MUSIC SUMMER SHOWCASE @ GEORGIAN THEATRE

Words: Steve Spithray

Local purveyors of all things new and creative musically, Nrthrn Baby and BBC Introducing Tees have teamed up to announce their Summer Showcase event on Saturday 22nd July at The Georgian Theatre, a night that celebrates the very best in local emerging talent from the Tees Valley and the wider North East area. The inaugural line-up boasts Stockton-based Brit-pop outfit The Collectors, young singer-songwriter Sisi who is making something of a name for herself since debuting at Reading & Leeds Festival in 2022, and Rame Kari’s new-age bluesy hip-hop.

Other artists on the eclectic bill include neo-soul and R&B singer Frankie Jobling from Newcastle, BBC Tees’ own Shakk with his archetypal socially aware rhymes, Durham grime artist Merczz who has already totted up millions of streams online, the ever-iconic Eyeconic, and DJ Melo.

With everything from Brit-pop to Afropop and UK rap, and every act already having the backing of BBC Introducing Tees, the Summer Showcase already feels like a community in the making, while the diverse programming brings the best in North East talent that might not normally share the same stage and may still be a little under the radar, all under one roof. A showcase for summer indeed.

Summer Showcase takes place at Georgian Theatre, Stockton on Saturday 22nd July. www.georgiantheatre.co.uk

MUSIC BCUC @ THE FIRE STATION

Words: Cameron Wright www.bcuc.bandcamp.com

Looking for something rhythmic, energised and engaging? Look no further than BCUC at The Fire Station in Sunderland on Wednesday 12th July.

The seven-piece group are arguably the freshest band out of the South African music scene and are frankly absolutely phenomenal. Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness, to give them their full moniker, have become a voice for the voiceless as their undeniable political streak bleeds from the heart of their music, which is also full of love, fun, acceptance and euphoria. The result is a sound that pulses with excitement and fury.

Oozing with stage presence, the funk collective seize the attention of global audiences due to their authentic, rootsy sound which melds homegrown grooves and traditions with the funk finesse of the 70s. BCUC play, write and perform from and for the soul, creating something bound to ignite and communicate with any audience.

Spanning genres which encompass Afrobeat and rock, BCUC have created a psychedelic sound that is wholly their own, and which yearns to be heard live and loud!

BCUC play The Fire Station, Sunderland on Wednesday 12th July.

MUSIC MAKE A SCENE FESTIVAL @ TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY

Words: Laura Doyle

There’s something comforting about the fact that it’s Make A Scene time once again. The event has become a mainstay in the North East music scene, where grassroots talent and emerging acts from across the nation come together in a space nurtured specifically for them.

For those of us without access to big name rock festivals taking place up and down the country every summer, this yearly pilgrimage to Teesside University for a full day of up-andcoming faves is a true blessing. And on the off chance that this is the first you’re hearing of Make A Scene, it’s maybe time to crawl out from under that rock! (No pun intended).

On Saturday 15th July, three stages feature a broad church of styles and influences. The headliners are sure to pull your attention, with rising rock icons As December Falls, hardcore/ punks Trash Boat, and sludgy metalheads www.makeascene.uk

Heriot at the top of many people’s must-sees. But cast your eyes a little way down the lineup, and you’ll see the likes of Welsh rockers Dream State (for those poignant but earcatching riffs), local legends Tired of Fighting, and US pop punk outfit Telltale over for their first ever UK shows. Go to Make A Scene, and you can be there from the start of the next generation’s rock all stars.

Make A Scene festival takes place at Teesside University, Middlesbrough on Saturday 15th July.

EVENTS OUR PRIDE FESTIVAL @ VARIOUS VENUES

Words: Steve Spithray

Our Pride Festival is a five-day LGBTQIA+ programme curated by Sister Shack CIC. In 2019, the organisers noticed a need for an alternative Pride offering built on an ethos and shared desire for a calmer, safer alternative to official Pride month, and hastily arranged and hosted their first all-day Pride event in Newcastle. Due to the pandemic the programming was forced to move online, but in 2022 returned for an event at The Old Coal Yard which remains a focal point in an expanded programme this year.

This year Sister Shack will host five days of events in various venues across Newcastle in a programme which is partly funded by an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant. Events will include Decksercise, fun exercise classes along with DJs at World Headquarters (Tuesday 18th); a film screening of John Waters’ Hairspray at Star & Shadow Cinema (Wednesday 19th); Beccy Owen’s Hush Club, a sound healing exercise at Magic Hat Cafe (Thursday 20th); an Our Pride Takeover of the Cumberland Arms terrace with a live performance by Ladies of Midnight Blue (Friday 21st); and the final day of the event on Saturday 22nd which includes the Our Pride Social in the afternoon at The Old Coal Yard with crafts, workshops and a panel discussion which looks at topics of Queer joy and performative activism, as well as performance from indie folk artist Melanie Baker before a Bend & Shake club night rounds off the event in typically fun and inclusive style.

Sister Shack’s Our Pride Festival takes place at various venues across Newcastle from Tuesday 18th July–Saturday 22nd July. www.ourpridefestival.com

MUSIC SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL @ SEATON REACH

Words: Amy McGarahan SoundWave Festival is a brand new event which takes place at Seaton Reach, Hartlepool on Sunday 30th July. The day is set to be jam-packed with big names, local talent and rib-tickling comedy.

The inaugural festival will include three stages across the coastline site. The Main Stage will play host to headliners Bastille, whose indie pop sound has seen them garner serious critical acclaim. Also joining them will be local heroes The Futureheads; rock band The Subways; Hartlepool native Michael Gallagher, who performs his anthemic indie rock; Teesside’s own Finn Forster, whose bluesy pop vibes are infectious; Stockton-based alt. rock four-piece We Tibetans; brat-pop duo ZELA and the UK’s 2019 Eurovision representative Michael Rice. The Hideaway Stage champions even more local talent, featuring music from X-Factor contestant and R&B singer Kerianne Covell; Stockton’s alternative indie folk singer-songwriter Frazer Lambert; and Billingham’s Cally Billie Gatley who will perform a chilled-out acoustic set. The Comedy Tent will be full of laughs all day, with sets from James Kilvington, Matty Oxley, Cal Herbert and Fran Garrity.

SoundWave festival goers can also expect food vendors, bespoke bars, a VIP area, funfair rides for both adults and children, photobooths, fire-breathers and kid’s entertainers, meaning it’ll be a fun-filled day with great music on the beautiful North East coastline, perfect for all the family.

SoundWave Festival takes place at Seaton Reach, Hartlepool on Sunday 30th July.

www.soundwavelive.co.uk

STAGE EVENTS @ LAUREL’S

Words: Ruby Watson www.laurelswhitley.co.uk

Since opening in 2021, Whitley Bay’s fringe theatre and nightspot Laurel’s has swiftly become a magnet for artists and audiences looking for something a little different, with the venue playing host to off-the-wall comedy, quirky theatre productions and decidedly outside the mainstream productions. This month Laurel’s has plenty to sink your teeth into, starting with Fesshole on Wednesday 12th, in which Rob Manuel promises to bring “the internet’s naughtiest, funniest, cringiest confessions to the Bay”. The Club will be a long-running highlight throughout July (Tuesday 4th-Saturday 22nd), offering an immersive trip back to 1975 that vows to recreate the lively atmosphere of Club life. Comedian Stanley Brookes is at the venue on Wednesday 26th to teach you how to be rich; whereas on Thursday 27th-Friday 28th The Merry Wives is a modern telling of the Bard’s play. Also on Thursday 27th, Creepy Boys is described as “Oh Hello meets those twins from The Shining, meets My Super Sweet 16”, which is likely as bonkers as it sounds. Saturday 29th sees another double bill of shows including A Slice Of Elvis, comedian Mike McAlpine’s hilarious escapades as an Elvis tribute artist, and comedian Phil Green’s midlife crisis influenced Four Weddings And A Breakdown. Finally, on Sunday 30th, How To Survive And Thrive In An Impossible World – With A Piano is an interactive show with award-winning psychologist and songwriter Steve Bonham and composer and musician Chris ‘The Bishop’ Lydon.

MUSIC IMOGEN BOSE-WARD @ BOBIKS

Words: Amy McGarahan

Bobiks hosts the soulful singer-songwriter www.facebook.com/imogenbosewardmusic

Imogen Bose-Ward on Friday 28th July, with support from North East artists Jenny Lascelles and Maius Mollis. Bose-Ward released her debut single Just Fine back in 2022 and has had a run of support ever since, particularly from BBC Introducing. Growing up in Lanarkshire, Scotland, Imogen has roots in Scottish traditional music but has shifted her sound towards a hybrid of folk, jazz and Americana, as heard in single Red Bricks. Latest single Elton shows off her introspective and candid lyricism, through its mellow, harmony-filled Americana sound. Her gig at Bobiks will be her full band debut, where she will share the stage with Will Hammond (Ceitidh Mac, Martha Hill), Ian Peterson (The Slowlight Quarter, HAV) and Tom Fletcher (Hyde and Beast, The Lake Poets).

In support, Newcastle-based singersongwriter and pianist Jenny Lascelles’ sound ranges from folk pop to a dark indie vibe. Latest single Strange Weather, released in June, is a beautiful piano ballad with layered vocal harmonies. Also in attendance will be multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Maius Mollis, who has trained in classical performance at Leeds Conservatoire, and in folk and traditional music at Newcastle University. Her knowledge of the two contrasting genres can be heard in debut single, The Tide Turned, with newest release Feel It Hard displaying a self-reflective and emotional yet upbeat indie pop sound. Imogen Bose-Ward, Jenny Lascelles and Maius Mollis play Bobiks, Newcastle on Friday 28thJuly.

MUSIC BBC PROMS @ SAGE GATESHEAD

Words: Jason Jones

Sage Gateshead welcomes a stunning and diverse festival of concerts as part of the BBC Proms from Friday 21st-Sunday 23rd July. Kicking things off on the Friday night is a collaborative performance between pop icon Self Esteem and the Royal Northern Sinfonia conducted by Robert Ames, who has previously worked alongside the likes of Radiohead and Frank Ocean.

Later in the evening, two of the British jazz scene’s leading lights come together, with trumpet player Yazz Ahmed and clarinetist, composer and bandleader Arun Ghosh joining forces for a show that promises to be as enchanting as it is gorgeously varied.

On Saturday, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, helmed by Principal Conductor Dinis Sousa and featuring Kristian Bezuidenhout on piano, will embark on a tempestuous journey through darkness and light as they perform Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (For Orbiting Spheres), Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, and Brahms’ melancholically serene Symphony No. 2. Shortly afterwards, the Chorus of the Royal Northern Sinfonia will host a separate concert their own.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, American counter-tenor Reginald Mobley is joined by celebrated French jazz pianist Baptiste Trotignon for a musical journey through the African American spiritual.

BBC Proms takes place at Sage Gateshead from Friday 21st-Sunday 23rd July. www.sagegateshead.com

ART & LIT INTERNATIONAL ZINE MONTH @ BALTIC

Words: Steve Spithray www.baltic.art

BALTIC invite us to explore their growing zine collection and to uncover a range of topics to inspire and inform our own zines with a trio of events at the gallery in July.

Tangled, Overgrown and Inky: Risograph Printing with Foundation Press will share the basics of risograph printing, exploring the colour palette and image quality of this popular zine-making tool. Through collaging images from Foundation Press’ archive of scanned plants and natural elements, participants will make experimental two-colour prints (Saturday 15th). Grow Your Own: Zine-Making with Mani Kambo, features Hinterlands artist Mani Kambo, and explores the relationship between animals, humans and plants through zine-making using collage, photocopying and drawing (Saturday 22nd).

Finally, The Multiverse and Me: Zine-Making with Mel Sproates is a case study in gender, race and class identity using zines, collage and pop culture imagery (Saturday 29th). The gallery’s zine collection celebrates independent publishing and DIY culture and is sourced from artists and zine-makers across the country with a focus on self-publishers working in the North of England. The gallery over 350 zines in the online catalogue and many more waiting to be added and many of these will be on display throughout the month. International Zine Month runs at BALTIC, Gateshead from Saturday 1st–Sunday 30th July.

MUSIC TRACKS IN TOWN @ DARLINGTON MARKET SQUARE

Words: Cameron Wright

There’s nothing better than outdoor live music than during the beating heart of summer. On Saturday 29th July Darlington music

11–13 August promoters Tracks bring you a dazzling afternoon of live music in the town’s market square; the seven hour extravaganza will feature some of the area’s most exciting live acts, and best of all – it’s free! With a passion for introducing audiences to new artists and promoting the exciting and colourful North East music scene, Tracks are confident there’s something to please everyone in their Tracks In Town line-up. Maybe it’s the summertime funk of Teesside’s Moon Wax, the jangle pop stylings of Hartlepool’s James Leonard Hewitson, India www.tracksdarlington.co.uk

Arkin’s indie pop ballads or Darlington’s own soulful urban pop songwriter Luke Royalty. Headliners Avalanche Party will round out the event, currently flying high with festival appearances at Reading & Leeds, and SXSW in Texas, anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of their raucous and thrilling live show is in for a real treat.

Tracks In Town takes place in Darlington’s Market Square on Saturday 29th July.

Lady Maisery • Kathryn Williams

Ceitidh Mac • Katie Doherty and the Navigators • Assembly Lane

Amelia Coburn • Jon Doran and the Northern Assembly • Anna Hughes and Jessie Howard • Catch The Sparrow

The Canny Band • Tom McConville and Michael Biggins • The Wilson Family

Queer Folk Showcase: Amy Thatcher

Malin Makes Music • Alex Etchart

DIY Ceilidh and many more!

Tickets from £40 half price under 16’s