Northeast Music Guide

http://www.daintees.co.uk/video In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of Boat to Bolivia – yes 30 years - 2016 has already seen Martin playing in peoples living rooms on the sold out ‘Dansette Tour’. Well November and December sees perhaps the biggest and best Daintees tour for years. Fifteen dates across the country, and culminating in a headline spot at The Great British Folk Festival, playing the Boat To Bolivia album in its entirety, along with a few other classic Daintees tunes to boot. This is simply one tour not to be missed. Tickets are already on sale, and can be found at the links below: www.daintees.co.uk http://www.gigsandtours.com/ Interview On the eve of the tour, I had a chat with Martin about the making of Boat To Bolivia. Q: Can you remember the moment when you first knew you were going to be recording your debut album? What did it feel like? A: Yes but it was way back in 1980, I would head from Washington Tyne & Wear to Hall Farm...

The King Is Back: Ben Portsmouth Is Elvis  Currently touring Brazil following his most recent shows plus recording in the USA, Award winning Elvis - Ben Portsmouth – has already this year had a sell-out tour of Ireland, shows in Canada and Munich, with amazing sales at Belgrade, Coventry and Portsmouth Guildhall. He has also appeared at London o2 Indigo, Birmingham Barclaycard Arena, Leeds o2, Bournemouth o2, Manchester o2 and Belfast SSE Arena.  Ben, a multi-talented musician, singer and songwriter had Elvis‘s DNA in his blood from an early age. His father was an avid Elvis fan and Ben grew up on a diet of Elvis songs. Having honed his musical talent Ben started his journey as an Elvis Tribute Artist in 2005 when he formed the ‘Taking Care of Elvis’ band. Audiences and promoters quickly realised that this was someone with a special talent. He looked like Elvis, sang like Elvis and had an on stage charisma that had audiences believing at times they were watchin...

Review: Mostly Spoken, Cumberland Arms 27/11/2016 The simple surroundings of upstairs at the Cumberland provide the perfect stage for the monthly variety night of music and poetry called Mostly Spoken. Simma, who curates the night, opened with three of his original songs: the soon to be seasonal Happy New Year, delta bluesy Voodon’t and Blue Eyed Baby. Simma Tony Gadd followed with his storytelling style of poetry, about past jobs and  the 11+. Tony is an engaging performer with a lot to talk about. Tony Gadd Oonah Joslin treated us to a poem about the importance of lists, another about the inevitability of the Aber Fan disaster, and others about nightmares and Manhattan Rain, she has a great book out called 3lbs of Cells. Oonah has a way of bringing individual personalities to her poems when performing. Oonah Joslin Sam Millington was a nice surprise with his comic country songs about being lost in Ikea and the hell of call centres. Call centres was a s...

In 2017 FEED THE KID and label owners B33 Records will head off for an exciting Manchester invasion of China along with the rest of the label roster. The excursion consisting of two three month tour stints, will cover 10 major cities and will represent the first new wave of British band’s granted access to perform in the country.  Earlier this year, Mancunian blues-revivalists Feed The Kid aimed high with a single release via taste-making imprint B33 Records. Following a prologue of sell-out headline performances at some of Manchester’s most prestigious venues, Feed The Kid are back to solidify their status as the undisputed champions of primal rock and roll.  Invoking the pleasantly swampy, right in the pocket rock of the early 1970s - the group are best thought of as a sort of Manchester Clearwater Revival - closer to Hulme than the Bayou - their songs are incandescent with civic centre references and odes to this great region.The first of two tub-thumping new singl...

Two years ago, during the 2014 Americana Music Festival, three songwriters met for the first time at a café in East Nashville. What followed on from that meeting became one of the most warmly received albums of 2016 when it was released by vinyl specialists Gearbox Records. Next month, Applewood Road return to the UK to round off a triumphant year which has included performances at Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival, an appearance on the Andrew Marr Show, and a UK tour with Mary Chapin Carpenter.  “Their no-frills debut album, recorded in Nashville, has rightly won them no end of admirers and the close harmonies, augmented with spartan guitar and banjo, were every bit as exquisite in this performance. Original numbers were inspirational; so too was a soaring cover of REM’s Losing My Religion.” -- The Times (review of Barbican show, July 2016)  It was a serendipitous first meeting. Emily Barker was in Nashville for AmericanaFest and had been introduced to Amy...

Steffen Peddie   Steffen Peddie is a Stand up comedian from Newcastle upon Tyne.    He told his first joke on stage at 13 in his local youth club and has continued doing so since.  After minor success on the fledgling comedy circuit and appearing as comedy support with Ross Noble on two different National Kids Saturday Morning TV Shows he took a break from Stand Up and turned his time to becoming a professional wrestler.    Ten years of bending bones, wearing lycra in public and various chair shots took its toll on Steffen. After performing at the Café de Paris in London in front of a star studded audience as part of Viz Magazines 25th Anniversary party he decided to call it a day and retire from the world of grappling.   After a conversation with other comedians he decided to try stand up again “for a few shows” to see if it would be fun. Ten years later he has not stopped and has matured as an act with his time away.   Success ha...

GUN ANNOUNCE OCTOBER HEADLINE TOUR WITH ORIGINAL GUITARIST ALEX DICKSON +REVEAL EXCLUSIVE LIVE VIDEO WITH SOUPED-UP LIVE BAND As their acclaimed original guitarist Alex Dickson is welcomed back into the frame, GUN are delighted to announce they will be hitting the road for a series of UK headline dates this October with a souped-up live band in force. In honour of the tour announcement, the Hard Rockers have released an exclusive live video of the band firing on all cylinders with their current line-up - which was revealed on the 7th June. Providing fans with a tantalising taster of what to expect on the upcoming run of shows, the video will feature a glorious live rendition of their chart-conquering ‘Word Up’. The track, originally by Cameo, was startlingly re-invented by GUN for their classic 1994 album ‘Swagger’ and subsequently witnessed the band scoop the gong for Best Cover Version at the inaugural MTV EMAs the same year. Recorded at the O2 ABC in Glasgow,...

HEAVEN 17 & BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION (B.E.F) DUAL HEADLINE TOUR THIS AUTUMN HEAVEN 17 PRESENT… ‘PENTHOUSE & PAVEMENT’ 35th ANNIVERSARY PLUS  BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION’S FIRST EVER UK TOUR With the votes now in and a career-affirming title now crowning their legacy, Sheffield's Greatest Band of All Time : HEAVEN 17  and B.E.F. will be providing a just reminder of their glittering achievements this autumn as they electronically revisit their magnum opus: ‘Penthouse & Pavement’, at a series of UK shows.  Thirty-five years since the release of their landmark debut album, Messrs Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware will be commemorating the record that launched their sensational career by performing a brand new electronic version of ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ live and in full. Part two of each show will also feature a live set from B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation) who embark on what will be their first ever live tour. Founded i...

Two Local Rock Bands Earn The Right  to Play Bloodstock Festival Over the last few months local rock and metal bands have been competing in the Metal 2 The Masses “battle of the bands” style heats at Newcastle’s Trillians Rock Bar. Last weekend the final was hosted at The Cluny and not one but two bands were chosen to play Bloodstock. They will be joining legendary local black metal innovators Venom at the festival making it a hat-trick of northeast bands entertaining people from all over the world. Bloodstock is the largest independent heavy metal festival in the UK with up to 15,000 attendees. The festival started in 2005 with only 700 people, an example of careful but ambitious growth. The size of the crowd at the Cluny reflected the enthusiasm for metal that seems to be experienced a rebirth in the Northeast. The overall winner of the final, chosen by Bloodstock’s Simon Hall, was The Souls of Jack Ketch: angy brutal metal with fearsome vocals and yet a really friendly...

Magnum: Still Rocking With the Same Spirit The show opened with tight harmonies from 6 piece band Vega and a cracking tune called Explode . The band were keen to get the audience on board with the second song Kiss of  Life , from their first album. A new song from the latest album Every Little Monster made us think of AOR legends Honeymoon Suite. The band understand the protocols of one foot on the monitor singalong AOR big numbers that get an audience's fists in the air. All Or Nothing has a passing resemblance to Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me and the band acknowledged this by chucking in a line from the song. This song however was better for not containing some rather weak rap. The new album Wherever We Are has some great driving music like White Flag that wouldn't be out of place on a Top Gear compilation. Saving Grace. This was great AOR and the band never put a foot wrong, or indeed on a monitor. Nick Workman has an enviable vocal style perfect for t...

James and Slow Readers Club,  Newcastle City Hall 17/5/2016 The typically bar-obsessed City Hall audience was a bit sparse while Slow Readers Club brought ethereal lyrics and jolly Smiths-esque guitars to the stage. This didn't make their reception to the support band any less warm There could be some Echo and The Bunnymen/ Electrafixion influence with this band but the sound is very stand-out in the current market. One More Minute and Days Like This Will Break Your Heart bode well for the contents of the new EP. The unsigned band from Manchester have been doing fabulously on Youtube with the highly memorable I Saw A Ghost and this was performed beautifully with Aaron Starkie’s wonderfully resonant vocals the star on the Christmas tree. They are a very tight live band and show real love for their work. This band have such a great package of songs to deliver, I'll definitely have to buy the album and see them again.  James are back with a new album ( Gi...