Orange Evolution 2005 Begins!

Orange Evolution 2005 is a demonstration of a musical progression spanning most tastes from bluegrass to rock, indie, trance, hip hop and folk. It entails 10 days of gigs around the city and culminates with a free open air festival, Freevolution on May 30.

Festivalwise spoke to the director of Orange Evolution, Jim Mawdsley about the launch of 2005's festival He said that “everything’s gone to plan and the next ten days will attract a massive age group and many musical tastes”.

Mawdsley continued to talk about the planning of such a diverse event. He said that “the promoters have been all around the country, connecting artists and bringing the whole thing together’. Evolution, sponsored by Orange since 2003, does “exactly what it says on the tin” and charters the evolution of music over the last century.

The artists that will be performing throughout the festival of the gigs planned over the next few days are selling fast, with acid/country boys Alabama 3 selling out on the second night of the event. Mr Scruff and The Teenage Fanclub are said to be catching them up quickly in ticket sales.

Jason Pierce has been brought in to help organise some of the sets as well as play material from the new album by Spiritualized. Newcastle University’s union is home to some of the acts, with the Jumpin’ Hot Club being held at Live Theatre.

Freevolution is a perfect way to spend a Bank holiday. Set on the Tyne, it has a total capacity of 25 000 people, with 20 000 of it based around Spiller’s Wharf. Acts range from the classic Candi Staton  to The Futureheads who get to play near their own neck of the woods. Not that we’d ever confuse a Geordie with a Mackem…

Check out the full line up for Freevolution on the Festivalwise home page.