Review: Back to the 80s

Ten thousand people defied the summer downpour and danced Saturday evening away as Shrewsbury's Quarry went Back to the Eighties.

Some of the biggest stars of the decade played their biggest hits for the sell-out crowd. Here's our initial review, but why not give your own opinions in the comment box below – and tell us which 80s singers you'd have put on the bill.

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Carol Decker, who was second on the bill last year, returned to her former home town to open the show. It cannot be easy to get things moving on such a miserable night, but she did her best, opening with hit Sex Talk and ploughing through T'Pau's best-known songs. She still has a fantastic rock voice. There was a fair bit of chatting to the audience, and she even managed to get a sea of brollies moving up and down in time to the music, which made a pleasant change from getting people to wave. Carol - who knows how to work a crowd - pretended she wasn't going to play her best-known hit ("I'm bored with that one") but then sang it anyway, and by the time the last notes of China in your Hand faded away the crowd was getting nicely warmed up.

Star rating: 8 out of 10.

Go West were next on the bill and really got things moving. They opened with Don't Look Down, and hits such as Call Me, We Close Our Eyes and King of Wishful Thinking had the audience dancing in the rain. They threw in a slowed down version of Smokey Robinson's Tracks of My Tears, which worked well with Peter Cox's soulful voice, and surprised everyone with a rocking cover of U2's Vertigo. Come back next year, lads.

Star rating: 9 out of 10.

Although they were on the Bill, Johnny Hates Jazz didn't appear and there was no explanation for their absence.

Former Smash Hits pin-up Belinda Carlisle's bouncy singalong pop was perfect for the Quarry, and she soon had people joining in who probably weren't even born when she was at her peak. Hits including (We Want) The Same Thing, Live Your Life Be Free and, of course, Heaven is a Place on Earth, were greeted like old friends.

Star Rating: 9 out of 10.

Bananarama were on the bill last year and returned to an ecstatic welcome - there was even a large inflatable banana being waved around by a member of the audience. This was a pleasantly ramshackle performance by a pair who, despite having been together for nearly thirty years, still come across as two schoolteachers at a karaoke night. They don't even dance in time with each other. But the crowd knew every word of songs including Venus and Robert De Niro's Waiting, and the duo seemed genuinely pleased with the reaction.

Star rating: 9 out of 10.

The Human League topped the bill and seemed slightly surprised by both the size of the crowd and the warmth of the reception; lead singer Phil Oakey (clearly no stranger to The Matrix films judging by his stage outfit) repeatedly thanked the audience in between hits such as Tell Me When, Don't You Want Me and Mirror Man. They ended their 45-minute set with an encore of Together in Electric Dreams, which sent people singing into the rainy night.

Star rating: 9 out of 10

By Andrew Owen