Northeast Music Guide

It Was Spring at Consett Rugby Club, Even If The Weather Didn't Know! Consett festival is a real community festival where local businesses get together and bring in local bands and traders to create a great day out for  families from Consett and beyond.  Having missed the Friday night acoustic gig with the amazing Driven Serious headlining, I brought my 10 year old along to enjoy what Consett Festival had to offer. We first visited the  double decker Farmyard Flyer bus, with its menagerie of farmyard animals including very hungry lambs to be bottle fed, ducks, poultry, a pig and some very cute rabbits. We continued into the site following the recognisable sound of Black Nevada . The band do heavy rock with a good foundation of melodic intelligence.  After a visit to the hog roast stall where, young 'un got a portion way too big for him, we returned to the main tent to find Jen Stevens and The Hiccups , a fabulous live band who are always gigging. I alw...

Consett Festival Friday 25th  and Saturday 26th April Tickets: Buy here

A goat, some ale, fun time guaranteed. Me and Beer I do like beer. I'm a member of the Campaign for Real Ale but I don't limit myself to the strictly British definition of real ale. I love a good German weiss- or schwarzbier, a Belgian Ale or a lager brewed in the Gambia (very welcome in that heat!). I don't drink beer to get drunk, but to enjoy the different flavours of hops, malts and the odd guest ingredient that brewers like to play with. I was pleased to hear about the Gateshead Beer Festival , and even more happy to see a great lineup of bands playing over the 3 days: the 3rd to the 5th May.  Scratch The Surface,  Jonny Boyle , the Dust Town Dogs , Superheat, Jen Stevens and the Hiccups , Skylark Song , Bessie and the Zinc Buckets , Claypath and many more. After very successful festivals in 2011 and 2012 the festival will again be brightnening up your May Bank Holiday. There will be over 140 different beers from all over the country and also featuring...

This week's show The Jowheretogo Show on Monday 18th February will feature music from The Wildhearts , Dave Gerard and the Watchmen , Northern Sinfonia , Big Beat Bronson , OMD, Kaiser Chiefs, Kontiki Suite , Too Spicy, Jen Stevens and the Hiccups , So What Robot and more. I'll be talking about events at the Live Theatre, Northern Stage, Think Tank, The Stand, Theatre Royal and The Centre of Life. Tune in to NE1fm 102.5 on Monday at 12 noon. Have some Jowheretogo with your sandwiches. Psychamericanacountry from Kontiki Suite at the Head of Steam  on Friday 22nd February       You can listen using a radio app on your phone such as TuneInRadio or online at NE1fm.net . And on that website you can find out more about all the programmes on NE1fm and how you might be able to get involved in community radio. There are always open mic slots in the morning from 10-12, and with a little training and a bit of paperwork you could be presenting your own s...

Jowheretogo Show Week 2! A New Day Riising Interesting week for me. After meeting the manager of Bastille (and the lady who first signed the Stereophonics), Polly Comber, at my "Managing A Music Business Enterprise" course, I had a day in a recording studio. In the very homely surroundings of Broadwater Studios in Gateshead, meeting with Riise Music artists Anna and Richard (formally of Anna and The Kings), recording a track in a style more suited to their new style as Northeast electronic duo Denature . I met the increasingly popular Wallsend singer  Junior Turner who was filming an interview to go into his "An Audience with Junior Turner" DVD. The video will include footage of his highly successful album launch concert at Tynemouth Priory Theatre with support from Jess Wood who features on his song, Loveblind on the "Under Scrutiny" album. Download the album here . The DVD will be released on Wednesday 6th March. Junior chats about life, the wor...

Get out there..defeat the S.A.D. !! No need to be sad at the end of January, too much going on for that. Put your sorrows in a box, kick them to the back of your mind and get on with enjoying some music, comedy and theatre in our wonderfully vibrant area...despite the cuts. Support local music and entertainment, it needs your help and you need it. Some great music on this week.. Music Wednesday 23rd January The GoGo Midgets  are at The Cluny have a listen...they sound like they'll be great live, good solid rock tunes with decent lyrics. Liking this a lot. The Go Go Midgets: matchboxes in picture actual size                                                           Thursday 24th January Mad Hatter Thursday at The Bridge Hotel. The really excellent Hattie Murdoch (made for a much bigger audience) have a listen to her musi...

Happy New Year! I hope you all had an excellent festive season and you weren't plagued by one of the many varied nasty viruses. Unfortunately the Jowheretogo house was full of the dreaded lurgy but we didn't let it spoil it too much! 2013 is set to be an interesting one (in a good way I hope) for Jowheretogo. With a website, under construction, introducing bands, artists, comics, events and theatre in a way that isn't just a listings site, its going to be more personal than that. I love music and entertainment, and I want you to get the best out of your spare time and hard earned cash. You can hear some of the bands I'm suggesting you see on my Jowheretogo Show on NE1FM 102.5...follow  @jowheretogo  for details. January is set to be a quieter month. Confidence in people's ability to afford a night out after Christmas is low. However there are some gems out there. Newcastle and Gateshead, we're not just going to stop being a mecca for great music, theatre a...