Music
Line-up
The Cambridge Club Festival: reading between the line-up
The team behind the UK's pop, disco, funk, soul and R&B festival run through the artists they're most excited about welcoming into their apple orchard in 2022
The Cambridge Club festival returns this summer – bringing music, arts, culture and family-fun to Childerley Orchard between 10-12 June 2022. Boasting one of the most impressive line-ups of the year, the festival is welcoming everyone from Diana Ross, Nile Rogers & Chic, The Jacksons, and TLC to Fat Tony, Crazy P and Dick & Dom.
“Every single day I text one of my mates and go, ‘oh, my god, Cambridge Club is getting closer’” laughs Frazer Robinson, one of the festival founders. “Just to share that excitement with people is the whole reason that we started this though really. The Cambridge Club was always intended to be something that we’d bring all our family to after Strawberries & Creem. We’ve just let it be what it is, and people have enjoyed that, and they’ve gone away and told their friends and it’s just grown naturally. It’s quite rare for a festival to do that I think, and it’s a really wonderful feeling. I just want everyone to be excited. I’m excited!”
We asked Frazer to pick his highlights from the line-up and let us know who he’s looking forward to seeing the most this June.
Diana Ross
“Diana Ross is a once in a lifetime booking really. You know, looking back a couple of years we would never have managed to get someone like Diana Ross on the bill. So this is a real step up for us. I’ve been a fan for my entire life so I’m extra excited to see the original diva in action. And I’m sure backstage everything will be how Miss Ross wants it to be, which is absolutely fine! The track I’m most looking forward to hearing is probably ‘Upside Down’ – it’s just that feel-good groovy piano riff that makes you want to get up doesn’t it? Then there’s ‘I’m Coming Out’ too… That’s definitely gonna get people out of their camping chairs!”
Nile Rogers & Chic
“Nile Rogers is in the same category as Diana Ross for me. When you think about the sheer volume of hits that the man has written, it’s actually phenomenal. Everything he’s done, spanning from the 70s to now, the songs that he’s had a part in are all these iconic and household tracks. So having him there is a dream, to be honest. These tunes were songs that we used to stick on the mainstage soundsystem between other acts. Me and Sam [Mellor, co-founder] had to close the Main Stage one year and we just did this ridiculous DJ set of bangers – while running down to the stand to get a champagne bottle to shake over the crowd – but all of these tunes are the ones that we stuck in that set. To hear them live on stage is definitely going to be a mad moment for all of us. And quite surreal, I think.”
Gabrielle
“Gabrielle was our second ever headliner. We had Gabrielle in 2018 and she absolutely killed it. Obviously, we were a teeny tiny festival at that point, so we only had about 3000 people, but even so, she absolutely rocked that stage with such class. It was just an absolute pleasure to watch. And those 90s hits, you know?! It was it was a proper nostalgia trip. ‘Out Of Reach’ is probably my mum’s anthem.”
Craig Charles
“Sara Cox, Craig Charles and Trevor Nelson almost feel like our family now. They’re sort of like the resident DJs for Cambridge Club, and I feel like they’re going to be with us every year. Craig Charles especially has been at every Cambridge Club since we started in 2017, so he definitely feels like a long-time friend now. He’s been so supportive and really helpful over the years. I remember the times I’ve had to run up to his cabin and be like, ‘I’m really sorry but we need to shorten your set by 10 minutes…’ and he’s always been so understanding and helpful. I’m looking forward to working with him for a very long time.”
Crazy P
“Also on the DJ front we’ve got Crazy P, who is responsible for some of my favourite house tracks of modern times. There’s a song called ‘Heartbreaker’, which just sums up my summer of 2019 – I think I had that on repeat over and over and over again for months. So in the booking process I was absolutely adamant that we had to have Crazy P on there. We’re hoping to get the live show in future years, because we’ve got the DJ set for 2022 and we’d love to get Danielle Moore on stage. She’s just incredible.”
Jodie Harsh
“Jodie Harsh I’m really excited about. I’ve seen Jody a few times in clubs, but never at a festival. So to have booked her for this is just going to be great. We’ve got an incredible Friday night. So it’s Jody, Little Gay Brother and Fat Tony. Plus Denise Van Outen, who’s literally just started DJing. She plays pure disco and house music and we’re going to be one of her first gigs. I’m super excited about it. And she’s so nice as well! She’s been messaging us on Instagram saying how excited she is and for this to be her first festival gig I just know that she’s gonna hold that memory with her for forever. It’s going to be pretty special.”
Emmanuel Sonubi
“Marcus Brigstocke is headlining our comedy stage, and he’s hilarious. But we’ve got Emmanuel Sonubi as well. He was on Live At The Apollo the other week and I watched it and loved it, but I didn’t know who he was. He’s so, so funny – and he’s a bouncer as well as a comedian – but when our comedy booker told me he’d got Emmanuel Sonubi I had to look him up. When I did, I saw it was the bloke from Live At The Apollo who was having me in stitches at Christmas. He’s just fantastic and I can’t wait to see him.”
Dick & Dom
“Being on a Zoom call with Dick & Dom was a pretty surreal moment for me. The call was at Christmas, and they were both backstage at the pantos that they were doing individually. I think Richard had blue eyeshadow on throughout the whole thing, just to add to the weirdness. They’re such nice guys though, and they really are the absolute top level for children’s entertainment.”
Weekend and day tickets are still available for The Cambridge Club Festival here.
