News
Troubadours Take The Sage
The Late Shows, Tyneside’s free annual culture crawl, returns for a sixth year on the 18th and 19th of May, with diverse events running across 55 venues over both nights....
Read moreHappy Birthday Tiny Lights!
Tiny Lights Recordings turns one in June, and they’ve got some special plans to celebrate. In the next couple of weeks, the label will be locking members of almost every...
Read moreMateria Junkies Returns Triumpha…
After the success of the launch night in May, Materia Junkies is back on Thursday 7th June at Venue in Sunderland. It is the only nerd club night in Sunderland...
Read moreHaws Hits The Road
Big news for Natasha Haws; her EP launch at Sunderland Minster on May 12th has officially sold-out. For those people who haven't managed to bag a ticket for the gig,...
Read moreB>E>A>K Flock To Kendal…
Continuing the steady invasion of North East talent onto the bills (BIRD PUN ALERT) of festivals nationwide, bird-brained rockers B>E>A>K have been added to the bill at Kendal Calling....
Read moreMateria Junkies Bring Geek Chic …
What is Sunderland missing? A few things probably spring to mind, depending on your personal preferences. My first suggestion would probably be a zoo. A zoo, and a shop that...
Read moreThe Bolts Make Live & Unsign…
Sunderland band The Bolts have made it through to the area finals of a prestigious music competition. The indie rock teens impressed judges at the Live and Unsigned heat which...
Read moreBaskin’s Wish Make Lemonade
Newcastle pop-peddlers Baskin’s Wish have released a new EP. Lemonade, made available on Monday, is the band’s fourth EP, and follows last year’s glittering power-pop outing Dailyfun. The band’s back catalogue,...
Read moreBaron Von Alias EP Free This Wee…
Everyone's favourite time-travelling rhyme-spitting gentleman Baron Von Alias is releasing his latest EP for free download. Baron and MistaBreeze's collaboration 'Brace For The Impact', is available for free here, for...
Read moreYoung Liar Release EP2
Instrumental rock monsters Young Liar have released a new EP. The inventively titled EP2, follows their 2011 début (EP1, obviously). Released on Monday, through Newcastle indie label The Calico Print, EP2...
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CD Reviews
Arcs and Trauma - White to Viole…
Hartlepool trio Arcs and Trauma return with their third EP ‘White to Violet’. Noisy, prog-tinged emo, there’s a lot to like here. Fans of Foals will salivate at the chanted vocals,...
Read moreKing Sloth - King Slot EP
MATH. Math is rubbish. Yeah, it’s good for engineering and things, making sure buildings don’t fall down and all that. And for letting you know how much flour to put...
Read moreCollectors Club - First To Know
On first spin of the Middlesbrough outfit's début single, it's hard not to do an aural double take. (That's a thing. Or at least it is now.) With its intricate, exhaustively...
Read moreThe Real Davina - Spend Some Tim…
Their first release on new label Pink Fridge, and since welcoming new addition Shannon Powell on vocals, The Real Davina's latest single is more of what we've come to expect from...
Read moreO'Messy Life - Little Vehicles/S…
The latest single from O’Messy Life is an typically ardent, rabid two-pronged attack on the senses. A shout-along tale of a suicide cult, ‘Little Vehicles’ wheels itself around your frontal lobe...
Read moreNatasha Haws - Natasha Haws EP
A year isn’t all that long a time, when you think about it. It’s taken me longer to get around to changing a light bulb, but in that time Natasha Haws...
Read moreThe Lake Poets - City By The Sea…
For fans of The Lake Poets, and there are many, this début single has been a long time coming. One of the hardest-working acts in the North East, Martin Longstaff and...
Read moreFutureheads - Rant
The keen-eared among you will know that The Futureheads are no strangers to four-way harmonies. ‘Rant’ however, brings the complex, inter-weaving vocals heard on the likes of ‘Danger in the...
Read moreYoung Liar - EP2
Young Liar are a five-piece band from Newcastle who, according to their Facebook biography, are interested in scotch eggs and wife swapping. (Who isn't? - Ed) That aside, they are...
Read more3 Foot Ninja - 3 Foot Ninja
3 Foot Ninja, from the North York Moors, have successfully built up a large fan base in the North East. The band, consisting of brothers Jordan and Joseph Bell, and...
Read moreLive Reviews
Liars Lie @ Plugged Inn, 28th Ap…
A pig heart, broken bottles and a lot of blood make for the a pretty random and crazy local music gig. Especially when the pig's heart ends up being lobbed...
Read moreRetriever, Shinies, Arkham Karve…
The basement that is the Head Of Steam was fairly full by the time Retriever hit the stage with their mood-inducing set. Together with all-black outfits channeling The XX, strobe...
Read moreThe Lake Poets, Lilliput, Natash…
Here’s a sight you don’t often see in Newcastle, unless Sunderland have won a derby game, and everyone’s wearing stab-vests; a bar full of Mackems on Geordie soil. But...
Read moreSpark FM Presents: Bird Island, …
It's a Teeside spectacular tonight at The Ivy House. Young Hegelians impress with a set that's as varied as it is potent. Nicely at odds with their caustic socio-politically themed...
Read moreThe Christmas Project Launch: Ga…
Even for the grinchiest of humbugs, you can’t argue that around here Christmas spirit often manifests itself in the guise of some truly brilliant gigs. Tonight marks not only...
Read moreChased By Wolves, Reckoner @ Sun…
Say what you like about 'the big man upstairs', he can't half knock out a good venue. Considering it wasn't built for the purpose of hosting folk-rock bands, the...
Read moreCottage Industries First Annual …
The combined curses of day jobs and public transport strike on this fine Saturday afternoon, meaning that I managed to miss the first four acts at Newcastle label Cottage...
Read moreThe Railway Club + The Bluebuds …
Middlesborough's questionably monikered Brucey Ripper kick the evening off with some upbeat, likable but fairly standard rock'n'roll. With songs that have a sound range from Bob Dylan to Tom...
Read moreMatt Stalker & Fables + Boxe…
Ditte Elly Kolln, a singer-songwriter who, performing live for the first time, displays staggering depth in both her songs and her technical ability. An absolutely astounding find. London's Boxes...
Read moreLilliput + Karima Francis + …
Independent’s Little Room could do with being a little bit bigger tonight. Exhibiting delicate songs that belie her tender years, and a voice to induce goosebumps, opener Natasha Haw’s...
Read moreFeatures
Spreading Their Wings: Eagle Liv…
"I don’t believe there's another promotion company out there who cares enough to go that one step further. Most of them care for money; Eagle Live is the opposite. We...
Read moreSpotlight On: Spoken Words
If you happened to catch Frankie & The Heartstrings, Chapel Club or Munich live last year, chances are you'll have seen Spoken Words. Formed almost two years ago, the...
Read moreSpotlight On: Amy Holford
The first time Manifesto saw Newcastle singer / songwriter Amy Holford play, she closed her set with an a cappella cover of folk standard ‘Wayfaring Stranger’; a risky move in...
Read moreOutdoing Eleanor: The Union Choi…
Science (and by science, we mean, in absolutely no way scientific whatsoever) dictates that the perfect length for a pop song is two minutes and forty two seconds. Somewhere,...
Read moreHollywood, Vines, Mistletoe and …
Washington Irving once said “Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart”. Gracious words there, from...
Read moreSpotlight On: Pray For Blood
Mix up Pantera, Devildriver and Sepultura. Add a dash Lamb Of God, a sprinkling of Metallica, and season with Machine Head. What does this get you? A hell of...
Read moreThe Big Ten: Eso
Welcome to The Big Ten, where Manifesto puts ten of life's biggest, most pressing questions to bands every week. This week's Big Ten comes ...
Read moreSpotlight On: Dalaro
From the bosom of The Bunker's very own Sunday Club comes Dalaro, a young and upcoming trio from Gateshead. Formed nine months ago, the band went through several evolutionary...
Read moreSpotlight On: Stations
Formed by brothers Ben and Sean Jessen in West Yorkshire, Stations have already enjoyed a decent amount of success; their début EP, released in 2008 on Phoenixx Records, scored...
Read moreA Little Bird Told Me: B>E>…
With ‘The Yellow Edition’, the second release in their ‘Life of Birds’ series, recently hatched, and sell-out shows across the region under their belts, things are looking chirpy for instrumental...
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