Manchester O2 Ritz – 03/03/24
‘How brill was Katie Puckrik?’ – that was the overriding consensus as I was leaving the O2 Ritz in Manchester on Sunday night. I discovered the Lust for Life band last year, I first got wind of the project watching The Eagles in Hyde Park a year before, then my first LFL show was at the Cavern in Liverpool last March and I absolutely loved it. Most of the crowd here were experiencing this spectacular show for the first time, I was a veteran, having seen the show twice on the 2023 run. My main concern of ‘can the band recapture the brilliance of last year’ was very quickly answered; Sunday nights show well and truly trumped 2023!
After a cracking support slot from Fifteen Lions followed by a talk from Suzi Ronson about her life on the road with Bowie the main event began.
The band entered the stage, the same line up as last year; Clem Burke on drums, Glen Matlock and bass, Kevin Armstrong and Luis Correia on twin guitar duties, Florence Sabeva on keys and the aforementioned Katie Puckrik on lead vocals. What a treat it is to see this show on a much bigger stage and the venue was packed.
The performance level was up by 200%, the energy on that stage was incredible. The band celebrate the legacy of Iggy Pop and play Iggy’s LFL album in full, which is a treat in itself. The cherry on top of that wonderful cake is the second half of the show where the band play yet more Iggy stuff, but also dip into some of the members careers.
A fantastic rendition of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ comes three songs into the second half. Luis and Kevin really going hard on those guitars, is this the most ‘metal’ of Iggy Pop’s songs? Glen’s bass gallops along, making a ‘glorious noise’ during Five Foot One and Katie spits out the words to ‘I’m Bored’, whilst Clem Thunders behind her!
One of my favourite songs of the night doesn’t however come from Katie this time around. Katie pops off stage to change, and we are left in the capable hands of Kevin Armstrong, who tells the tale of meeting David Bowie for the first time and being introduced to the next song; what follows is a glorious rendition of ‘Absolute Beginners’.
This band really is made up of the crème da La crème of musicians. I loved ‘Bored’ too; which saw Katie spitting the lyrics out and Nightclubbing was a great too, providing a super intro to the second set. Blondie’s ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ was a great too and a treat to see Blondie drummer Clem up close and personal, playing such a massive song from the band’s career. Glen Matlock singing Pretty Vacant was a definite highlight too, one of the many!
So, coming into this show, my concerns were that it might not translate so well on a bigger stage, that the thing that made it so special last time, the intimacy, would be lost. But I needn’t have worried, it was an amazing night. In fact, the bigger stage just lifted the whole show to yet another level.
I saw Iggy Pop last summer and being completely honest, I enjoyed this show more. Don’t miss it, there’s a few dates left on the 2024 tour and you have to see it. I saw it twice last year and I’m back seeing it at the end of the week. It’s absolutely cracking!
