Gok Wan thrills as he ‘pops festival cherry’ at pub bash-Josh Layton-Entertainment – Metro

Gok Wan delivered a belting house set as he headlined the opening night of Pub in the Park in Warwick (Picture: Josh Layton)

He kept his army of online disciples partying through the lockdowns, so Gok Wan was never going to let the real thing go off without a bang.

The DJ took it back to the 90s with a classic house set aimed at a crowd that had shown a healthy appetite for artisan spirits, firepit cookouts and wood-fired pizza as Pub in the Park hit Warwick.

The headliner for Tom Kerridge’s touring festival was a cajoling, smiling, playful, teasing presence behind the decks, riding every beat as he delivered banger upon banger. Nothing was going to stop the Gok party on Friday night as the TV personality, who is also a professional and quite tidy mixmaster, laid on the natural charm.

He styled out a sound system malfunction at the start of his set, responding to a blizzard of static by saying: ‘In all my years of DJing that’s never happened, but I quite like it, I like awkwardness.’

Siding with a largely older generation, and some young ones, drifting over from the chic food stands, the veteran raver joked: ‘I’m older than Warwick, I’m older than water.’

Nonetheless, he came dressed in black club garb prepared to show the kids how it’s done, telling the audience: ‘It’s my first festival of the season… you are taking my festival cherry 2022.’

Gok Wan was a big crowd-pleaser as he headlined Pub in the Park in Warwick (Picture: Josh Layton)

Gliding off with an acapella version of Minnie Riperton’s Lovin’ You, he soon had a thudding backbeat underway as he blended vocal floor-fillers with boschin’ break downs.

Confirming recent speculation, he said, ‘by the way I’m single’ as he launched into a ‘naughty remix’ that somehow artfully combined Cece Peniston’s Finally with Sandy B’s Make The World Go Round.

Proving it wasn’t just an old school reunion in a Warwickshire park, the headliner brought out two small children to dance on stage, joking ‘I’ve just grown ovaries’ as he resumed DJ duties.

Gok Wan released his inner raver on the opening night of Pub in the Park in Warwick (Picture: Josh Layton)

Gok, 47, became a kind of saviour during the lockdowns, broadcasting his soulful house mixes over Facebook, and his set felt like a release of pent-up energy. The live-feeds, part of his Isolation Nation brand, were oddly reassuring at a time when dancing was all but forbidden.

‘Do you remember two years ago we weren’t allowed to dance?’ he asked.

‘Now look at us. It’s time to make up for lost time.’

With belts of smoke and flame shots thrown into the atmospherics, the main stage audience of around 600 did just that.

It was probably the most exciting event to happen in that corner of Warwick since a shot from the giant trebuchet at the castle set fire to a moat house.

The party animal himself looked utterly energised, as if the pandemic malaise had only super-charged his batteries. He was as much party person as club nostalgia guide as he sipped an alcoholic mixer of some description and danced in front of the decks, at one point jumping down to the front of the barriers where he was mobbed by fans.

Gok Wan gets up close to fans as he jumps down from the stage to join the party (Picture: Josh Layton)

‘Are you all absolutely leathered?’ were pretty much his first words as he drifted onto the stage in St Nicholas Park.

While Gok might be better known to some as a clothes show host, his professional DJ resume goes back seven years and he is a veteran of warehouse raves in nearby Coventry.

It showed as the night’s closing act flicked switches to get the best from the sound system and raised pointy fingers to the darkening sky.

As for all the flowery vocals, piano keys and instantly-recognisable refrains, the remixes were well chosen and underpinned by a solid baseline that would shame many White Isle techno DJs.

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Forty-five minutes flew by and by the time he dropped the Tori Amos remix which all but engraved the words ‘Gotta Be Big’ into many older ravers’ minds, it was almost time for the Gok show to move on.

Whether it’s shuttered down with a vodka in his kitchen or in the bracing air by a sleepy river, one thing is indisputable – Gok Wan knows how to party.

For more about Pub in the Park and tickets click here

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