My 2019 summer festival season started on the 8 th of June. And like last year, it once again started with a Release Festival date. The Release Festival date that I had already chosen for this year would come 8 days after this one (New Order and Johnny Marr), but this one, fell into the same category as my last year's Ejekt Festival attendance. Like Nick Cave last year, Iggy Pop is an artist who often comes to Greece whom I had not had the chance to see yet. And as an added bonus, I would also get to see James again, one of my favourite live bands (or so I thought at the time).
As I arrived, Shame were already playing and were reaching the end of their set. I was pleasantly
surprised by them.
When they were through, I decided to explore the festival grounds as I do every year. My favourite part was the double decker bus used to advertise the forthcoming - at that time – movie, “Yesterday”.
While I was at the open top deck I heard the first notes of “Come Home”. James were on stage.
A promising start that didn't live up to my expectations. I don't know if it had to do with the song choices or something else, but the band didn't seem to be quite “there” even when they played the songs we had been waiting for like “Laid” and they certainly did not remind me of that spectacular show they had delivered 12 years ago at the Fly Beeyond Festival. It may be my personal opinion, but I did not enjoy it. James have a lot of fans in Greece and many of them were there that day, so perhaps by looking at other reviews you can determine if they were good or bad that night.
As for Iggy Pop, well I thought that I had perhaps waited for too long, that he would be by now too old and that he would not have that much energy. I couldn't have been more wrong. He went on stage starting immediately with his best songs, got half naked as usual and blew us all away! The highlight? A cover version of the first David Bowie single I had ever bought, “The Jean Genie”.
Having finally fulfilled one of my long-time ambitions to see Iggy live, I headed home knowing I had to wait 8 more days for my next Release Festival date: New Order and Johnny Marr.
SETLISTS:
SHAME
01. Another
02. Concrete
03. The Lick
04. One Rizla
05. Cowboy Supreme
06. Tasteless
07. Human, For A Minute
08. Exhaler
09. Lampoon
10. Friction
11. Dust On Trial
12. Angie
13. Gold Hole
JAMES
01. Come Home
02. Ring The Bells
03. Nothing But Love
04. What's It All About
05. Leviathan
06. Five-O
07. Interrogation
08. Sound
09. Johnny Yen
10. Picture Of This Place
11. Heads
12. Laid
13. Attention
14. Many Faces
15. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
16. Sometimes
Encore:
17. Sit Down
IGGY POP
01. I Wanna Be Your Dog
02. Gimme Danger
03. The Passenger
04. Lust For Life
05. Skull Ring
06. I'm Sick Of You
07. Some Weird Sin
08. Repo Man
09. Search And Destroy
10. T.V. Eye
11. Mass Production
12. The Jean Genie
13. 1969
14. No Fun
15. Down On The Street
16. Real Cool Time
17. Nightclubbing
18. Sixteen
19. Five Foot One
20. Real Wild Child (Wild One)
21. Red Right Hand
