Evolution Festival
Quayside, Newcastle/Gateshead
28 – 29/05/2011

On the banks of the River Tyne, the last days of May are annually synonymous with a festival of music that in recent years has gone from strength to strength. Iggy And The Stooges are the main attraction this weekend and confirm for the first time that Evolution Festival is now capable of attracting bona fide rock ‘n’ roll royalty.

While Sunday suits the more contemporary audience with the likes of Tinie Tempah, Example and headliner Plan B all flaunting their chart successes, Saturday provides more of a sense of occasion. The line-up features several red letter acts – including up-and-comer Katy B, as well as old-time anarchist, Billy Bragg. As Crystal Castles showed in 2008 playing early at Evo may not be to your detriment, and continuing this trend we have Brother. Equally doused in Mod Brit Pop and nineties swagger, Leonard Newell and the boys appear to have all the credentials to follow in the Castles’ boot steps and make it ‘big’.

The return of The Kills gives the crowd reason to turn their Iggy anticipation into action, and from the first beats of the trademark drum machine on ‘Future Starts Slow’ the hysteria begins. Crowd surfing continues well into Two Door Cinema Club, with the imminent arrival of a rock icon dominating the atmosphere. Iggy’s insatiable passion for being a performer is evident from the off; the band opens with the heavy ‘Raw Power’ as the scantily clad lead singer commands the crowd to “dance to the beat of the living dead”. Classics such as ‘Search And Destroy’ and the rabid ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ still capture the imagination and this stunning performance from an iconic act is a landmark Evolution moment that will be remembered for years to come.

Daniel O’Neill