The Futureheads / Field Music (The Sage, Gateshead - 18/5/06)

Well this was a bit different. Gateshead's sparkling new Sage building played host to the launch event of Evolution 2006, NewcastleGateshead's annual citywide music festival, and no one knew quite what to expect. But after being kept waiting for over an hour, the band finally took to the stage, and proved that good things do indeed come to those that wait.

The biggest surprise was the Field Music were not the support band, as everyone had been expecting. They joined The Futureheads onstage after two numbers, and brought some fantastic extra depth, adding dreamy layers of percussion and piano to the stripped down takes on the normally jagged Futureheads repertoire.

Old favourites 'A To B', 'Decent Days and Nights', 'Meantime' and 'Carnival Kids' all suited the acoustic format very well, with the latter standing out as a particular highlight, which was surprising as it is one of the heavier cuts on the first album. As well as the tracks from the debut release, we were treated to a few numbers from the forthcoming 'News and Tributes' album, including 'Thursday', 'Skip To The End', and 'Cope', which was one of the stand out tracks of the show, and is clearly destined to be a single. The new songs show a much greater level of maturity in the songwriting, whilst still maintaining that unmistakeable Futureheads edge.

What this gig seemed to show more than anything was that The Futureheads are more versatile than many people would have given them credit for. The challenge of an acoustic gig proves to be too great for many bands, yet tonight it was pulled off with apparent ease. The interplay between the band was good to see, and they are clearly enjoying what they are doing.

As usual, they ended on the fantastic 'Hounds of Love', and Evolution's opening band for 2006 left the stage to rapturous acclaim. If the rest of the festival is this good, then it should be a very good week for live music in the city.

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