Rita Ora draws in 9k strong crowd for Party in the Paddock

Although chilly temperatures descended upon the town, dropping from 21 degrees Celsius in mid-afternoon to nine degrees in the evening, Rita Ora’s fans - whom the singer has dubbed ‘Ritabots’ - were not deterred and she was greeted with screams and cheers as she performed her number one hits R.I.P, How We Do (Party), Hot Right Now and her latest single, Radioactive.
The 22-year-old Londoner also covered No Doubt’s 2001 single Hella good and N.E.R.D’s She Wants To Move to applauds from the crowd.
Supporting act Charlie Brown also received a warm welcome from the excitable fans as he took to the stage to perform his debut single On My Way and other tracks from his first album.
Following her performance, Rita Ora tweeted: “Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhh thank you for having me Newbury, I had a blast!”
The performances followed an evening of flat-racing which kicked-off at 6pm.
The managing director for racing and events at The Racecourse Newbury, Stephen Higgins, said: “It was an exciting weekend and we couldn’t have asked for better weather to watch an evening of racing followed by a brilliant set from Rita Ora.
“There was a fantastic atmosphere with a really great crowd.”
However, the high spirits were not shared with all residents of the town, and the racecourse received 10 complaints about noise.
Others took to Twitter to air their views and reports on the night suggested the concert could be heard from as far as Wash Common.
A spokeswoman on behalf of the racecourse, Dani Shingler, said: “They (the racecourse) strictly adhered to the noise levels set out within the noise mgt plan as agreed with West Berkshire Council and local residents were notified in advance.”
At the time of the Newbury Weekly News going to press, West Berkshire Council had not confirmed if its environmental health department had received any further complaints following the concert.
Meat Loaf will be the next act to take to the racecourse stage for ladies day on August 17.