IGGY POP'S DOG DAY AFTERNOON // CRYSTAL PALACE, LONDON
Iggy Pop brings his ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ all-dayer to Crystal Palace Park alongside a rogue’s gallery of punk icons.
★★★★★ (5/5)
IGGY POP HEADLINING HIS ‘DOG DAY AFTERNOON ALL-DAYER FESTIVAL’ AT LONDON’S CRYSTAL PALACE - 01.07.2023
PHOTOCREDIT: CALUM BUCHAN
Iggy Pop brings his ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ all-dayer to Crystal Palace Park alongside a rogue’s gallery of punk icons. Blondie, Generation Sex (the amalgamation of Generation X’s Billy Idol and Tony James and the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and Paul Cook), Stiff Little Fingers and Buzzcocks round off a line-up that sees CBGB’s come to life on south London’s biggest outdoor stage.
Buzzcocks start the day with their high-powered British punk and power-pop anthems. The Bolton heroes dish out hits spanning their near fifty-year career including the indelible ‘Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’ and the excellent ‘Harmony in My Head’. Late frontman Pete Shelley is sorely missed but original guitarist Steve Diggle handles lead vocals enthusiastically.
Following this, Belfast’s Stiff Little Fingers take to the stage to play the blistering anthems and protest songs born of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Staples such as ‘Tin Soldiers’, ‘Barbed Wire Love’, ‘Gotta Gettaway’ and ‘Alternative Ulster’ ring through still powerful today. As a cult band, SLF’s devoted fanbase has turned out in droves and deliver some powerful sing-a-long moments early in the day.
The newly formed supergroup Generation Sex take the energy levels up a few notches when they open their set with the Sex Pistols’ riotous ‘Pretty Vacant’. What ensues is a varied set of Sex Pistols and Generation X hits such as ‘God Save The Queen’, (the often controversial) Bodies, King Rocker and Billy Idol’s smash hit ‘Dancing with Myself’. Idol is more than competent stand-in for John Lydon on the Pistols tracks and Generation Sex is a treat for any fan of classic British punk. With a studio album on the way, Dog Day Afternoon serves as an introduction to what the group are warming up to do.
Post-punk heroes Blondie play main support with an hour plus long set of radio hits. Whilst the day marks Debbie Harry’s 78th Birthday (with the crowd breaking into renditions of ‘Happy Birthday’ between songs), the 80’s heartthrob is as animated as ever on the Crystal Palace stage. Opening with ‘One Way or Another’ the band continues to play a crowd-pleasing set featuring mega hits ‘Call Me’, ‘Atomic’ ‘Sunday Girl’ and ‘Heart of Glass’ amongst many others (including a cover of The Paragon’s ska classic ‘The Tide Is High’). The band is tight and Debbie Harry works the crowd in only way a seasoned performer can.
Headliner Iggy Pop takes to the stage just after 8:30pm for his first show in the UK in nearly four years, displaying his iconic on-stage antics, shirtless and bounding about the stage. The iconic rock provocateur is living proof that punk is not just a phase. The set is varied with classic cuts from Iggy’s time in The Stooges including ‘Raw Power’, ‘Gimme Danger’, ‘Search and Destroy’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’. Classic solo hits such as ‘Lust for Life’ and ‘The Passenger’ also come alongside the newer and more eclectic sounds of his recent output such as ‘The Endless Sea’ and ‘Five Foot One’. All in all, Iggy shows little signs of slowing down and will have undoubtedly be back to the London stage soon.
