NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
NEWCASTLE
INTRODUCTION Ten months ago I moved to Newcastle, to work in music, to be closer to my rapidly growing group of friends and to be inspired by a new city and all its pros and cons. There is no place I would have rather been during a lockdown. To see how this versatile city and its creative businesses cope with a pandemic is inspiring and brings a smile to my face. As the lockdown made us unable to go outside, to meet in groups and to browse vinyl, CDs and books in our favourite shops. I’m happy to be able to shine a light on the businesses that found inventive ways to keep their businesses running without endangering their clientele.
BEYOND VINYL We’ve been very lucky to have had a lot of sunshine during this lockdown and David of record store Beyond Vinyl took the weather and turned it into the perfect time for him to deliver online ordered products to his customers, by bike! The independent record store has been developing into a versatile business with offering recording sessions and live instores. Sadly his store had to be robbed a few months back, but David does not get discouraged easily and the support of his loyal customers was a big help in that! beyondvinyl.co.uk
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LITTLE BUILDINGS Independent live music venue Little Buildings is run by local hero Allan Scorer and has been closed for a while last year because of troublesome landlords, it's reopening in the old Kaleidoscope Records office was a victory for both the owners and the local music scene. Even though the lockdown threw a spanner in the works, Scorer took his time to finish the new venue
