hey homies, i just moved from new zealand to newcastle here in the UK.
i was just wondering if any kind souls could point me in the direction of some cool music-y things; venues, shops, magazines, radio stations etc.
i've only been here a couple of days, had a look around the city center today; seems pretty cool!
Venues are okay
look into gigs coming up at either of the universities, the carling academy, the arena, the cluny or legends. I'm sure they'll be more once you get to know the place.
It’s Newcastle UPon Tyne
But anyway. Welcome to the UK! Despite having a reputation for being a real drinking city, there are actually only a handful of places worth going to in Newcastle.
Pubs: The Head Of Steam, Tilleys, North, Forth, Camp David, Dog and Parrot, Other Rooms, Trent House, Bodega (all in town); and the Cluny, Tanners, Tyne, and Cumberland Arms (Ouseburn).
Clubs: Um. World Headquarters used to be better before it moved, and it’s still worth a trip once a year; the Academy has horrid generic indie nights (except upstairs, where they play better stuff); the Red Rooms is good if you like to get your ears ruined; the Star and Shadow Cinema has some excellent nights (eg Road to Rimini); and the Other Rooms is okay too. Digital is fine if you like sweaty men with their tops off and bad tattoos.
Gigs: The two universities, the Academy (and especially the smaller room), the Cluny, Head of Steam, and the Other Rooms often have bands on.
Shops: I’d suggest taking a wander down High Bridge Street and Pink Lane for clothes and record shops (Electric Sheep and RPM are great), and Clough’s sweet shop in Heaton is a must too.
Generally, just have a wander. Pick up the local listings magazine, the Crack (it’s free and is available in most of the pubs and shops listed above) for up-to-date info.
Also, make sure you head out to the coast when you can on the Metro.
thanksssss
awesome thanks marckee, i actually went into RPM today, really good store by the looks of it. thanks for all that
cheers
yeah, i think crystal castles are playing soon at carling academy. looks like they get a few good gigs. i just wish upset the rhythm would put on their gigs here!
no-fi
are a bit like Upset The Rhythm. Doesn't look like there's much coming up but they do put on some good stuff
http://www.no-fi.org.uk/
Alt.Vinyl is an ace record shop just down the road from the Carling Academy. They have a gallery in the back that's having an exhibition of Eye from the Boredoms stuff soon. Should be good! He was supposed to be playing live too but there's no mention of that anymore :(
http://www.altgallery.org/exhibitions/EYE/EYE.html
Pete Doherty
is playing the cluny tonight, the wanker.
use this website
http://www.theburglarsdog.co.uk/
it's pub reviews are 100% solid TRUTH
buy your music from RPM or Beatdown
don't read Narc. EVER
also
shop at alt vinyl too - which is handily right next to Tillys (one of the few actually good pubs in the city centre)
don't
read
narc
Whitley Bay is funny
for about 20 minutes. Accidentally going into Powerhouse at 4am is similarly funny.
Dont go to
Idols. Dont
^5
I was in there as part of a stag do this weekend, and it was a major lowlight.
Also,
if you happen to be on a train coming into Newcastle and there's a big stag group on there, and they ask you where's good to go to in the city, do not recommend any of the places I listed.
Tell them to go to Baja, the Boat, Tiger Tiger or Jimmy's.
I second the Burglar's Dog pub reviews too.
A good tip is to go to the Distraction weekender (I think it's on over the second weekend in August), you'll get to see most of the best bands in the local music scene. It's been a year or so since I was up there, but when I left the best bands were Moleck and Moira Stewart.
narc?
i haven't read it yet but i had a quick look at the narc that i picked up today. well, it looks nice at least. how come its not so great?
mainly because
it's all just friends reviewing friends and bandwagon jumping cliquey horribleness.
It's not even particularly well written most of the time.
You can get the listings from other places so it's not even necessary for that.
Narc's the big broadsheet thing, isn't it?
That's basically John Egdell, innit?
Nah, he's alright. And he's on the ball when it comes to most of the interesting stuff.
They have had a tendency
to publish reviews by people who didn't actually stay to watch the bands.
If they're not reviewing their friends the "reliably informed" writers tend to put together pieces that are about as outside-looking-in as me trying to write about rave culture.
But as long as everyone knows THEY WRITE FOR NARC AND ARE THEREFORE DEAD COOL HEAD OF STEAM GUESTLIST GETTING SCENE ROYALTY I guess the music doesn't actually matter too much.
'reliably informed'
i always wondered why they used that.
John is alright though
he's put on some decent shows and seems to actually like music, rather than the rest of the music-as-fashion crowd who seem to populate the staff.
Who needs to write for Narc to get on the guest list?
If you are/were an alcoholic and new all the bar staff by name (and their favourite drink) then you’d get let down the back stairs anyway. :-)
go to alcatraz
once a month on a tuesday at WHQ
for good vibes
radio
is there a small indie radio station in newcastle? or something like that?
Apart from Newcastle Student Radio, no.
http://nsr.unionsociety.co.uk/ (I think it only broadcasts during the term-times, and is a bit rubbish anyway).
Other than that, it’s all Galaxy and Metro FM.
Stick with BBC 6Music (except when George Lamb is on, obv) at http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/ or via digital radios and freeview; or with ResonanceFM, online at http://www.resonancefm.com/.