Northeast Music Guide

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...

 Burning Condors "Dirty Girl Blues" London art punk four piece Burning Condors' return with a new single ‘Dirty Girl Blues’, released on 15 th July 2013 through Snakehand Records. The b-side is the twisted Beach Boys inspired ‘What Your Mama Said’.   So what do I think of it? Mucky. That's the word. The production is reminiscent of a pub in Hull circa 1987 (I know, I was there). Mucky, but in a pleasant way. I was drawn into a world of permissiveness, not a great thing to happen when you're at your desk, but the slide guitar, the muddy bass, and the pleading vocals can do that to an old girl. I love it. It's naughty. And I can't wait until the Condors make their way up north again.   "Your Mama Said" is great fun, a rollercoaster of rock and roll, with a hint of the Rocky Horror at its filthiest. If these boys clean up their music it's all over.   Burning Condors’ debut album ‘Round Our Way’ is due to be released in Septembe...

London blues-influenced band Nine Below Zero fresh from another successful tour of Europe and a string of dates along the south coast of England head north to play the Arc in Stockton-On-Tees on Friday May 17 and the Cluny in Newcastle on Saturday May 18. 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 performances. It was captured in their first album, Live At The Marquee, which was re-released towards the end of 2012. Frontman and founding member Dennis Greaves said: “We decided to put it out again after Universal found some film from the night that we didn’t know still existed. They also found the encores we did, which were not on the original album. In those days, you couldn’t get much more than about 50 minutes on a album. So this will be of great interest to our fans.” Nine Below’s success continued to build during the 1980s. They performed their single 11+1...

Flock is a production in which human feelings like , sadness, joy, fear, foreboding, are expressed not only by the actors but brought further to life by the music of Gateshead Composer Mariam Rezaei. A story of searching for oneself, and of family and hope.Three siblings set out to find what their late mother needed to discover. A magical tale of migration in a politically troubled 1920's Iran. Jowheretogo's Jo Oliver was curious where all this creativity came from had a few questions for Mariam JO: You draw upon a wide range of influences for the score for "Flock". Have you always been surrounded by an eclectic mix of music? Did your parents encourage listening to a wide range of music....or did you rebel? MR: I am interested in a great variety of music and arts.  I believe that there is always something to learn from all art, even if its 'don't do this!"   My parents have always encouraged me to explore the world and listen, taste and be p...

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...

A few words about the blog       I've said this is a work in progress, and while its been great creating each blog and then presenting a radio show about it, I have to realise what is a good use of my time. Every week I will bring you news of what's on in Newcastle and Gateshead on NE1fm at 12pm on a Monday. But I won't be putting all the dates and info on the blog. This is because this information is out there on listings sites, Facebook events pages, listings mags and I'm trying to do the job of a team of journalists doing this.The new Jowheretogo website will feature gigs that catch my eye, and artists and performers you need to know about. Every project has a time of evolution, and as it's not yet a business, its the right time to get things right. So I'll be writing more reviews, as I was hoping to before all this took over, and giving new music, comedy and theatre a PR boost as well. Finding my place in the Music Business       Last year I was m...

The Jowheretogo Show Goes Official! After a few weeks of slotting in where there was a spare hour, NE1fm have now kindly allowed me a regular    slot! The Jowheretogo Show will now be broadcasting every Monday at 12pm starting the 28th January 2013, on 102.5 fm. I will still be playing music from bands who are doing gigs in the local area, and other music with a link, however tenuous to the other events going on. I'm very new to presenting but I hope to provide you with an entertaining show where I am providing you information about events you perhaps didn't know about, and places you've never visited. Also in the pipeline is a  Jowheretogo   website, with information about bands, artists, venues, comics, theatre and days out. I hope to make this interesting and engaging, not just a listings website, the things I promote are the ones that really catch my eye, and I want you to share! A development has been my new involvment with RIISE Music  Management...

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...