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With the usual week long programme of events shrunk this year to an intensive weekend schedule featuring the likes of local heroes (and future very big deal indee) The Small Screen Light Show, Devonshire troubadour Seth Lakeman, and the Fatboy Slim endorsed Southern Fried Mobile Disco, it would have been a shame for the cumulative event of the Evolution weekend to fall flat, and thankfully new organisers Epic Leisure didn't disappoint, and created a lineup which, albeit largely unexciting on paper, gave Tyneside a festival to be proud of yet again.



As the morning wore on, the excitement in the city centre was tangible. The bars were packed with those who looked old enough to drink, whilst the coffee shops, malls and the Monument were thronged by those who didn't. The sun was shining and the town was clearly coming out to play. Around lunchtime the mass exodus began, and all of a sudden the Quayside was awash with the young and criminally beautiful, replaced in the city centre by... well... their parents.

Opening the main Spillers Wharf stage to a largely disinterested crowd, Sunderland indie outfit This Ain't Vegas played a lacklustre set which failed to reward those fans who had made the effort get down early enough to get through the not inconsiderable queues quickly enough to see them. Bereft of their usual excitement, the sense of a band going through the motions was clearly apparent. 'Carry You On My Shoulders' stood out, but This Ain't Vegas clearly aren't a band who are used to being awake at this time, never mind playing a gig in a car park in Newcastle.



Thankfully, The Whip were along soon enough to ensure that the day didn't get off to too dull a start. Their atmospheric, synth driven electro may have been more in keeping with the events on the Baltic Square stage, but for some reason the powers that be deigned to put them on the main stage, and to say it paid off would be an understatement of epic proportions. 'Blackout' and 'Fire' started to get the swelling crowd moving, but it was the stunningly delivered 'Trash' which really got this party started. Every year Evolution delivers one band that surprises everyone, and this year The Whip were that band.

While Glasvegas and Lightspeed Champion delivered undoubtedly NME pleasing sets at Spillers Wharf, the real action was taking place over on the Gateshead side of the river at Baltic Square, which adopted its usual electro-pretensions and as usual brought the house down. Danish outfit WhoMadeWho got the dayglo kids dancing, before Brooklyn based Hercules and Love Affair created the first real buzz on the smaller stage, and set the scene for an incredible set from Does It Offend You Yeah?.

Creating a beat that refused to allow you to not dance, DIOYY? fused punk, trance, house and pop which delighted the punters, worried security and bent the t-barrier. The irresistible force created by the apparent saviours of the UK dance scene carried on the work of their American predecessors and in the shadow of Gateshead's Baltic Gallery gave what was, in this reviewers opinion, the set of the day. Simply mesmerising to watch, the energy imparted by the Reading quartet put almost everyone else on the bill to shame, and left the sun-drenched crowd exhausted.



It was a quick dash over to Spillers Wharf next, to catch Reverend and the Makers, a band who, a couple of years ago, appeared destined to be the best band in the world. They had the necessary fire, anger and tunes to go all the way. Sadly, it appears that their moderate success has taken the edge off their live show, and after seeing their definitive set on the Other Stage at Glastonbury 2007, today felt like a caricature of this 'could have been great' band. By the time 'Heavyweight Champion of the World' was rolled out, the irony was there for all to see. Jon McClure and company could have been contenders, but without the bite they once had, the outlook doesn't look too good. The crowds became understandably restless during the fifty minute set, and by the time the final chords faded of 'He Said He Loved Me' faded out, apathy had well and truly set in.

As the sun began to set over Tyneside, Kate Nash took to the stage to perform her second big gig of the weekend, following a well received support slot for the Kaiser Chiefs at Elland Road on Saturday. Showcasing her superb debut album 'Made of Bricks', Nash played a crowd-pleasing set to an amenable crowd. Splitting her time between piano and guitar, the diminutive songstress treated us to compelling takes of 'Pumpkin Soup', 'Shit Song' and 'Merry Happy', but it was the mesmerising 'Birds' which really got the crowd on-side. Nash was her usual charming self, chatting with the front row and joking with her band between songs. The music may not break any new ground, but something about Kate Nash deserves more recognition than she gets, and today she almost certainly picked up a few new fans.



And so, after a long day, we came finally to The Streets, the act which had caused many to make a double take when the line-up was announced. The thinning crowd prior to their set did nothing the quell the fears that this may turn into a car crash, but those of us who stuck around to see Mike Skinner and company were amply rewarded. What may be lacking in musical invention and ingenuity is made up for by the sheer effervescence of The Streets' live show. Bounding around the stage like a man possessed, Skinner covered more yards than most Premier League footballers tonight, mounting speaker stacks and jumping into the photo pit as the mood took him.

Skinner rolled out everything you would expect from The Streets, and the result was a greatest hits set that most in the crowd knew but wouldn't have been able to name. 'Don't Mug Yourself', 'Never Went To Church' and the Specials-esque 'Lets Push Things Forward' stood out for very different reasons, but the real highlight was the sensation of being pleasantly surprised by an act from which many people expected nothing, and isn't that how all the best acts gather a fanbase?

And so the sun set on the 2008 edition of the Evolution festival. One or two duff acts didn't manage to spoil the jewel in NewcastleGateshead's Culture10 crown, and the capacity crowd of 26,000 went home to their beds happy. After three years of class leading urban festivals, Evolution now has a standard to keep up, and one must wonder where they will go next. The future, however, looks very bright indeed.

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