FIFTEEN masked luchadores crash-landed at the Gateshead Sage as part of the VAMOS! Festival for a death-defying cartoonstyle battle of good and evil, pictured below.

The line-up featured some of the biggest stars of Lucha Libre, including the leader of evil (rudos) Blue Demon and the Queen of the ring, Cassandro, the famous cross-dressing exotico, whose most famous wrestling move is the liplock.

With their neon spandex, mysterious masks and outrageous costumes, Mexico’s Lucha Libre heroes mix athleticism with theatrical spectacle and their larger-thanlife battles are all performed in the tightest technicolour lycra.

These brawling Mexican’s are fit, ferocious and fearsome, their bodies oiled with the greasepaint of combat, each schooled in the technical moves of super-human fight power.

With a specially constructed wrestling ring, tons of dry ice and a commentator dressed in shimmering silver, who whipped the audience into an exhilarating frenzy, the luchadores somersaulted from the posts, slamming their victims to the floor with astonishing ease.

What started as a one-to-one wrestling bout, turned into a freefor- all, with all 15 crammed into the ring in a blur of riotous fun.

It’s show business, that’s for sure and the type of crowdpleaser that Gateshead Sage has never seen before.

Finally, I must also give a congratulatory mention to the amazing live music by Tijuana’s electronic pioneers Bostich and Fussible (Nortec Collective), a mesmorizing mix of electronica and traditional Mexican music.

I’d like to see a whole concert of this stuff. I loved it.

Helen Brown