Northeast Music Guide

Review: RJ Thompson  at the Sage Gateshead 17/10/2014 Richard J Thompson has had some success so far, from getting a support slot with Midge Ure to supporting the likes of Jools Holland (shortly to do so again), Gabrielle Aplin, Duke Special, Sandi Thom, The Proclaimers and Deacon Blue, Mr Thompson seems set to grab the attention of the music industry elite shortly. Tonight was a triple treat as we had a starter of Candi's Dog, a threesome rather like a folk pop, more mature version of Bros with much better songs. I mean, these are really good songs, they have that vaguely familiar feel that makes them part of your mental soundtrack very easily. Harmonies with a touch of the Crowded House/Del Amitri but a bit more here and now. We purchased the EP CD as this is definitely something you want in your car, well I do. Beth Macari we have up to now only seen at a beer festival singing mainly covers. It was pleasing to hear her singing her own material as it suited he...

Review in pictures:  Toxic Melons "Bus Therapy" Album Launch Mining Institute, Newcastle 15th Oct 2014 Toxic Melons, which always consists of at least Paul Fairbairn, tonight was augmented by a full band to fully encompass the sound of these compositions. Written on many bus journeys, hence the name, Bus Therapy draws influences from the Beatles, ELO and 90s power pop legends like Jellyfish.  The Mining Institute lecture theatre was an interesting gig venue. Unfortunately those house lights were not great for photography, especially when turned right down to the level of 10 candles as they were for the first support act Fading Face. Luke Hobson was indeed a "Fading Face" in the darkness so no lovely photos of him. Luke is a purveyor of the psychedelic flavoured 60's style songs driven by personal experience it seems. Despite a possessed plectrum Luke put in a good shift and managed not to be too disturbed by the disembodied voice that at one poi...

SAXON Coming to Newcastle! NWOBM legends Saxon recently announced ‘Warriors of The Road’, a 38 date European Tour celebrating their 35 th  Anniversary. The set list will feature tracks from what is known to the fans as ‘The Holy Trinity’ – Saxon’s seminal albums  Wheels of Steel,   Strong Arm of the Law  and  Denim and Leather . Support will come from HELL and Stormzone. Starting in Bristol and closing at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, ‘Warriors of the Road’ will land in the UK on 30 th  November to delight fans with 12 explosive shows.   The routing has changed slightly and Leeds will now be on 2 nd  December with Nottingham to follow on 10 th  December.   ‘ Come and see the awesome power of Saxon live!’ –  says frontman Biff Byford.  The band is currently working on a live DVD that will be released to coincide with the upcoming tour.      35 years, 20 albums, countless live s...

Toxic Melons Bus Therapy Album Launch In the Lecture Theatre The Mining Institute, Newcastle. We nicked this from the Facebook events page "With special guests: Peculiar Disco Moves, at the Newcastle Mining Institute's lecture theatre for an evening of catchy pop, experimentation and other fun and games! There will be a bar! So drinking and other hinjix are allowed and encouraged when class is in session!  This is a seated venue so there are limited tickets! You can pre - book tickets directly from Pablo Melons - pre gig for £5 and this comes with a copy of the highly acclaimed new album, Bus Therapy!  Tickets will be £4 on the night and merch will be available. CLASS IS IN SESSION!" Very much a recommended event!

Rubric :The Game Pre-order from Amazon, Itunes pre-order coming soon. Launch gig at The Ivy House, Worcester Terrace, Sunderland on the 1st November, support from The John Doe Experiment, and Alex Saxon & Jack Foster. This is going to be a great gig, I was in rehearsals with Rubric recently and they blew me away with their musical skills, clever but very cool. Rubric is an original blues/jazz fusion band formed in the North of England in 2011. They describe themselves as a "musical democracy" consisting of Chris Binding on vocals and guitar, Andrew Bell on guitar, Rob Caroll on bass and Helen Whitford on drums. The entire band have had a hand in creating the songs on The Game. Influences from prog rock, metal, jazz, blues and classical all play a part in The Game. The band's members collaborate to create music that is technical but not self-indulgent and with a fun generic slant. The title track is an ode to the infinite game between the sexes, ...

Silent Houses with their debut release  on  Music Panther:  ONE Pre-order now One is a love song of a kind sadly missed on the radio. It is a sensitive, soaring, waltzing description of being in that "love bubble" with "the one". Hayley's pure voice floating over the piano and a touch of mandolin.  The video complementing the song, was filmed at Easby Abbey, an English Heritage property on Richmond. Click the image below to see the VIDEO. The single will be launched on 31st October  with a special Halloween gig at Avalon in Darlington. Silent Houses consists of producer & composer Chris Shaw and singer/songwriter Hayley McKay, who won a National talent competition out of over 1000 people, and sang in the film ‘Harrigan’.  They have done some great gigs including supporting renowned band Visage and Hazel O’Connor and this summer headlined Voll Die Ruhr festival in Mulheim, Germany. Hayley played two sets at Glastonbur...

Nine Below Zero Back in the Northeast With Original Drummer Coming to Gateshead Old Town Hall on the 7th November London blues-influenced band Nine Below Zero, are celebrating 35 years in the business, with their biggest UK tour in decades and have reformed their classic line-up. And for fans of the band, it will be a chance to hear tracks from their two critically-acclaimed A&M studio albums from the 1980s, Don’t Point Your Finger and The Third Degree, both with extra discs, which have been re-released through Universal. The band’s original drummer Mickey ‘Stix’ Burkey has re-joined NBZ for the tour. Apart from a one-off appearance at their 30 th anniversary show, he had not played with the band since they broke up in 1982. He also wrote many of the songs with frontman Dennis Greaves. Nine Below Zero built an almost obsessive following in the early 1980 with their take on American blues, while maintaining the energy of punk in their live performanc...