I really didn't expect tobe writing this and certainly wasn't going to be taking any pictures , but the Star Spangled Chestwigs had a Halloween Bash at The Doll at The Black Bull and the place was amazingly decorated , the crowd were fantastic and the band just cemented themselves as my favourite live band for a lot of reasons. I 've said all that needs to be said about them them, The play SHITE and their gigs and the greatest fun you can have without getting locked up.
Lots of favourites were played "Swords of A Thousand Men" , "Antmusic" , "Mama Mia" and lots
more. And the night just flew by.
Although tonight is Halloween , last night was a brilliant curtain raiser and if you get yourself back down there tonoght there will be more (Wigless) mayham.
A wonderful night was had by all , I got to see my brilliant mate Tom and discuss all sorts of intellectual stuff including the merits and robustness of COBOL (which I first used in 1980) as well as enjoying the brilliant set by the Chestwigs.
Monday night I went to see my mate Steffen Peddie's show which gave this piece it's title . I've just realised that I should really get a bit of video to go with it. Steffen is a great racounteur and can certainly tell a great tale an make your side hurt laughing . The concept of this show is that people put random questions into a bucket and he picks them out and tries to answer them.
The first time I saw him I asked "Why Can't Negative Numbers Have Square Roots?" and on Monday I asked "What Is The Longest OED Word That Doesn't Contain A Vowel" . He didn't get the end of the second question but still managed to magically weave a comic routine from both questions. The show , because of it's nature is different every time and it takes gits and skill to walk that improvisation tightrope and Steffen proved himself a master in both shows I've seen.
Secondly Steffen has a heart of gold because collecting the suggestions were a gorgeous collection of ladies from The Big Pink Dress who are raising awareness and funds to help research in Breast Cancer . To date they have raised over £11,000. Here is their fund raising page.
This is information about their calendar:
Calendars selling quickly but we do have some in stock now at the
Visitor Centre in Haven Point, Pier Parade, South Shields. £6.00 in
person or £7.35 inc P&P. Telephone 0191 4247788
This is probably not going to be a normal music review, because it's more about the concept of this amazing festival. It's supported by Keiro (you can find out about them here) who cater for the needs of young people with disabilities. Keiro in Japanese for "Pathway and/or Journey". Hence the festival featured Aukestra brought together by Autism and their love of music. I spoke with the lovely female singer who was wearing a great T-Shirt with the words "My Superpower Is Autism - What's Yours" on the front.
A Special Day
The thing about this festival is that it was designed so that people in wheelchairs could easily get about , with tracks laid on the grass. I spoke with people with various "disabilities" and it was just normal. This is how it should be in everyday life, everyone I spoke to was absolutely brilliant. I will be going again next year as it was totally amazing. Oh and the other thing they had someone signing all the songs for anyone who couldn't here. This festival really did bring everyone together.
Also it was family friendly so lots of children heard some brilliant music , so I'll run though the music now with the odd thing that stood out for me. When I first saw the poster I thought Turin Brakes were the headliners, then I looked at the snazzy graphic and realised they were second on the bill!
My next shock was the ticket prices £6 for an adult , £10 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children).
Anyway there was a lot of music on there so I will just point out a few as I said before.
First band that struck me were Hot Soles , who I did get close up to but produce some excellent rock sounds and any bill with them on is woorth going to see.
Then next were Gallery Circus who get better every time I see them, Theres only two of them but they make an amazing noise and have come on in leaps and bounds since I first saw them in Bar Loco .. and they were good then.
Aukestra were again excellent and I talked about them at the start of this post, just great to see them enjoying themselves and entertaining the crowd and I did catch 15 seconds of them on my Instagram feed , which is here.
Hulkenburg looked and sounded as you would expect from the name , a monster challenging two piece who might have frightened the children but I certainly liked them.
Monogram came on around five and sounded awesome and epic , I suggest you check them out although only a three piece the sound that cam e just filled the area , in a very exciting way. Check them out .
Slug were next up , part of the Sunderland family that has brought us The Futureheads , Field Music and Beak, dressed to the nines and impressing the crowd with some amazing and sophisticated sounds.
Turin Brakes still have it and their songs hit the right chords with everybody, and amazingly rich sound provided by two acoustic guitars . There songs , once heard are never forgotten.
Finally Ash hit the stage and the crowd went sedately wild , there were children and and peopel with disabilities all having a great time. I included the filmed finale which blurs at times , but you can see the song being signed and the crowd having an amazing time. They played lots of hits , some new stuff including "Free" and "Cuckoo" from Kablammo finishing up with Burn Baby Burn.
A good friend invited me up to a small festival at Dalgety Bay , on his doorstep. The bait was Big Country were playing , and after how good they were at Corbridge last year, £20 for a ticket seemed like a steal.
When we got there there was a view of the Forth Bridges and a very good covers band playing Nazareth , Joni Mitchell and U2 songs and this was around mid day this was the start of the PKD Festival . It was only when I got there and saw the line up that I realised what a bargain this was, not only was there Big Country , but we had The Animals featuring Zoot Money , XSM (ex Simple Minds) featuring one ex Simple Mind but delivering in a big way through the rain.
Possibly my biggest surprise was a band called Sorella , a country harmony band who did a stunning version of Queen's "Somebody To Love" and finished with the song above which I am sorry I dont know the title of , but it is good. They'd opened with a wonderful version of Seven Nation Army which segued into Sweeyt Dreams Are Made of This,
I also met the guys from Black Pearl Bay selling their Pirate Wares and Booty , who were absolutely top guys and great fun
Big Country delivered a blistering set , although their music is perfect for outdoor festivals , opening with "Harvest Home" before ripping through an extensive greatest hits list.
And this was after all the other treats and before From The Jam closed the gig.
These band still have it and special mention has to go to the Neil Diamond Karaoke turn who had a lot of the crowd joining it , it wasn't rock but it was fun.
All in all a day that far exceeded my expectations , I suggest you book for next years now.
This afternoon was my first visit to the Soundroom Recording studios in Gateshead , essentially to see the Ferriday Fireballs and Woment In Revolt. Unfortunately the Fireballs' bass guitarist was taken ill so we were treated to Woment In Revolt sans costume.
However before that I'd sampled a couple of the stalls and loved the idea that they have started a Sergeant Pepper type installation at the back of the studio. At the moment there's just the drums guitar and the name , but the intention is to get everyone who uses the studios to appear in the installation.
I had to walk to the studio from Newcastle , but it was a nice day and it turns out that it's at an intersection of lots of but routes, so is actually very easy to get to. Everyon e I talked to was really pleasant and if I ever need a studio I will definitely use them. It's a community project so everyone can get involved
Today was also a rumble sale (see here) and there were loads of great related stalls and displays like Beki's on the left and the guitars and keyboards and vintage Apples below.
There was lots of vinyl books and CDs as well as lots of suitably delectable divine trash.
I got a couple of CDs and 7" singles, which I have to listen to later.
Apples and Axes
Anyway we were treated to an excellent set from Women In Revolt , who soundchecked with Rumble , a short snippet is here on my Instagram Channel. They then opened with tRockin' With The Rollers and gave us forty minutes of excellent garage rock , in a very relaxed setting. A mixture of covers and originals including Richard Hell's Love Comes In Spurts and Wayne County's signature tune "Fuck Off" both excellently executed before closing with Oestrogynal Itch. Looking forward to the next gig.
So a really great way to spend the afternoon, and hope this is the first of many afternoons there, and I cant wait to see the SErgeant Pepper installation grow.
Art the moment the Vamos festival on in full swing on Tyneside with lots of events covering all areas, including food , film , dance and music , with a hot saucy Mexican/ South American / Iberian flavour.
Upcoming with have chocolate , Kid Creole , print , a film history of Mexploitation at the Tyneside Cinema curated by my good friend Craig , who this week I found was behind a book about the films of Elvis Presley. Check the link for a full list of events at the festival , lots of then free and all of them worth your time.
This post is a short one about a showing of an Isabel Sarli mexploitation vehicle, The Female, with an excellent introduction by Craig , who pointed it out that it was a true "B" movie , meant to be in Mexico but shot in Argentina ,and dubbed not subtitled , as well as being in black and white . Craig told us that Isabel's make up and hair was always the same whether she was in bed , in the kitchen , or digging a ditch , and was the inspiration for Divine's look in the numerous John Waters films that he appeared. That fact alone was worth the price of admission and needless to say the film is what you would expect , but great fun to watch. It is available on Amazon here and lots of here films are on Youtube as long as you confirm you age. Every afternoon in the Tyneside Cinema Cafe there are related film clips and music from the genre for you to enjoy.
This was a great start to the week , but the Divine Trash presentations are always worth going along to as you always discover something that you never imagines could be true.
This week has been amazing (see my main blog for why here) , and tonight at Think Tank? my friend Barbara told me she was reopening Trillians , Necastle's legendary Rock Bar , with a proposed opening date of 12th of June.
When Trillians closed it was like something had been cut out of Newcastle , and with the proliferation of flash harry bars made me fear that something similar would happen here, but know it's been taken over by someone who holds the rock spirit close and will foster that, giving the rock community it's home back.
I saw many great gigs there including The Coyotemen and the Star Spangled Chestwigs, as well as just enjoying the cracking jukebox , and fantastic atmosphere. I am so looking forward to going there again enjoying good music , great atmosphere and just being with great people.
You need to get there too , if you don't use it then don't complain when all you have left is your local Tesco to buy your drink.
