Current Issue
Previews
The Guide
Music |
What’s on? Here’s the music low-down for the coming month
Kath Bloom, The Star & Shadow, Newcastle, 8 September
Autumn winds blow many female folk stars into Newcastle this September, including Joanna Newsom and Kathryn Williams, but none shine brighter than Kath Bloom.
If she does shine brighter though, then it is from the shadows where, for the past thirty years, she has
Naive New Beaters, Head Of Steam, Newcastle, 8 Sept
They’re French! They probably need filing under “Indie/Dance”! Or maybe “Electro/Madmen”! Either way, they’re brilliant! Yep: The Naive New Beaters are something of a hot-property and their sound is the aural equivalent of a glorious knickerbocker glory taking in influences from the likes of Hot Chip, Daft Punk, Justice, The Happy Mondays,
Durham Punk Fest, Durham University, 11 September
The Buzzcocks remain one of the best bands that Britain has ever produced. There, I’ve said it. Their tales of angst and frustration (Ever Fallen In Love, What Do I Get etc) remain pinnacles of what a band can achieve in three minutes of frenzied,
The Moody Blues, Newcastle City Hall, 15 September
For as long as people compile lists on the most influential singles of all time then people are going to be sticking “Nights in White Satin” on them. Naturally it’s a classic but the album it came from “Days Of Future” is also something of a trend-setter; a concept album
Abba Mania, Newcastle City Hall, 24 Sept
Abba were truly amazing. Not in an ironic, didn’t they wear funny clothes and write cheesy songs kind of way. True, they did wear funny clothes (I DEMAND that my pop stars do), but their songs are some of the very best ever written; from the joyous whirl of “Dancing Queen” through to the moving “Winner Takes It All” they were a band who could pull off the hardest
Split Festival, Sunderland, 25&26 September
Taking place on September 25 & 26 this year’s headliners are local heroes Maximo Park (Saturday) and The Futureheads (Sunday). Another local band who’ve been winning plaudits a-go-go over the last few months are the amazing Detroit Social Club who have a live
Santana, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, 3 October
Santana – of course – is two things. He’s a man (say hello to Carlos Augusto Alves Santana) and THEY are also a band. Since rising to fame in the late 60s, early 70s, they/he have went on to achieve enormous success with a brand of music which they/he pioneered: a kind of heady fusion of rock, salsa and jazz with bluesy
Hexham Abbey Festival, 25 September - 3 October
It’s true! This year’s theme is Fantastic Fables and the programme will include an outdoor screening of the silent classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame with live musical accompaniment. This promises to be a real highlight in a programme which is packed with them. Running for ten days it looks to have the best line-up ever,
Boss Sounds Weekender, The Cluny, Newcastle, 15&16 Oct
As the name kind of suggests, the Boss Sounds Weekender takes place over a weekend (in October) and is brimming with the kind of sounds that’ll have music lovers digging out their skanking trousers. On the Saturday prepare to be thoroughly frisked by Pama International (pictured) the UK’s leading ska/reggae collective. This dub-fuelled supergroup are fronted
Jazz North East, various venues, through December
First up is an imaginative production: A Funny Valentine at Live Theatre, Newcastle on Wednesday September 1. In this Mike Maran dramatizes the life of jazz legend Chet Baker, with Colin Steele and Robert Pettigrew as musical accompaniment to turn this into a play with music, or alternatively a concert
Pumphrys, 44 Cloth Market, Bigg Market, Newcastle
Tucked away next to the alleyway leading to The Old George in Newcastle’s Bigg Market is Pumphrey’s which has a very tidy cellar bar and is a great place to catch quality gigs. Live music is now being staged there every week,
Delia Derbyshire documentary
This is the very amazing Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001), a true electronic sound pioneer who was responsible for – among other stuff – the Doctor Who theme.
She didn’t actually write the music for Doctor Who (that was Ron Grainger) but she did give it that other worldly sound which has made it one of the most instantly
Hip Hop Is Dead
Just to clarify: hip-hop is indeed very much alive in the north-east as anyone who has checked out The Hip Hop Social at Kings Manor will testify. The last one saw the region’s greatest MCs, DJs, graffiti artists and B-Boys gather together to pay homage to the scene which had become a tad fragmented. This reawakening is a result
Born Snapped, Hyem, Heaton, fortnightly
The north-east music scene seems to be on an upward curve again what with the likes of Newcastle’s Detroit Social Club and Sunderland’s Frankie & The Heartstrings bagging support slots with Oasis and Florence and the
INTERVIEW: Karoshi
Karoshi are a Newcastle-based duo who make the kind of twisted electronic pop that gets our electronic pop knickers well and truly twisted. They are Dan Burt and Sam Burt and Robert Meddes has a few choice questions for them.
INTERVIEW: Staff Benda Billi
What kind of music do you play?
Ricky: We play international music...a mixture of Congolese music and the rhythm of the whites.
Vincent Kenis (the band's producer who conducted the interview in
INTERVIEW: Detroit Social Club
In an exclusive backstage interview at Bridlington Spa, The Crack’s Jon Corbett hooked up with Geordie boys Detroit Social Club, before and after their historic performance with Oasis.
It looked like a scene from some depressed Sunday afternoon when you were a kid. But today, the windswept Yorkshire seaside resort of Bridlington played host to the most significant musical event it’s ever had. It was a surreal site,
INTERVIEW: Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird is a genre-busting musical genius whose breathtaking live shows are a musical high-wire act. Be prepared to be dazzled by the Einstein of alternative American rock.
Andrew Bird is not your average rock star. The Chicago based multi instrumentalist and singer songwriter mixes musical genres
INTERVIEW: Dizzee Rascal
The Crack: Welcome back to Evolution Dizzee. What is it that you like about the festival, and have you had much of a chance to look around the city?
Dizzee Rascal: I love Geordies man! I always do a show up here when I’m on tour, and this is the open air one.
TC: What are your other favourite cities to play in?
DR: Leeds is good, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, obviously London.
INTERVIEW: The Score
Cameron and Taylor are brothers from Los Angeles. Nathan and Sean are
brothers from London. Their pal Clyde ‘CJ’ Wilson isn’t related to any
of them, but together they make up The Score – a band with fingers in
the hip-hop, R&B and soul pies. Currently touring the UK...
INTERVIEW: Mr Hudson
Mr Hudson is just back from Hawaii and a little bit out of sync. He just had breakfast at 3pm (we were supposed to do the interview at 11am). But that’s ok…I’m a patient interviewer. After all, Mr Hudson is worth waiting for. He’s just finished a rather meaty arena tour
INTERVIEW: Lemar
When I told people I was interviewing Lemar, the most common response was ‘Ooh Limahl, I used to love Kajagoogoo’. For those of you that aren’t still trapped in the 80’s (sorry Limahl fans…but it really is time to let go), here’s a chat with the UK’s leading pop-soul artist.
Can you believe all this snow?!
INTERVIEW: Duncan Lloyd
Maximo Park guitarist Duncan Lloyd has released a solo album called Seeing Double. No need to look twice, this really is an interview with the man himself ahead of his next task, touring the Park’s next record. After that, he’d probably make a pretty good ‘time management’ consultant. How does he do it? Let’s find out...
INTERVIEW: Hoodoo Gurus
Seminal Australian band Hoodoo Gurus have been at it for over 25
years and show no signs of slowing down. 8 albums and many world tours
later they land in Newcastle having driven hundreds of miles from the
previous nights gig in Brighton.
You’d expect Hoodoo Guru in chief Dave Faulkner to be a little cranky
after that but he’s in surprisingly good cheer having just bought a new
suit and been further buoyed by my dramatic, life-affirming story of
how I’d embarrassingly split my trousers in my haste to be on time for
this interview.
INTERVIEW: Fyreon
Fyreon won the Cluny Battle of the Bands in 2006. How did they do it? Simple, they rocked! Debi, Chris and James from the band give us the low down on everything we need to know about the band and some things we don’t.
INTERVIEW: Cascada
From Paris to Berlin, in every disco I’ve been in, I’ve generally been barred. But one pop princess who would be welcome in any club the world over is Natalie Horler – the voice of dance maestros Cascada. She’s sold 3.5 million records and had 3 top ten singles. There’s another album on the way and a live show at Newcastle Academy in September. With the world at her feet there’s only one thing left to do…talk to The Crack!
INTERVIEW: Darren Hayes
Darren Hayes is a proper pop superstar. It’s OK to like him. He’s cool. And Australian. That doesn’t particularly make him cool but it gives him an edge over Shayne Ward (Who?). He writes great songs and you can be safe in the knowledge you won’t see him on Eurovision in a couple of years when it all goes wrong. It won’t. He has sold millions of records in his time with Savage Garden and as a solo artist. His Time Machine Tour hits Newcastle City Hall on September 25 and you’d be crazy to miss it. Or busy maybe. Either way we’re sure it’ll be a great night.
INTERVIEW: Breed77
Breed77 fuse Flamenco music with heavy metal - and it works. Don’t ask us how, it just does.
INTERVIEW: Maximo Park
Newcastle superstars Maximo Park are flying high and there’s simply no stopping them. To celebrate the upcoming release of the second single from the album Our Earthly Pleasures, The Crack met up for a canny chat with Tom and Duncan. Nothing was off limits – the tricky 3rd album, tourism in China, the upcoming world tour and Y-fronts. Enjoy…
INTERVIEW: Ripchord
“The Red Hot Chilli Peppers…I just don’t like them. They’ve got a new single called humpty bump or something like that…they’re 45! Humpty Bump?! What the fuck?!!”
Phil Wallbank, Ripchord
Ripchord are just out of school but have already signed to the same label as The View, held their own on tour with the likes of Babyshambles and Jonathan Ross is playing their new record on his radio show...
INTERVIEW: Mumm Ra
Billed by the NME in January as one of the bands who were guaranteed to soundtrack 2007, Mumm-ra hail from the sleepy seaside resort of Bexhill-on-sea. Signed to Columbia Records and having supported the likes of The Kooks and The Kaiser Chiefs, the band is travelling the UK on their own headline tour. They stopped off at the Newcastle Carling Academy in April so it seemed rude not to go along for a chat. James ‘Noo’ New and Oli Frost enjoy a good probing...
INTERVIEW: The Little Flames
“I threw a tissue out of the hotel bedroom on Saturday…I felt dead bad.”
Eva Petersen ~ The Little Flames
Travelodges around the UK needn’t worry their televisions are quite safe with The Little Flames. Signed to Deltasonic Records home of The Coral, The Zutons and The Dead 60’s, The Little Flames are said to be the next big thing by those in the know. The Liverpool quintet are on tour with their biggest fans – The Arctic Monkeys and The Crack went along to their gig in Newcastle to ask a few pertinent questions…lead singer Eva and drummer Greg provide the answers.
INTERVIEW: The Bees
The Bees are back boys and girls. Isle of Wight’s finest have just returned to the live circuit with the release of their eagerly anticipated third album, Octopus, imminent. The band made their first (Mercury nominated) album (Sunshine Hit Me) in their shed and then their successful second album (Free The Bees) in the infamous Abbey Road studios. Now, as we reach the dawn of their new masterpiece - recorded in their house - Jon Corbett caught up with bassist, Aaron Fletcher, to find out what the record has in store for all Bee nuts.
Gigfinder
Start Your Search to find gigs, films, exhibitions, and more in your area!
Login
Upcoming Events
10:00
...................
Stateside: American Documentary
11:00
...................
GNAAS Charity of the Year Concert
20:00
...................
10:00
...................
We are currently in beta stage, please let us know if you find any errors by completing this form.
