Northeast Music Guide

    Panto Just Keeps Getting Bigger!   The Theatre Royal is renowned for its lavish pantomimes and this year is no exception. Extravagant costumes and amazing special effects combine to give a wow factor but it is the sheer hard work of the cast and crew that ensured everyone, old and young, was entertained. Returning for their ninth season, Danny Adams (playing Jack Trott) and Clive Webb (playing Farmer Trott) are joined by Chris Hayward who asserts control as the Dame. A combination of slapstick and panto friendly jokes weave through the story. They made each performance feel unique and special. Tonight they were nearly upstaged by a 5 year old called Daisy who assisted them with a musical routine. The acid test is whether or not the younger members of the audience enjoyed it. Our 10 year old loved it and said it was the best pantomime he had ever been to. The children helped with the attack on the giant and with the many interactive parts ...

What I Found at the Vegan Festival The Vegan Festival at The Stadium of Light, last weeked, was in aid of the Farplace Animal Rescue Sanctuary in Weardale. The sanctuary rescues abused and abandoned animals. Cats with FIV can live out their lives there when they would otherwise be destroyed. The festival was a succes and featured many stalls with great products and delicious food to taste and buy. Make sure you don't miss it next year! I was particularly impress by a new vegan shoe company:  Ethical and vegan shoe company Wills Vegan Shoes is experiencing runaway success as its first-ever Winter collection proves a smash hit with fashion-conscious and eco-friendly consumers across the country. Founder William Green said, “The response to my first ever range has been above and beyond my  expectations. It appears people really want ethical, fashionable shoes at affordable prices. My team has  been working around the clock to fill orders flooding in and some of the...

Engineering: The future for many Northeast children, and a fascinating, well-paid one! Jo Oliver of Jowheretogo has been checking out prospects for engineering-minded pupils of South Durham Schools: Monday 11th November was the launch of an exciting project involving 4 schools: Staindrop, Parkside Academy in Willington, St John’s in Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor School.  Around a hundred children and local engineering and manufacturing employers gathered at the new CORE facility at SW Durham Training in Newton Aycliffe to hear about the  project.  The challenge is funded by four Area Action Partnerships (AAPs) from Teesdale, Spennymoor, Bishop Auckland and Shildon Area and the 3 Towns (Crook, Willington and Tow Law) area. A priority in the Durham area is getting our young people into training for real careers they can be proud of. At the launch John Bignall of the Bignall Group in Shildon debunked  the two great myths about British manufacturing. The ...

Horse, In a Library! Perfect. My other half and I stumbled into the rather dramatic surroundings of the library at the Mining Institute, three songs into Horse’s set. The parking in Newcastle city centre is extra scarce right now due to the alterations at Central Station, taxis are parked everywhere. Enough of our logistical problems what about this gig? First of all, I’m a little annoyed. Horse has been making amazing music since 1989. It took me until this week to hear any of it. I got in touch with Horse to get a couple of tunes for the Jowheretogo Show on NE1fm, to give a gig a little plug, as I do. I heard the songs and knew that this was something special. I feel I’ve missed out on some amazing tunes. Jools Holland is a fan and Q Magazine have been raving about Horse. This may be the year of finding Horse where you don’t expect. The music of Horse is soulful pop. A blues – soaked picture of a woman’s life, struggles, relationships, hopes, dreams and loves. In ...

Peculiar Disco Moves Launch their single Joining Fee at the historic Mining Institute The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers has a respectable (if a tad long) name and provides alternatives to the usual live music venues, which is welcome in the current climate. The smallish venue Peculiar Disco Moves chose for their single launch is a meeting room that resembles an oversized old fashioned living room. The bar acts as an ante-room and provides refreshments at very reasonable prices, also a welcome change. The room was very cosy and the upholstery provided perfect acoustic conditions for the artists. You can tell I'm impressed with this venue, can't you? The first of the evening's acts was The Shoeshop Quartet. A group of ladies specialising in the art of creating barbershop harmonised versions of popular songs. Their acapella skills impressed the small crowd and they covered material from the '40s right up to a bit of Lady Gaga. I though...

RoutineZero   releases debut EP New Electronica artist debuts 4 track EP & music videos   Release details - “The Clock Hands Fall” Release date 9th Dec Free on Google/Spotify Also in ITunes   RoutineZero  writes and performs electronica based music – but it’s more than that:-             Weaned on early-on electronic music, progressing through disco, hi-energy, new-wave, synth-pop, & rave – and now more into trance & dub-step: Mark’s influences all contribute in the make-up of his own BIG sound.             RoutineZero combines hard-hitting beats – 4 on the floor but with influences from drum & bass, dub-step and trap. Deep bass and engaging melodies bolster the soundstage, and his vocals, that never shy away from real life situations poetically narrate his messages with undertones of gothic mela...

Radikal Words at Northern Stage   Maxwell Golden A spoken word night was a new experience to us as a family. We believe in exposing our son to inspiring individuals even if there is the occasional adult word. After all, the playground banter he hears is much worse…and not at all rhythmic or poetic. Hosted by Jeff Price, Radikal Words curator, the night was a largely performance poetry night with musical interludes from folkstress Ditte Elly. Ditte has the most wonderful warm vocal style and accompanies herself on guitar. Her songs mull over relationships and feelings in a way that is touching, not cloying. Local poet Ann Porro read her Mum of Four and a Letter from an Unknown Dog , poems ranging from gently humourous to a bit indignant. Her book was duly acquired. Miles Salter, poetic, writer, musician, performed a selection of pieces from his Animals book which is kid-friendly and funny. Sometimes seeing things from an animal’s viewpoint, wh...

James Toseland may be viewed as having a slightly charmed life. Blessed with good looks, perfect teeth and a pretty successful career in motorbike racing (until he got injured), he then goes and convinces Toby Jepson (a rock star in his own right in the Little Angels and now a producer and writer) that he can be a rock singer. It turns out he can. He is also a dab hand at tinkling the ivories. As if that isn't enough he goes and marries Katie Melua.  Anyway..about this show.. Opening for Toseland and for Chrome Molly were Great Man Theory. Now, I had heard a couple of their early tracks when playing them on my Jowheretogo Show on NE1fm (Thursdays 10-12). I thought they sounded pretty good. But when I heard the songs live from a band who have honed their craft for a few more months and written new material, I felt like I hadn't heard them before. There were wafts of Soundgarden, blues tinged rock that was still loud and proud and very new. I hope this band get the right pu...

Nobulus Fill the Stage With All Kinds of Life This was dance as I had never seen before, from the bursting of life from the primordial soup, the evolution of creatures and then Man, and the evolution of human society to its eventual destruction. Nobulus are a troupe of dancers variously skilled in the disciplines of ballet,breaking,hip hop, Bboying, popping, tutting (?) and gymnastics. Out of the Shadow was created by dancer and choreographer Alex "V-Cell" Wengler, a very clever fella who has not only worked with hip-hop choreographers all over the world, but also managed to fit in studies in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Technologies, oh and Digital Film. Nobulus come from Austria, the magic of dance is that it can work anywhere. There is no language barrier and these dancers do it so well. The varied skillsets and the inclusion of two women bringing in their own styles, stopped this show having the homogeneity some dance shows have. The story was tol...

A Loving Mother With Nowhere to Turn  concept photo pre-filming   "PIMM Productions have pulled off an impressive catch in attracting the highly rated Sean Cronin to direct the short film ‘An Unfortunate Woman"   ... Cronin already has an impressive show reel as an actor, including roles in James Bond and Harry Potter films and has also Produced and Directed various productions. He is currently working on a multi-million pound period drama called ‘Irongate’. Sean said, "I am incredibly honoured to be asked to direct AN UNFORTUNATE WOMAN it is such a wonderful, moving and important piece and I am equally honoured to be working with the producers and creators Paul Hodgson, Ian Carter and Margaret Collins who have worked tirelessly to make this happen' Bring on Cannes 2014 with a script like ours we cannot fail!" The film written by Paul Hodgson, Margaret Collins and Ian Carter is to be shot over four day starting from 8th November at Beamish Museum and C...

Russell Kane “Smallness”  Northern Stage  06/11/13     Stage One was packed full of a variety of comedy and theatre fans as support act Steve Bugeja took to the stage. Here described the life of a 23 year old from Manchester who still goes with his Mum for the ‘big shop’. He ran off a big list of why he was special – including how he went on a lads holiday to Magaluf and managed to finish 8 books. A significant part of the routine explored the linguistic usefulness of swear words.   Russell Kane burst onto the stage to a loud fanfare and continued to bounce around the wide stage for nearly 90 minutes with his amusing blend of observations and stories.  Initially he waxed lyrically about the North East,  their accent and the usual Northern Stage audience. After warming the large crowd up he reflected upon how the British love smallness, from avoiding the glance of other people to avoiding meeting people more than once on holiday. This trait...

Hazel O'Connor: Breaking Glass Live Duo Pony and Trap came mob-handed with a busload of ‘poolies bolstering the already healthy sized crowd at the Cluny. The songs were way catchier than the   MacBook and   guitar setup promised. Sally Rafferty’s (the Hartlepool contingent) vocals filled unexpected niches in the vocal space of songs in that she has a style that adds notes around the central one. Think Delores O’Riordan of the Cranberries and you’re almost there. This makes for interesting listening as did Tom Meyer’s skilful use of the guitar. I liked them enough to visit the merch stall and buy a CD. The band had had Pony and Trap beermats made, a good little marketing idea I thought. Hazel O’Connor came onto the stage to storm through Give me an Inch and didn’t let up the momentum through several Breaking Glass favourites, and these still have a relevance now. Big Brother, Black Man  and Monsters in Disguise were written in the time of Thatcher but the s...