Kool & the Gang headline Soultown’s tenth-anniversary concert at The O2, with Sister Sledge, Shalamar, Boney M and six more soul and disco acts.
Kool & the Gang headline Soultown in Concert at The O2 arena in North Greenwich on Saturday 10 April 2027, marking ten years of the Soultown festival. Nine more soul and disco acts share the bill.
Kool & the Gang formed in Jersey City in 1969, led by the bassist Robert “Kool” Bell and his brother Ronald. Their early records, “Jungle Boogie” among them, were funk built for dancing.
The singer James “J.T.” Taylor joined in 1979 and brought “Ladies’ Night”, “Celebration” and “Get Down On It”. The band entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.
Soultown is a one-day soul festival at Croydon Road Recreation Ground in Beckenham, and its 2027 edition returns there on Saturday 4 September. The O2 night is a one-off concert for its tenth anniversary.
Earth Wind and Fire by Al McKay, Sister Sledge with Kathy Sledge, Shalamar, Kenny Thomas, The Real Thing, Boney M, Odyssey, Heatwave and The Drifters complete the line-up. Between them they span four decades of soul, from The Drifters in the 1950s to Kenny Thomas in the 1990s.