Northeast Music Guide

  Stockton Globe Exclusive: Paloma - The Infinite Things Tour Paloma Faith with special guest Josef Salvat. Stockton Globe Saturday 9th October 2021 Tickets are on general sale from 10am Friday 2 nd October from ATG Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/StocktonPALOMA #Ad   This is a new Paloma Faith, an artist who has retreated within herself and found not the careful, polished veteran of show business, but the 22-year-old art student being led by her own creativity. Paloma wrote most of the songs for her new album, Infinite Things, before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. Then we went into lockdown, and she ripped them all up and started afresh. She spent her downtime creating, learning to engineer her own music and just thinking about the world. The enforced downtime was creatively fruitful and taught her that she had been on a sort of conveyor belt of music and promo. The lockdown gave her the space to take stock of her frenetic career, and decide what is mean...

New album review:  Wendy James - Queen High Straight   ✮✮✮✮✮  Released On 1st May 2020  Review: Stephen Oliver  Last night Wendy James appeared on a re-run of Top of the Pops from August 1989 with Transvision Vamp. Today we gave her new album a listen. Do you know what? It is a great album too.   With twenty tracks it is a long album but the music sounds fresh and happy - perfect for pretending it is a great summer and we can go out and play. It would be perfect in the background of a party or bbq. But as a party is not currently an option, how does Wendy James’s 5th solo album play as one to enjoy in isolation? Well it cheered me up!  Collaborating on the album are James Sclavunos from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (drums and percussion), James Sedwards (lead guitar), Harry Bohay (bass), Alex J. Ward & Terry Edwards (horn section) and Louis Vause (accordion). James herself finds herself writing, producing and mixing this album whic...

Acoustic Circus  First Thursday Every Month Staiths Cafe Bar In the delightful surroundings of Staiths Cafe Bar, with a view of the historic Dunston Staiths (and at the right time of day plodging in the mud, waders of various species- look out for redshank, curlew and other long beaked worm seekers). In the mud-free environment of the cafe, you can treat yourself to a pleasant drink and homemade curry and sit back and enjoy the music. Simma has an amazing ability to play a wide variety of music just with his guitar and voice, so why not come in with some requests (just not "The Best" by Tina Turner). He will be joined by musicians from around the area keen to play new songs and old. If you have musical talent why not show it off in this relaxed environment?  Get in touch with Simma: simma.singer@gmail.com to book a spot. This week's showcase: Simma Hollerin Heads Underwood Ryan Walmsley One Thursday a month to just kick back in some great ...

This album has earned a regular place on my car stereo.. I don't usually do album reviews but there's a first time for everything. The thing about this collection of songs is the fact they have been played to death on my journeys to and from the Jowheretogo office. But until now they have been in a different order. I got hold of the Pledge Music version several months ago. This means I am used to the (slightly ominous when you're driving) Car Crash starting the album. A really stonking tune, with a wonderful blend of instrumentation that started the album off really well. The new version of the album starts with the equally catchy Feed Me to The Dogs. I'm not entirely sure about the way it fades into the excellent Turned On  but that's a personal taste thing. The Waitress struck a chord with me. The story of a partnership strained by one partner's aspirations and dreams and the difficulties that can arise around risk-taking and change. I'm lucky to...

Horse, In a Library! Perfect. My other half and I stumbled into the rather dramatic surroundings of the library at the Mining Institute, three songs into Horse’s set. The parking in Newcastle city centre is extra scarce right now due to the alterations at Central Station, taxis are parked everywhere. Enough of our logistical problems what about this gig? First of all, I’m a little annoyed. Horse has been making amazing music since 1989. It took me until this week to hear any of it. I got in touch with Horse to get a couple of tunes for the Jowheretogo Show on NE1fm, to give a gig a little plug, as I do. I heard the songs and knew that this was something special. I feel I’ve missed out on some amazing tunes. Jools Holland is a fan and Q Magazine have been raving about Horse. This may be the year of finding Horse where you don’t expect. The music of Horse is soulful pop. A blues – soaked picture of a woman’s life, struggles, relationships, hopes, dreams and loves. In ...

Delve into Alphabetti Spaghetti and the Brolly Season This summer, Delve, an acoustic two-piece made up of the poignantly bearded Jack Cox and the intriguingly bespectacled Andy Vyse, is embarking on a tour of the British Isles, aiming to play 250 gigs in 250 days. They are just about 2/3 through this odyssey. The Food and Fuel Tour will see the boys, described as ‘ones to watch’ by Bestival, taking to the highways and byways of Britain, playing pubs, clubs, bars and pretty much any venue that will have them. The West Country boys aren’t asking for much, all they want is for each venue they play to give them a meal and enough money to buy the fuel that will get them to the next gig, hence the name of the tour.  Jack and Andy have played in various bands together and various bands apart, but it’s as Delve that they’ve found their musical home. Influenced by acts such as Bon Iver, City & Colour and Nick Drake, Delve’s music is wistful, progressive and ethereal and ...

The Noise 4 – 12 October at Northern Stage    A body washes up and a massive iceberg appears in the harbour of a remote island near Antarctica where a strange, ever present sound makes the small community of islanders somehow ‘different’...    This intriguing scene could be taken from the latest Danish hit crime thriller. Like The Bridge and The Killing, or BBC’s Top of the Lake, The Noise is unsettling; a combination of gripping storytelling with an unfamiliar edge and a mysterious undertone which draws you in and keeps you guessing.   Written by an award-winning creative team – Claire Duffy, Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe - this brand new Unlimited/Northern Stage co-production follows in the footsteps of successful shows like Mission to Mars, Tangle and The Ethics of Progress, using theatre to explore leading research into contemporary science. "Working with scientists has played a big part in making the stories we tell for a few years now. We'v...

Tubular Bells for Two Newcastle Tyne Theatre   18/6/2013   As the classic Mike Oldfield work “Tubular Bells” reaches its 40 th anniversary, 2 incredibly talented Australian musicians embark on a tour of the UK , performing the work to 44 venues before appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe.     Aidan Roberts and Daniel Holdsworth are two very gifted musicians who have the virtuosity to tackle a piece of music that took over 30 musicians to perform back in 1973. The stage is packed with many instruments when the two gladiators enter ready to captivate another audience.   The piece starts with the familiar refrain from “The Exorcist”. It is clear from the off that both musicians are passionate about the work. They have tried to recreate the sound and it takes a combination of talent and bravery as they race across the stage, instrument in hand, in order to be in place to change instrument. The first half of the show builds up with gusto to a cr...