STAGE BARELY VISIBLE @ DANCE CITY

Words: Laura Doyle

Unless you’re a lesbian, or deeply invested in Queer culture in our society, you probably haven’t given lesbian representation much thought. Ain’t that just the problem, though? Lesbianism is often relegated to gross, over-sexualised risqué subplots, malicious deviations, or college ‘phases’ to grow out of.

Shouldn’t we be past this?

Rowena Gander has had enough – and I don’t blame her. In her show Barely Visible, which comes to Dance City on Thursday 13th July, Rowena uses her undoubtedly impressive physical skills in pole and contemporary dance to explore gay identity and objectification with playfulness and authenticity that is as captivating as it is thought-provoking. Even her mode of entertainment has strong “it’s 2023, can we please get over this?” vibes: pole dancing is only ever associated with the sleaziest of acts in our media, but have you ever tried to swing your entire body weight around a slippery pole with your knee joints as the only point of contact? Anyone capable of just an act should be treated with the appropriate level of fear and reverence – and that’s precisely what Rowena Gander’s performance commands. (Maybe not the fear part, I’m sure she’s quite lovely IRL.) www.rowenagander.com

Maybe you’ll laugh, maybe you’ll cry, maybe you’ll come away frantically googling “pole fitness classes near me” – all are as valid a response as lesbianism is an identity.

Barely Visible is performed at Dance City, Newcastle on Thursday 13th July.

MUSIC MOONWALKS @ THE CUMBERLAND ARMS

Words: Ben Lowes-Smith

Promoters Wandering Oak provide Newcastle with consistent doozies, their gigs feature bands that may have otherwise slipped under your radar and, thanks to Walter’s magnificent taste and commitment to the cause, make you feel like you are in on a really great secret. Their show at The Cumberland Arms on Wednesday 26th July is no different, as Moonwalks lean into Wandering Oak’s refined taste for psychedelic music. Based between Detroit and Brooklyn, the band have toured extensively across the United States and Europe with the likes of Julian Casablancas, Metric and The Oh Sees. Their third studio LP, Western Mystery Tradition, which was released in May, was produced by Jonah Swilley (Mattiel, ATO Records) and recorded by Bill Skibbe (The Kills, Jack White) at Detroit’s (reputedly haunted) Masonic Temple, the famed Key Club Recording Studios, and Detroit’s Third Man Records. The album has been hailed as somewhat of a departure from their usual psych rock sound, featuring a more polished vibe that contributes to the maturity of their sound. Apparently inspired by “the isolation of the polar vortex in the northern US in 2019 that basically made outdoor life impossible”, it’s filled with suitably heavy atmospherics. Support comes from local garage rockers TV Death, and the re-emerging, much loved fuzz rockers Cheap Lunch.

Moonwalks, TV Death and Cheap Lunch play The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle on Wednesday 26th July. www.moonwalks.bandcamp.com

MUSIC JACK LADDER @ THE GREEN ROOM

Words: Jason Jones

The Green Room in Stockton welcomes cult icon Jack Ladder for an unmissable, intimate performance on Thursday 6th July. The singer-songwriter is a towering presence in the Australian indie scene, and has worked alongside some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Bill Callahan, Angel

Olsen, John Cale, Sharon Van Etten, Father John Misty and Weyes Blood, as well as recently touring with Alex Cameron and stadium rock titans The Killers. Often compared to compatriot Nick Cave, Ladder is renowned for his soaring, tender baritone, as well as his mastery of musical narrative, conjuring tales of beauty, love, hope and redemption that celebrate the human condition in his signature sardonically sentimental style.

From largely acoustic debut album Not Worth Waiting For to the lilting, brooding electronica of 2011’s Hurtsville, Ladder is an artist who has refuted categorisation and embraced reinvention at every stride in his polymathic career.

Diversely thrilling and thrillingly diverse, his live show draws on influences ranging from Leonard Cohen and Grant Lee Buffalo to Lambchop, and promises to deliver something that will linger long in the memory. Support on the evening comes from Ryder The Eagle and his distinctive brand of melancholic penmanship.

Jack Ladder and Ryder The Eagle play The Green Room, Stockton on Thursday 6th July. www.jackladderandthedreamlanders.com