Music in Newcastle, live music & gigs in the North East

In association with the
Lindisfarne Gospels

Rihanna announces date at Sunderland Stadium of Light - GALLERY Nov 14 2012

GLOBAL pop superstar Rihanna has announced she will perform at the Stadium of Light next year.Read

Interview: Musician Jack Arthurs Nov 14 2012

IN an article looking ahead to next week’s Newcastle Winter Book Festival, it might seem a little perverse to be talking to a musician.Read

Review: Lynyrd Skynyrd at The Sage Gateshead Nov 14 2012

Even a simple man can explain the allure of Lynyrd Skynyrd two years shy of the band’s 50th anniversary.Read

Opera North offer public masterclass for up and coming talent Nov 13 2012

OPERA North are on Tyneside this week, and so are some of the operatic stars of the future.Read

Interview: Rising opera star star Meeta Raval Nov 07 2012

An exciting young singer with a Newcastle connection is making her Opera North debut at the Theatre Royal next week. DAVID WHETSTONE talks to rising star Meeta RavalRead

Review: The Killers, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle Nov 06 2012

BRANDON Flowers looks like Action Man. A taut, upright, black-costumed mini hero, he even sings about his eagle eyes in Mr Brightside. OK, it’s “eager eyes”, but don’t ruin the story and he does produce a show befitting an all-action saviour – relentless.Read

Review: Adam Ant and The Good, the Bad and the Lovely Posse, Newcastle 02 Academy Nov 05 2012

SPORTING a Van Dyke beard, flouncing pirate shirt and gold tasselled hussar jacket, he is perhaps the only person who could out-Depp Johnny Depp.Read

Review: Spiritualized, The Sage Gateshead Nov 05 2012

IT’S the only song I can remember exactly where I was when I heard it. A schoolboy sitting in a van, wearily waiting after a day’s sole/soul destroying street pounding for pocket money, I was impatient for home.Read

Interview: Producer Chris Phipps on The Tube Nov 01 2012

The Tube, the North East’s groundbreaking music platform which snatched the focus from London and turned unknowns into stars, made its debut 30 years ago next week. Producer Chris Phipps remembers it like yesterday and, ahead of his special anniversary celebration, he tells Barbara Hodgson some extraordinary inside stories.Read

Review: Kate Rusby at The Sage Gateshead Oct 31 2012

CHRIS de Burgh was the butt of some gentle humour in Hall One, with Kate telling us: “I feel like a proper musician, a bit like Chris de Burgh”. Read

Review: Gemma Hayes, Tyneside Irish Festival Oct 31 2012

THIS highly acclaimed singer-songwriter has won a number of awards including Best Irish Female Artist and at the start of her recording career 10 years ago was nominated for a Mercury.Read

Preview: Spiritualized at The Sage Gateshead Oct 31 2012

THE epic space-rock of Spiritualized should be entirely suited to Hall One of The Sage Gateshead.Read

Review: The John Wilson Orchestra at The Sage Gateshead Oct 30 2012

ORCHESTRAS can often be the unsung heroes of musicals, confined to the pit during stage productions and providing backing music in films.Read

Review: Efterklang and Northern Sinfonia, with support from John Grant, The Sage Gateshead Oct 25 2012

THIS felt like an occasion, a big deal, one of the reasons this venue was built and one of the events we always imagined it would host.Read

Preview: Adam Ant at the 02 Academy Newcastle Oct 24 2012

ADAM Ant will standing and delivering a gig at the 02 Academy Newcastle next month.Read

Interview: Wonderful Life singer-songwriter Black Oct 23 2012

WHETHER or not his name rings a bell, a few bars into singer- songwriter Black’s most famous track is bound to have you singing along.Read

Review: Grizzly Bear, with support from Villagers, The Sage Gateshead Oct 22 2012

I’M getting on and so don’t normally do support bands. But this would be stubbornness to the point of silliness if that band is Villagers, as accomplished a warm-up act as you’re likely to see.Read

Preview: Vintage Bus Trip 3 at The Cluny, Cluny 2 and Central Bar Oct 18 2012

YOU wait ages for a bus to come along. Then (if you’re lucky), a vintage one turns up and offers to take you on a tour of music venues which just happen to be hosting a clutch of sizzling Americana bands.Read