Apology for poor singer

ORGANISERS of the Rewind South festival in Henley have apologised after a below-par performance by headliner Andy Bell sparked complaints.

The Erasure singer, 59, sang the synth pop duo’s hits but slurred his words and sang out of tune during his Saturday night slot.

Film footage of his
13-song set shows Bell rambling between songs and being booed by the crowd, who chanted “off”.

Many had left by the end of the second number and disgruntled audience members made official complaints and posted negative comments on social media.

Rewind did not respond to requests for comment on Bell’s performance when contacted by the Henley Standard after the festival but later issued a response on its Facebook page. In an official statement, it said: “Rewind Festival presents in the region of 45 artists across each weekend on all stages and relies on a professional standard from artists and musicians to deliver a high-quality performance.

“We realise that the performance from Andy Bell fell short of that. The festival was not made aware of any situation that would lead to this below-par performance in advance.

“The artists and their management are responsible for delivery of their set and at no point were we notified that there was going to be any problem, so were not in a position to assess this before it was too late.

“Once the show was underway, we felt that it was better to allow it to continue in the hope that this would be an improving situation. This clearly wasn’t the case.

“While we are genuinely sorry that this occurred, it was something beyond our control. Had it been flagged, we would have dealt with it accordingly and, while we realise that this was a disappointing way to close a Saturday night, we are sure it didn’t spoil the entire day/weekend of what was an otherwise great Rewind.”

As reported in last week’s Henley Standard, festival goers described a “horrid atmosphere” in the early stages of Bell’s performance.

Liz Felix, from Reading, said: “We started packing up at song two when the booing started. It was very disappointing.”

Richard Mitchell, from Cumnor, said: “His singing was shambolic and he was off-key and struggling to hit notes. “In between songs, he struggled with his words, rambling almost incoherently. It was a desperately sad spectacle.”