes. See you all at Rewind South in 2026. Oh, and next year, can we have Madness, Belinda Carlisle, Kim Wilde, and (and the very leftfield choice of) Europe, please?
For more Rewind Festival information, including 2026 pre-sale dates and line-up, head over to,