Northeast Music Guide

Oxjam Sunderland and Newcastle Fundraiser, The Cluny 29/08/2014 The night brought together an eclectic lineup to raise some money to help get the local  Oxjam Festival off the ground. The crowd was much smaller than hoped, Friday night gigs are a real hit and miss affair at the moment, although I would argue your money is better spent on a couple of pints and a few bands, than a few pints and a headache. The first act to grace the stage was Greg Genre, with his Geordie take on acoustically driven hip-hop. At times he has a touch of the Jack Johnson about him, a wee bit Coldplay in the vocal delivery at times. His songs are honest and lyrically interesting, and I’d be happy to see him again. Gingersnap and the Style Pile filled the stage with their various brass and stringed instruments and filled the Cluny 2 with funky jazzy and occasionally reggaefied goodness. Joanne Robson has a great distinctive voice that I think really shines live, and fits the music perfectly. ...

Λpex, Silent Houses and Hyde at Darlington Forum Music Centre 09/08/2014 A Right Fruit Salad of a Gig! Three completely different local bands on one bill, but all of the best quality. The Forum Music Centre in Darlington is a superb facility with a good sized venue and a stage of a scale you don’t often get to experience when you are at the early stages of your musical career. Hyde were on first and they had a grasp of gritty alternative rock that belied their youth. They did throw in some covers but not obvious choices and their own songwriting proved to be of equal calibre. They should stick with their own material..not because they are bad at covers (they are great at them – Hot For Teacher was a gem), but because their own material deserves to be heard. Silent Houses brought euphoric electronic-based pop to the mix, and the reaction was great. Hayley Mackay is utterly at home as a front-woman and has a crowd in her grasp with a genuine positivity and clear love of t...

Amazing Radio and U . S . I blogged about Amazing Radio a couple of years ago, trying to explain to artists how it works for them. Since then, Amazing Radio disappeared from DAB, then reappeared in London and Dublin, much to the disappointment of us fans in the wrong regions. I knew things were happening stateside as I watch with interest the Twitter feeds of people such as Paul Campbell the Amazing Radio founder and CEO. It's all been a bit of a mystery, however what has been happening. So I got in touch with Ian Winter: Product Manager for Amazing Media..the mother company of Amazing Radio: "There have been a lot of changes for Amazing Media in 2014, most importantly we've acquired a company in the USA called OurStage .  We also have a new board in place featuring the likes of John Pearson (ex Shazam), Sting, and more.  All details of general Amazing Media news can be found at www . amazing - media . com Amazing In...

Bunnypoo Salad: The Movie Needs You !   Described as a "genitally fixated zero budget sketch comedy series", The YouTube -based comedy sketch show Bunnypoo Salad is aiming for the big screen. After 8 episodes of variously random, abstract, downright rude, very silly and chuckelworthy sketches, the Bunnypoo team want to create two whole hours of this madness, watch the trailer: With the claim (that I doubt would stand up in court) :“ Be an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER for just $50!! (37 euro) Extensive scientific studies have PROVEN that having an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER credit on your résumé will increase your chances of banging your fellow human by a whopping 759%. Get SMART!! Get CREDIT!! Get LAID!!” , The Bunnypoo Salad team have launched an Indiegogo campaigne to get this masterpiece made.  If you are  obsessed Monty Python, The Goodies, and the likes of The Goon Show, you should perhaps get out more. This is comic anarchy for the err..”teenies” (have we decided what t...

We were the Fringe leftovers Lee Kyle with the ice cube tray I won. A small but eager crowd of quizgoers came to see Lee Kyle host this month's comedy quiz. There are so few teams, in fact, that everyone was a winner! This was a side effect of the Edinburgh Fringe draining most of the comic talent and the usual comedy-savvy teams. this meant we, the Loon Band, were in with a chance of winning. But, no, we were so poor we were second to the bottom, so we didn't even get the coveted wooden spoon. However, my amazing effort at the caption competition won me some DVD's, a Ron Burgundy wobbly head man and moustache ice cube tray, and other bits and bobs, which  I will find very useful...I was very chuffed! A comedy spot was filled by the sweetly intimidating (if you are right at the front) Nicola Jane Mantalios-Lovett.. change your name to Nickie Lovett and it will make life so much easier for introductions etc. I decided not to take a picture of the delightful Nicola...