LUST FOR LIFE (Live)

at The Exchange 1856, North Shields, U.K., March 7, 2024

LUST FOR LIFE (Live at The Exchange 1856, North Shields, U.K., March 7, 2024)
Photo: Mick Burgess

Iggy Pop must be one of the most influential artists of his generation and one of the forefathers of Punk with both The Stooges and as a solo artist. His influence on what came after spread far and wide.

Celebrating the music of Iggy Pop, Lust For Life, features a dazzling array of musicians who have worked with Iggy over the years including powerhouse drummer Clem Burke from Blondie, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols on bass and Kevin Armstrong, who also played with David Bowie at Live Aid on guitar along with Luis Correia, also on guitar who played alongside Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick. With Florence Sabeva from Heaven 17 adding the colouring with her keyboards and backing vocals this was one potent band.

Former presenter of TV’s The Word, Katie Puckrik had the unenviable task of covering Pop’s vocals and on paper, seemed the weakest link. Any such doubts were instantly expelled with an absolute whirlwind of flamboyant energy and a seriously impressive vocal performance which suited the songs perfectly. Puckrik simply, stole the show. One can’t help feeling that Puckrik was wasted as a TV presenter and a calling as a Rock ‘n’ Roll performer would have been a more fruitful path.

What a collection of songs they had to draw from – not only did we get Iggy Pop’s classic Lust For Life album in full, which included his classic title track and “The Passenger” but also a thrilling collection of Iggy classics from his solo career (“Nightclubbing”, “I’m Bored” and “Five Foot One”) and a handful of gems from The Stooges including “Search and Destroy”, “Down On The Street” and a wonderfully sleazy “I Wanna Be Your Dog” suitably caked in grime and grit.

If that wasn’t enough they threw in a couple of David Bowie tunes too including “China Girl”, he co-wrote with Iggy Pop and “Absolute Beginners”, that guitarist Armstrong worked on with Bowie on which handled the lead vocal this evening, not to mention a fiery romp through the Pistols’ classic “Pretty Vacant” with Matlock on lead vocals and a lively take on Blondie’s “Hanging On The Telephone”, originally recorded by The Nerves. This was bombastic stuff aided and abetted by a crystal clear, perfectly balanced, punchy sound all housed in a rather wonderful theatre.

An absolutely stunning evening of Punk fuelled Rock ‘n’ Roll performed by some genuine legends and exceptional musicians made this a strong contender for gig of the year already.

Author

  • Mick Burgess

    Mick is a reviewer and photographer here at Metal Express Radio, based in the North-East of England. He first fell in love with music after hearing Jeff Wayne's spectacular The War of the Worlds in the cold winter of 1978. Then in the summer of '79 he discovered a copy of Kiss Alive II amongst his sister’s record collection, which literally blew him away! He then quickly found Van Halen I and Rainbow's Down To Earth, and he was well on the way to being rescued from Top 40 radio hell!   Over the ensuing years, he's enjoyed the Classic Rock music of Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, and Deep Purple; the AOR of Journey and Foreigner; the Pomp of Styx and Kansas; the Progressive Metal of Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, and Symphony X; the Goth Metal of Nightwish, Within Temptation, and Epica, and a whole host of other great bands that are too numerous to mention. When he's not listening to music, he watches Sunderland lose more football (soccer) matches than they win, and occasionally, if he has to, he goes to work as a property lawyer.

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