Kool & the Gang / UB40 Milton Keynes Bowl — Electric Paradise Festival - 8 August 2026

Kool & the Gang / UB40

Milton Keynes Bowl — Electric Paradise Festival

8 August 2026

Review by Robert Corich

I was happily ensconced in my folding chair, drink in hand and relaxing in the afternoon sun when Kool & the Gang hit the stage and promptly got the Milton Keynes Bowl dancing.

And I mean dancing — the place was soon bouncing, with pretty much everyone on their feet. Everyone, that is, except me. I was quite happy where I was, with the added incentive of not wanting to spill my drink.

This was simply a great fun show from a band who were superb from start to finish. Tight, polished and bursting with energy, Kool & the Gang demonstrated exactly how a festival set should be done, delivering the hits with infectious enthusiasm and getting the crowd thoroughly onside.

“Celebration” was a particular highlight, inevitably bringing the whole place together. It also got me thinking about the rather different “Celebration” recorded by Ashton & Lord — a version I’ve always loved — as well as Osibisa’s entirely unrelated take, which has become something of a mainstay of their live set in recent years. Three different songs, three very different celebrations, all somehow sharing the same irresistible title.

And so I celebrated in my own fashion — drink safely in hand, surrounded by dancing girls nearby. Someone had to remain responsible for the refreshments.

UB40 were next up and, to be fair, were perfectly competent and did absolutely nothing wrong. The problem was that there simply wasn’t a spark. After the sheer exuberance of Kool & the Gang, they felt rather flat — competent, professional, but ultimately lacking that elusive something that turns a good performance into a memorable one.

In fact, after Kool & the Gang, there wasn’t really anything much to celebrate as they were clearly a very hard act to follow.

As for UB40 I’m certainly not referring to the Ali Campbell version, whom I’d seen only a few months earlier in Florida, where they really did entertain the locals. Given the choice again it’s pretty clear Ali Campbell’s UB40 is the one to part money for.

Kool & the Gang, on the other hand, brought the funk, the soul and the sheer good-time factor — and did it rather brilliantly.

Kool aid? Kool as!