NE Online Magazine Issue 62 - Ronan Keating

Welcome Note.

Due to illness, this issue is a tad late, but as they say...better late thannever. It still hasn’t stopped us from bringing you another packed issue though, with plenty to see and read as the North East always has plenty to showcase.

As always, if you have something you want to see in a future issue then don’t forget to drop us an email to wayne.groves@neonlinemagazine. com

Plus remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for our regular updates on events and competitions.

Till next time

Take care

Wayne

EDITOR & DESIGNER

Wayne Groves wayne.groves@neonlinemagazine.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Peter Mann BSc

Inside Mann Media & PR insidemannmedia.wordpress.com petermann78@hotmail.com

Madhouse Media www.madhousemedia.co.uk

SOUTH TYNESIDE

Coronation, this May, so Katie Ashby and her D-Day Darlings prepare for their Coronation Tour, under the watchful eye from above, of Dame Vera Lynn. The Nation’s Sweetheart, gave these wonderful darlings, sweethearts in their own right, her blessing several years ago, and they continue to do both Dame Vera, her family, and the estate, proud.

A lengthy tour to come, with a number of dates sandwiched between them, the upcoming months is going to be very busy indeed for co-founders Katie Ashby, Nicola Roberts et

al; they’ve even got a couple of dates in our beloved northeast in which to soak up the celebratory atmosphere they’ll bring.

Immediately after the Coronation itself, the Darlings will be touring from 29 April until 22 June, they have appointments at The Customs House, South Shields (13 May) and the Darlington Hippodrome (26 May), among others – the actual day itself, there’ll be a trio performance in Selsey, West Sussex. Looking back though, at the time

they were afforded the support of Dame Vera, could actually be attributed to the very beginning of Katie, Nicola and company’ journey in the industry.

“Myself, and Nicola (Roberts), are still here from when we first started out, nearly fifteen years ago now, explained Katie, reminiscing of those formative days, some fifteen years or so ago now.

“I was doing lots of variety shows before that, and within them, we did a segment about wartimes, which I used to watch from backstage.

“Seeing how much it mixed the audiences, it gave me the thought, right there, that’s what

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I wanted to do.

“The feedback we got in those early days helped us to grow and we were told, even then, that Dame Vera’s people were showing an interest and gave us their support.

“We even wore the uniforms (of the WRAF) from the very beginning, something which I love, the authenticity of it all, and it was a vision of mine from the start, like they actually do, when we were are at full capacity, we’re flying in formation.”

That connection to Dame Vera however, she being both

the forces, and the nations sweetheart, prior to her passing in June 2020 (aged 103 years), is one which continues to burn bright for Katie.

Doing what she does now, Dame Vera has, and rightly so, been an inspiration for, and instrumental in the success, of the D-Day Darlings.

Katie even enjoyed a meeting with the Dame, not long before her passing, at the entertainer’s then home, the D-Day Darlings co-founder adding, with her beaming smile: It’s amazing that we have the support of Dame Vera’s family, and estate.

“I’m delighted that we’re able to continue working with them, and to be the voice of their campaigns.

“I met Vera in the March of 2019, the year before she passed away, and it was truly amazing, wonderful.

“They tell you not to meet your heroes, your idols, but for me, that could not have been further form the truth.

“It was basically like, going to your grans house; she was so nice, had all the photo albums out, tea and cakes, and told us

many, wondrous stories.

“It was just the most surreal time and, when we started to leave, she serenaded us with ‘We’ll Meet Again,’ and it was, on the back of that meeting, when we were heading home, I started writing the song, ‘Sweetheart.’”

Carrying on, unabated and whole-heartedly Katie, who

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recently turned 45, never let the recent, global health-scares, stand in her way; having had a child, she continued with the business the best way she could, readying herself, the darlings, and the juniors, another string to their wholesomeness, for when things could start up again. Before that though, there was

Britain’s Got Talent (apparently we do anyway), the Darlings being finalists in 2018 – a nice way to celebrate your ten year anniversary, and the following year, Colin Thackery, the loveable Chelsea Pensioner, won the same competition (he’s also included on the upcoming tour).

“Britain’s Got Talent was a fantastic experience, and something which opened up our demographic to a much wider audience,” continued Katie.

“We’ve a great variety in what we do, and we’re very much an act with heart (plenty of it), and meaning.

“There’s nobody else does this kind of music, at this level, in the way which we do, so it’s very niche and we’re certainly one of a kind, and often seen as being bigger than the trend.”

It was that same year which they released their debut album, ‘I’ll Remember You,’ it reaching #15 in the UK Album charts; that was followed in 2019 by ‘I’ll Remember You: The VE Day 75th Anniversary Celebration Edition,’ and it went on to reach #5 in the UK Album chart (peaked at #2 midweeks).

EXLUSIVELY, a third album is also due next year (2024), for the 80th Anniversary, Katie saying that: “it’s the last chance we’ll probably have to commemorate those that are living, who survived the war.

“(Colin Thackery) we saw him on Britain’s Got Talent and we absolutely love him, he’s a wartime hero.

“He, alongside our wonderful juniors, will help to make this a generational, family show (for the coronation tour).

“It absolutely made sense that, when we started putting this together, he’d join us on a few shows – his wife was from Darlington and one of the songs he performs is dedicated to her.”

The ‘Kings Coronation Tour,’ it begins at the Merryfield Theatre, in Verwood, Dorset, on Saturday 29 April, and runs for some 27 dates, Matinee & Evening performances galore, until the finale, at the Elgiva Theatre, in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, on Thursday 22 June - not forgetting the smattering of trio, and fivepiece performances, scattered throughout the same period.

“This tour, we started looking

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into it as soon as the date was announced for the coronation,” continued Katie.

“We just wanted to be able to get out there and see as many people as possible.

“So many people, venues, they wanted to books us straight away, and that’s amazing.

“But we have a lot going on now in which to work around, including everyone’s availability, the logistics, costings, it’s endless.

“We’re looking forward to having a party with everyone though.

“Everything we have on these shows ties in, and we’ve even got a Navy section in there in which to honour our King.

“It’s a real, celebratory show, fun, and light-hearted, making it very time-specific to help people feel good – a light, breezy, kindhearted performance.”

As for Katie Ashby, she’s always keeping herself busy, and not just with home-life either, the D-Day Darlings very much a fulltime business for herself, and her partner, Stewart Whale.

“I do perform at most of the shows as this is my job, running

the Darlings, and our juniors,” concluded Katie.

“There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and that included writing and rehearsing new material, songs, but yes, most of the time I’m on the shows as well.”

Keep up-to-date with everything D-Day Darlings via their socials on Facebook https://www. facebook.com/TheDDayDarlings and Twitter https://twitter. com/TheDDayDarlings and their fantastic website https://www. ddaydarlings.co.uk/

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Among the talented, female musicians heading to the Hexham Jazz Festival this May, and there’s a few of them, Claire Martin, Jo Harrop (she’s one of our own you know), there’s also the serenely-stunning vocals of Kent born, Rachel Sutton.

If you’ve not checked her out, we’d urge you do so. Her debut album, ‘A Million Conversations (2020),’ was a stunning followup to the long-forgotten EP, ‘Trouble in Mind,’ some six years previous, and we now have it on good authority, there’s more, finally, in the pipeline.

For Rachel, life as a performer began long before she became a jazz singer. The multi-talented Sutton is a trained actor, having worked across the UK, Europe, and at both the Edinburgh and New York Fringe festivals. Although born-and-raised in the sumptuous, Kent countryside, Ms. Sutton’s education would take her to that of Glamorgan University, as well as the Welsh College of Music & Drama. “I was heavily into acting even before I went to university,” began Rachel, her life though, somehow always revolving

Rachel Sutton

around music. “I knew that I wanted to perform at a very young age, and although I loved acting, music was a huge passion – especially jazz.

“I was in a touring pantomime when I was 21 and a member of the cast’s housemate needed a singer for their band.

“I’d been heard singing a few times before, so I stepped in. After that night, I was told that I should be doing it more and that

gave me huge confidence. “I guess it just spiralled from there and I began hanging around musicians, singing backing vocals for one or two bands; I soon realised though that that wasn’t my forte. It was then I realised that I wanted to be a lead singer.” As luck would have it though, and with the swings and roundabouts that accompanied the early career of the now, 46-year-old jazz star, the world of theatre

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would again come calling.

Ms. Sutton’s life would again be thrust back into what she was trained to do; not wholly a world away from a musicians life.

“I went back into theatre as I was lucky enough to a job touring Shakespeare around the UK and Europe,” continued Rachel,

before a cruel twist in life’s eternal road took her across the globe – home though, was never far away.

“I had my heart broken and ended up travelling the world before returning home and getting a job as a drama teacher. “Although I loved it, the arts was

completely pushed aside, that and I was working in some pretty hard secondary schools, for a few years. There was little time for anything else, sadly.

“With the long hours, I struggled to do both (teach and be creative) and something had to change.” Now, back on British soil, it would have been a sin if she’d stayed on the other side of the world and continued down the path she’d eventually take; their loss, is certainly own-re-gain.

Ms. Sutton returned to the industry which holds her in such high-esteem and went head/ feet-first, into the jazz industry. An EP, and an album later, certainly justifies that decision.

“The contacts I’d gathered, they helped me a lot, it got me into the jazz world and I’m very grateful for that,” explained Rachel.

“I always felt that my voice leant itself towards jazz and I had always had a deep appreciation and love of the music, passed down to me from my mother who was a huge jazz fan.

“A wonderful composer who I

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was working with, suggested that I find a great pianist to collaborate with.

“Someone whom she felt would work really well with me, and would be able to help me, was Roland Perrin (pianist –composer – teacher), who would also become my husband (they married over a decade ago).

“We had not only a deep connection, but a deep recognition, and understanding of each other, from the very start.”

Including the stunning, title track, ‘A Million Conversations,’ that, early 2020 release, also contains the tracks ‘When Love Was New,’ ‘Pick Myself Up,’ Kiss My Baby Goodbye,’ ’Brother Can You Spare a Dime,’ ‘Evil Gal Blues, and ‘The Space.’

The seven-track debut was, according to Jazz Views, “a revelation....the music is of the highest quality,” whilst London Jazz News, like ourselves, agreed that, seeing her live, she is a “stand out performer…..a revelation.”

“It was time to make an album and I had written some music I was really proudly of, added Rachel, before talking about the process of creating her music.

“You have to give yourself the time and go through it with a fine toothcomb. But after a day in the studio, it’s also best to give it some space, let it settle, then come back to it with fresh ears.

“There were some really great reviews, even though we went into the first lockdown around six weeks say, after it was released.

“I had some great gigs lined up, ready to promote it, and it was all starting to kick off, so it was a shame we couldn’t do that.

“During lockdown, I ended up doing a lot of promotion on social media and it helped to get my work out there a lot more, and further across the world, which is fantastic.

“Because of that, I’ve reached audiences in Brazil, Japan, etc., and it’s been lovely receiving emails from people, mainly because of my title track ‘A Million Conversations.’ I wrote that song when my mother died and to know that it touches

people means everything to me.” Now though, among numerous other dates, Ms. Sutton is set to make the long trek north, from her London home, appearing

on the opening night of the upcoming, Hexham Jazz Festival. Appearing with her will be husband/pianist, Roland Perrin, as well as two, highly-esteemed,

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local musicians, Andy Champion (bass), and Steve Hanley (drums), the latter duo putting in several shifts that jazz weekend.

“It’s a lovely, historic place, so I’m really looking forward to it,” gushed Rachel, looking ahead to what will be a fleeting visit, north.

“I would have loved to have been able to spend more time there exploring, but it’s a quick, twenty-four hour, turnaround for us (they’ve a young child to relieve from the babysitters).

“Our daughter, yes, she’s musical, thank god,” laughed Rachel, “and she’s learning the piano, and enjoys singing, which is great.

“I’m excited to be performing at the Abbey and with the

incredible acoustics it’ll have.

“It’s in lovely surroundings and a beautiful place in which to perform so, my set will certainly be lively and uplifting, tender and heartfelt, one which will certainly have plenty of swings and roundabouts, which is how it should be really.

“Oh, as well as a few laughs along the way.

“There’s an eclectic mix of jazz music in there, lots of differing styles, so I’ll be performing tracks from the album (A Million Conversations), and from the (expected) upcoming album, as well as some other tracks I’m working on as I’m really excited by some recent discoveries, ones which I’m really pleased to have found.”

A new album you say – having discovered the stunning, delightful vocals of Ms. Sutton, not that much after she released the album, we’ve been nibbling away at her to get another one out there – we can’t wait…..

“Yes, I’m planning a new album, and I’m looking at later this year,”

Rachel glowed.

“I’ve got all sorts of ideas in my mind, writing, and storing lyrics, and I’ve got a number of songs ready so, hopefully, I’ll start recording it soon.”

Rachel Sutton will be performing

at the Hexham Jazz Festival, this May (festival runs Friday 12 to Sunday 14); you can catch her on Friday 12 May and ticket information is available via HERE https://www.queenshall. co.uk/events/weekend-rover0?fbclid=IwAR18kLA3lsVjxgc0U jhAR1XENdl1_bNMgwYXoZ9DSXYopJv5AJQh4mnVDs

Keep up-to-date with all things Rachel Sutton via her socials on Facebook https://www.facebook. com/rachelsuttonmusic Twitter https://twitter. com/RachelOSutton and via her website HERE https:// rachelsuttonmusic.com/

Images courtesy of Jonathan Cuff (The Pheasantry, and Toulouse Lautrec), Nigel Sutton (Pizza Express, and the 606 Club), and Polly Hancock (album cover of ‘A Million Conversations’).

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Claire Martin

Often labelled as being ‘The First Lady of British Jazz,’ Brighton’s London-born musician, Claire Martin’s resume is certainly an impressive one, and she’s bringing it all the way up to Northumberland, for the Hexham Jazz Festival (Hexham Abbey), for an evening that is, surely, not to be missed. A recipient of numerous jazz awards, more than numerous albums, performed on most continents, and of course an OBE back in what was a highly-productive, exciting 2011, continues to impress in a career that already spans more than three decades, and shows no signs of abating. “It was certainly an interesting decision, but has been an absolute privilege, to be a jazz musician,” began Claire, when looking back on her early days in the industry, in the late eighties.

“It is certainly both a specialist, yet rewarding game in which to be

in, and it’s been nice to have been recognised, over the years, for what I do.

“Playing Ronnie Scott’s, at the start of my career (21), it’s always been a favourite venue of mine and I’ve been delighted to grace their stage.

“As for performing across the globe, I’ve not really done Africa

yet and, although I’ve done some weird and wonderful performances/places, I’d like to maybe perform somewhere hot, the Bahamas maybe,” she adds, giggling, thinking of those hot, Caribbean beaches, and summery drinks. Right now however, as well as a number of dates on her native,

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British soil, she’ll have to make do with the Scandinavian, cold snap, of Sweden, where she heads to during this month April 11-21. She doesn’t mind though, already stating she enjoys performing, pretty much anywhere really, and which includes her own, curated, Ilford Manor Jazz Festival, where she’ll perform with the Ronnie Scott’s All Stars, in early July.

“My band-mates are Swedish, and that’s helped us make a good impact in Scandinavia, so I’m

looking forward to heading over for a mini-tour, in Sweden,” adds Claire, with that beautiful smile she possesses.

“Being the curator at the Ilford Manor Jazz Festival though, that’s a really great occasion, set in a beautiful home, and both an incredible place and setting.

“So, this year, will be the second one there, and I’m guesting with the Ronnie Scoot’s All Stars. “I’ve performed there previously, and was delighted when they agreed to let me put on a festival –after all, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

Then there’s the albums, of which there’ll soon be another to add to her collection of masterpieces. The last, which came out in early 2020 (we all know what was happening then), saw her providing vocals on Callum Au’s ‘Songs and Stories’ whereas the next, ‘I Watch You Sleep,’ with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, alongside that of American conductor, arranger, pianist, Scott Dunn, is a Tenth Anniversary commemoration for

the Oscar nominated composer, Richard Rodney Bennett.

“Putting albums together is certainly harder now, with the social media side being an extra hat in which to wear, and another job for any of us to do,” explained Claire.

“Overall though, the albums I’ve got are all pages in a diary, about how I was at any given time, but choosing one, specific album, then the New York one is certainly a favourite, a standout for me, and an honour.

“They all resonate though, for whatever reason, and the latest is my new favourite because of it being so fresh, and new.

“The upcoming album (I Watch You Sleep), Scott Dunn is a dear friend of Richard’s, as I was, so this has been something in the making for a few years.

“I’m really glad we’ve got it done, so we can remember our friend

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on something which is both really special, and personal, and for which yes, the stars aligned for.

“Performing with an orchestra though, that was something different for me and which I’ve not done before, but it’s similar to my

music, in a way, just more luscious and elaborate.

“The current album, (Songs and Stories) that’s Callum Au’s baby, and he hired me to do the vocals on it, so I really have him to thank for that.

“We’ve only just done the launch though, which has been weird, but

that’s down to all else happening.” She’s not resting on her laurels either though, far from it. Time ‘off’ because of things happening globally in recent times, afforded time to look at ‘other’ projects, and, in doing so, put the wheels in motion for a new business.

“Now, looking to the future, I’ve started, with some close friends, a production company, ECN Music,” concluded Claire.

“It was just launched at the start of this year, and I’m now looking more at the production side of the industry, that’s my way forward, and my thinking for the future.”

Catch Claire Martin at the Hexham Jazz Festival this May, 12-14, where she’ll be performing on the Sunday (14 May) evening, at the Queen’s Hall Theatre, ticket information via HERE https://www. queenshall.co.uk/events/weekendrover-0?fbclid=IwAR18kLA3lsVjx gc0UjhAR1XENdl1_bNMgwYXoZ9DS-XYopJv5AJQh4mnVDs Images courtesy of Kenny McCracken

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“My real passion is standing on stage, performing; nothing beats that.” Ronan Keating, March 2023. A career spanning three decades, as both a solo artist, and as lead singer of one the worlds’ biggest boy bands, you can’t really get much bigger than the Irish sensation that is, Mr Ronan Keating. Having started out alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and the late, Stephen Graham, in the early-nineties, fronting the now iconic pop band, Boyzone, Ronan Keating’s career soon shot to, well, super-stardom. Numerous singles, albums, and compilations later, it’s perhaps hard to fathom that, back then, when they released ‘Working My Way Back to You (May 1994),’ and the smash hot, ‘Love Me for a Reason (November 1994),’ both from their debut album, ‘Said and

Done’ (the former of the two on the Ireland only release), the band formed by talent manager, Louis Walsh, would go all the way. The lads themselves, certainly didn’t.

“Where’s the time gone, thirty years, it’s bananas really,” began Ronan, speaking to NE Online, ahead of his Newcastle Ladies Day appearance on Saturday 29 July.

“We certainly weren’t thinking

about longevity when we started out; to be honest, we weren’t even thinking five years, just the next record.

“But then, everything went crazy overnight, and it, well, snowballed, and it’s all been crazy ever since. “The music we have done, looking back now, it carries you back there, because you perform it all the time.”

There’s been two, stellar runs, in which Boyzone had enjoyed in the music industry, their first running until the turn of the millennium, and the second, between 2008 and 2019 (return announced late 2007), finishing at the London Palladium, having just celebrated their 25th anniversary.

Of the comeback, it was tinged with sadness, co-vocalist, Stephen Gateley, passing away, at the age of 33, in October 2009, as hearts

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broke around the world; the band though, they carried on, in his name.

The band’s 2009, ‘Better’ tour, was to be the last in which they had with all five members, and a new album, ‘Brother,’ was released in early 2010, their fourth, studio release.

All told, there’s been seven studio albums, nine compilation albums, and a plethora of music videos and singles, between 1994 and 2018, whilst Ronan himself, as a solo artist, has added another dozen studio, four live, one com-

pilation, and again, singles and videos galore.

He did say that “thirty years, it’s bananas,” the number of releases just solidifies that statement; a self-titled, debut, solo album, back in 2000, featuring the hits, ‘Life is a Rollercoaster,’ and, ‘When You Say Nothing at All,’ kept that star shining brightly. His last album, as a solo artist, so far, came in 2021, with the release of ‘Songs from Home,’ although he does love a collaboration, a duet, as his 2010 release, ‘Duet,’ shows.

“We’ve taken the albums as they’ve

come,” explained Ronan. “None have us have thought about it; even as a solo artist, we know there’s been big records, and Boyzone certainly had plenty of hits. “I’ve done, and enjoyed doing, duets with international artists, but you also miss the camaraderie you get in a band.”

Among the tracks on his ‘Duet’ album, Ronan is seen to collaborate with the likes of Elton John and Lulu, Brian McFadden (Westlife fame) and LeAnn Rimes, to name a few.

He’s also dueted with his wife,

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Storm (Sharyn Uechtritz), in the past few years, when, honouring Valentine’s Day, in 2021, they produced a stunning, acoustic rendition of Ronan’s 1999 hit, ‘When You Say Nothing At All.’

“Storm, her talent is just insane,” beamed Ronan.

“I just love working with her, and it makes sense to do so.

“As a solo artist, it’s easier than in a band, although the process is still similar, but different, at the same time.”

Having known each other since 2012, the pair wed three years later, going on to have two children, adding to Ronan’s three from his marriage.

The youngest of the bunch, she arrived in the early days of the pandemic, and has been an inspiration, a guide, for Ronan, and for Storm, to push on through. He adding of her arrival: “We just stuck together (during covid). “We had a baby girl, early on, and that was great, and she certainly helped us through, which means that we’ve a future which looks good, and very busy.”

With jobs aplenty, forever keeping Ronan busy, including his work on Magic, where he’s been for over five years, the music legend is looking forward to yet another year performing to the masses, and providing the soundtrack to many an individuals’ life.

“It’s certainly shaping up to be another, busy year,” concluded the legendary popstar.

“On paper, this year is looking busy, ridiculously busy, but we also know that, things can change; but for me, I can’t wait to get out there.”

Ronan Keating will be appearing at the Newcastle Racecourse

Gainford Group Ladies Day, on Saturday 29 July, tickets to which are available via https://www.newcastle-racecourse.co.uk/whats-on/ the-gainford-group-ladies-day-ftronan-keating

Keep up-to-date with everything in Ronan Keating’s world via his socials, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ronankeatingofficial and Twitter https://twitter.com/ ronanofficial and via his website at https://www.ronankeating.com/

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Daveed Diggs, Halle Bailey, Awkwafina Rob Marshall

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Reading, for me, has always been something in which I’ve enjoyed, however, I do go through phases where, sometimes I can read, endlessly, and others, not much at all. I have my go-to books, those in which I can just pick, and while away a few hours here and there, and you’d probably be surprised as to what those books actually are. Now, since getting my eyesight tested late last year, I’ve been reading pretty much non-stop again, which is great, except I’m actually finding myself reading a completely different genre of book than I have done previously.

Yes, I’d read a John Grisham, or a Colin Forbes, but, on the main, it would usually be more of your fantasy, with the occasional horror, thrown into the mix, that would tickle my fancy, now though, there’s a few crime thrill-

ers trickling though. I think I mentioned in the last issue that I usually have a couple of books on the go at any one time, that’s not changed. At present, I’ve got I’d say three on the go, two which I’d class as being a ‘long read,’ they aren’t necessarily

big in size, you just have to have the frame of mind, and time, to sit down and digest the contents a lot more.

I picked both of them up before a recent trip to Nottingham, and I’ve been dipping in-and-out; they are ‘Motherlands: In Search of our Inherited Cities’ by Amaryllis Gacioppo, and ‘Sherpa: Stories of Life and Death from the Forgotten Guardians of Everest,’ by Pradeep Bashyal & Ankit Babu Adhikari. And yes, I purchased another three whilst I was away, two NFL books, and another for my Germany collection – I have a few, little collections, having amassed, it changes over the years. Anyway, my reading of thrillers, the past month or so has seen a couple read, and yes, they’ve surprised me, and in differing ways.

‘A Promise to Kill,’ by Erik Storey

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was about a loner, a drifter, who wandered into an American town where the local Indians people had been overrun by a gang of hardcore bikers who’d stole, to order, military merchandise; as you can guess, chaos ensued.

‘The Cottage,’ by Lisa Stone, brilliant read and, at times, I couldn’t put it down. Surprised me, and at times, it freaked me out. Let’s just say, check out your cottage surrounds when you’re alone in the woods – ending was a few surprising twists to the tale as well, genetics, mutations, it had it all. The next was a pretty quick, decent, kidnapping style thriller read, ‘The Body in the Stairwell,’ by Nick Louth. Gripping for sure, and at times I wondered how/ where, the book title was actually going to come into it. Then there was the lengthy read that is ‘What Are You Afraid Of?’ by Alexandra Ivy; you can tell why she’s a NY Times Bestselling Author, this was certainly a suspense from start to finish, and enjoyable with it. Lots of the proverbial twists and turns, a family torn apart by death, and a serial killer with the ultimate twist you never saw coming – and no, it’s not that either…

At present though, I’ve recently started a book entitled ‘Frenzy’ by John Lutz, I’ll discuss that,

next time. However, I often find it difficult to go between one read to the next, and yet I never seem to have problems purchasing new ones, like the latest addition to the over-flowing collection. Having worked in the hospitality industry myself in the past, I’ve a respect for chefs and sommeliers, and a recent release I’ve had my eye on for some time is now on my bookshelf, ‘Albert Roux: My Life in Food. A Memoir.’ This

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should be a brilliant read about the life and times of the head of the famous Roux family.

Well-educated, and wellread has, somehow, led Geordie born Dr Peter Wynarczyk to embark, in his later years, on a funny tale of north-east football, in the lower reaches of the beautiful game, the lovingly titled – Players Number Six: The Ballad of Pork and Mutton FC.

It’s took some time his getting there, in fact, if you went back seven or eight decades, you may not even find the name in amongst the peoples of Blaydon, Ashington, or South Shields; his father, he’s from what was, back then, Polish

with Dr Peter Wynarczyk

Ukraine, he having been born in what’s known as the Bloodlands of West Ukraine (part of the new Poland

after World War One).

Having spent time during the Second World War in a German Labour Camp, he ended up here, as a displaced person coming to the NorthEast, working down the mines and becoming part of a very strong, working-class community.

“I grew up in the towns of Ashington and South Shields,” began Peter, briefly looking back on where it all began.

“The latter is, even now, still pretty much half and half split, between Newcastle United and Sunderland; it’s a rivalry which has deep,

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historical roots, embedded in it.”

“My parents (his mother was born locally) both believed in education and self-improvement.

“I was the first in my family to go to university, at Durham as an undergraduate, then to the University of Kent, Canterbury, for a Phd Economics.

“I then had a thirty plus year career in academia in Newcastle and London.

“It was during my almost ten year, weekly commute to London, with all that travelling back-and-forth on the train, that I conceived and developed the idea of my debut novel, Players Number Six.

“It also provided plenty to time to continue my interest in poetry.”

Work took him into a lifetime

of lecturing in Economics, as an Academic Economist and a Senior University Manager and Business Consultant. It was whilst in these roles he’d had published, academic books and papers, covering that of Economics and Macroeconomics, the latter, co-authoring ‘A Modern Guide to Macroeconomics’ (1994, translated into Polish, Italian, French, and Chinese) – yes, a far cry from his most recent, comedic offering. All that travelling, back-andforth, would take its toll on any man, and so it eventually did with Peter, he going on to take early retirement, around a decade ago, and turn to writing fiction and poetry as one of his interests among many.

“I got tired of London but not of life!” continued Peter.

“I was fortunate to have the means to be able to take early retirement and recognize that life is too short.

“I have always had a wide array of different projects on the go at any time, and believe variety is the spice of life.”

“I spent some of my new found freedom of doing what I wanted, completing writing Players Number Six. “It’s full of your colourful and somewhat absurd characters, partly influenced by my liking for the eighteenth century novelist Tobias Smollett, alongside my favourite novelist Joseph Roth and his focus on belonging and identity.

“I have also added more than a dash of humour in the spirit of the more modern Tom Sharpe.

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“They are writers I enjoy, and they tend to bring together differing characters within their works.”

Smollett is a Scottish novelist, critic and playwright of the mid-1700s, works included that of The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771).

Roth meanwhile, is an Austrian-Jewish journalist and author, was born in what is now part of Ukraine, and was prolific around the 1920s and 1930s with Job (1930) and the saga, the Radetzky March (1932), early, yet major works.

And Sharpe, he’s a satirical novelist from the seventies up to the present day, better known for his Wilt series (1976-2010), and other, earlier works.

“To be honest, it (Players) is part memoir, writing about something which I know and have experienced, but every word is fiction, East and West Shields, come on now, that’s fictitious,” smirked Peter, delving a little more into his psyche, and the tale of, and behind the book.

“You will be able to identify echoes of places in Ashington and South Shields, and even aspects of

some of the people.

“I suppose now the book exists so do East and West Shields!

“It does allow to have Cold War going on between West Shields (where Pork and Mutton is located) and East Shields (where the football authorities are).

“This is the 1970’s after all and the reader can identify exactly when by looking at the clues in the narrative of the book.”

“The title, originates from the fact that the depleted pub team go from four players to six by the end of chapter one.

“The added benefit of the title was the connection between the title and Player’s No.6 cigarettes, the top selling brand in the early to mid-seventies, which had one page ads in most football programmes of the time.

“I did have to do quite a lot of research for it though, due to when it was set, as I wanted to make it as authentic as possible and it is easy to forget and let the present overshadow the past.”

His reflections include a time when he himself played football for his College, and Sunday League teams;

“everything was different

back then, be it playing positions - no false nines or sweeper keepers, but we were all fantasy footballers believing we were better than we were.

“There were no yellow or red cards, you had only one substitute and two points for a win. Advertising on shirts was unheard of and there were no tattoos.

“Even the Second World War continued to loom large during the 70s and serves to cast its shadow in the book.

“There’s lots of different characters in the storyline and the reader gets to meet the players of Pork and Mutton FC alongside other notable individuals from the other teams they face over an entire 30 game season with full match commentary on every game taking place in a particular year in the 70’s - exactly when, well the clues are there!

“For example, we have their keeper, Owen Bigalow, builder by day and Roy Orbison impersonator by night, who is even crazier than most goalkeepers, alongside the Tripolini brothers, Italian triplets who play in defence, and a Brazilian who can’t play football.

“We even have a wigwearing Australian by the

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name of Ever Reddy (named not unintentionally like the South Shields motto of ‘Always Ready’ - book has lots of absurd identifiable inferences like that).”

Fictitious, yet funny, comedic, yet informative at the same time; Players Number Six is a must-read for any football lover, or any lover of literature in fact.

“If Barcelona is more than a football club then my novel is more than a football book”, quipped Peter, adding that it has widespread appeal and blends literary and commercial fiction.

On the verge of taking on a life of its own – where there is a will, there is a way, Peter is hoping it can provide the fuel for more, literary works to come.

“I guess it’s for the wider market really, and appeals to many people of differing ages, locations, sex, as there’s differing angles to the storyline,” explained Peter.

“It romances the game, at its lowest level, and those things are important to me –it has more twists and turns than George Best does.

“It’s funny, witty, witful, and wistful, which is what people have found.

“The ending of the book (of which there’s 44 chapters, there’s even a reason to

that), that’s left things open for a second one, a followup to it.

“I feel, as others do with it, that it’s a tale that lends itself to cinema, television or film, so, getting a good response to this will decide the follow-up, and also the timing of publishing my poetry.

Having regaled with some of his, quite wondrous poetry, Peter provided a little insight into his other works, and what could be in production for later this year.

Wee Shards, that’s the title, Peter saying: “I’ve always written and enjoyed poetry, it’s more of an escape really, ever since I was young.

“Poetry is something which I’ve always done so, it’s not really a great leap for me to take between the two.

“‘Wee Shards’ is a collection of poems, in four parts –‘Whimsy’, which is just me having fun and being silly, ‘Historical Privilege’ which is about how we connect the present with the past, and need to have greater respect, appreciation

and tolerance for earlier generations; ‘Owed to Covid’ is his own personal take on that whole episode, and ‘Whoever Heal Thyself’ which is centred around self-help regarding personal issues.

“I’m hoping I can release this later in the year, say the next six months, on the back of and following the success of Players Number Six.”

You can purchase Peter Wynarczyk’s enjoyably funny, Players Number Six: The Ballad of Pork and Mutton FC via https://www. amazon.co.uk/PlayersNumber-Six-Ballad-Mutton/ dp/1915338735 and follow the latest goings-on via his Twitter https://twitter.com/ PorkandMuttonFC

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UK’s First National Armed Forces & Emergency Services Event takes place in Sunderland

The Stadium of Light will be the setting for an event first for the UK this month.

The National Armed Forces and Emergency Services Event (NAFESE) will take place on Thursday, April 27, and it will be the first occasion the Armed Forces and Emergency Services have come together to hold a large-scale event of its kind. The University of Sunderland is

the main sponsor for the event and will host a number of stalls and activities on the day, which cover everything from workforce development courses, that includes, eSports courses, fully-funded ESF courses, and degree apprenticeships.

NAFESE 2023 is made up of three key sections.

The Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club kicks off proceedings in Quinn’s Bar, alongside the NAFESE exhibi-

tion, which will feature zones for recruitment and training and a STEM Village for invited schools and colleges. The event is then rounded off with the inaugural Services Awards - a black tie celebration of the best in service from Armed Forces to emergency to volunteer, which takes place on June 28 as part of Armed Forces Week.

NAFESE sees a number of businesses and organisations come together to back the

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event idea and these include Veterans in Crisis, The Hygeia Clinic, Sunderland AFC, The Coastguard Association and Pathfinder International magazine.

Over the years, the University of Sunderland has built substantial and enduring links with the UK’s armed forces and is currently a proud holder of the Armed Forces

Covenant Gold Award. The University is committed to ensuring that any service personnel wishing to study for a degree or other qualification are supported to do so.

Sunderland currently has 114 students with connections to the armed service undertaking University programmes. This includes former service personnel on undergraduate and postgraduate courses, foundation programmes, independent learners, and apprenticeships.

Simone Bedford, Associate Head of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and a Royal Air Force Veteran herself, says: “The University of Sunderland is very proud of our connections to the Armed Forces. We have a dedicated team to support staff and students with the transition from the military into ‘civvy’ street. Our Veterans and Reservists Network engages with staff and students to ensure we offer the best support to the military community at the university.”

Sunderland AFC will be hosting the event and Chief Operating Officer, Steve Davison said: “At Sunderland AFC, we recognise the immense importance of supporting all

within our local and regional communities, including our veterans. The North East and the City of Sunderland has proud ties with the armed forces across many generations and that extends to the Club, so it is a privilege to be hosting the first NAFESE in addition to the continuation of our Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club, which continues to support many service men and women.”

Charity Partner for the event, Veterans in Crisis continues to produce great work in the city and founder, Ger Fowler added, “it is such an honour for

the city to stage the first event of this nature. The area has great ties with the Armed Forces and our Emergency Services are well respected and so it is an ideal combination to cover both at one event.”

Pathfinder International, an Armed Forces resettlement publication, is also backing the event and editor Mal Robinson echoed Ger’s sentiments. Robinson said, “it is quite a coup for the city of Sunderland to be honest to stage an event of this magnitude. It made sense for Sunderland AFC to be the first location, such is the

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good work they do with both forces and services communities and having three events in one only adds to the occasion.”

Indeed, Sunderland AFC were the first football club in the UK to stage an Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club and this will be the seventh one to be staged at the Stadium of Light.

The Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club will start at 0900 and also on a day of firsts, blue light veterans are welcome to attend and mingle with the forces veterans.

The NAFESE exhibition begins at 0930 along the floor in the Montgomery Suite and adjoining areas and includes a recruitment zone for both those looking to join the forces and services and those leaving the forces and services and embarking on a new career.

In addition to this, a STEM Village is also on show with several schools and colleges invited to attend on the day with engagement teams from the likes of Sellafield present.

Exhibitors for the NAFESE exhibition include: Forces Pension Society, Sunderland Software City, Tyne & Wear Fire Service, Cleveland Police, Red Sky Foundation,

MedCover, Timoney College of Chiropractors and many more with over 40 in attendance.

Completing the event series is the 2023 Services Awards with awards

categories for the best in service for the British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Police, NHS, Volunteer Services and Fire Service. For information on how to register for the exhibition and Services Awards information please see the official website at www.nafese2023.com or search Eventbrite using the term “Armed Forces and Emergency Services Event”. For any schools and colleges wishing to attend and for general exhibitor enquiries on the event, please contact the NAFESE team at hospitality@ nafese2023.com

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Legendary Love Train returns to its native Teesside for long awaited homecoming show this May

Disco legend ‘Brutus Gold’ to bring the world’s best & longest running disco event back to its hometown

The show has earned plaudits from the likes of Tina Turner, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller and MTV!

The legendary Brutus Gold & The Love Train is returning to its native Teesside to offer up an immersive disco experience at The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall on Saturday 20th May.

Fronted by the disco legend Brutus Gold, believed to be from Puerto Rico (or is it Puerto-Clarence?), The Love Train has gained an international reputation for its interactive, vibrant, and utterly unique disco show that beams its audiences back to the nightclubs of the 1970s. Now, Brutus Gold is

back by popular demand, bigger and better than ever before, to the town where it was born.

Get ready to ‘get down’ with the greatest Disco party in the world complete with an all-star cast of crazy characters and spectacular production – and, of course, the best music from the grooviest decade.

Speaking ahead of the show at Middlesbrough Town Hall, Brutus Gold said: “Hey Midddellllssssborrrrrrooo, it’s been a long time since COVID 19-76 … but I’m back in my favourite town and can’t wait to get my groove on… so get ready to ‘dance, dance, dance’ and ‘do the hustle.’ Get your tickets to Disco Heaven now, Boogie Woogie!”

Since its beginnings in 1989 on Teesside, the Brutus Gold Affair has been wowing audiences across the world with its meticulously crafted sets, authentic retro costumes and flawless se-

lection of disco classics, including ‘Stayin’ Alive’, ‘Boogie Wonderland’, ‘Le Freak’ and many more.

Following a disrupted calendar due to Covid-19, The Love Train is thrilled to be back and performing on the big stage for their legions of fans.

Gold added: “I can’t wait to get back on the big stage and play in front of a home audience. You don’t need to get depressed, all ya

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need’s a hairy chest. Get set for the ultimate super-sonic Disco-tonic.”

“We’ll be playing all of your favourite tunes, dancing all of your favourite moves and wearing the famously flamboyant attire of the golden era of disco.”

Now in its 34th year, The Love Train has entertained more than one million people and over the years, has received plaudits from the likes of MTV and an impres-

sive list of international stars.

Since its inception, Brutus Gold and his talented troupe have performed privately for celebrities that include Tina Turner, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Wilson described the show as “totally awesome”, whilst Turner claimed she “danced all night” to the sounds of Brutus Gold’s selection of genre-defining records.

Featuring fully authentic retro scenery, stunning sound and dazzling lights, Brutus Gold and his team of gifted dancers, performers and musicians are set to take their audience on an A-Z tour through the music, fashion and dance moves that defined the era.

Audiences can expect an array of disco throwbacks, dance-offs and a cast of crazy characters who embody the eccentricities of the disco dance floor. Disco kid Alberto Balsam, Berni Inns, Chad Valley, Carlito, Disco Dick, Camp David, Ana Glypta

and the outrageous Polly Ester are all expected to appear for one of the touring company’s very first live appearances since the pandemic hit last March. This is not one to miss!

Come dressed in your finest vintage threads and get ready to ‘Do the Hustle.’

‘The Love Train’ Disco Show will take place on the 20th of May 2023 at The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall.

General Sale Early Bird tickets for The Love Train event start from £19 per ticket.

Tickets for The Love Train at The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall are on sale now. To buy tickets, head to Gigantic via this link: https://rb.gy/sedewr

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67 www.manhuacha.com NEW STORE OPENING MAY

THE CARPENTERS STORY

This highly acclaimed production continues to captivate audiences across the UK with its spectacular celebration of the classic songbook that made The Carpenters a legend in the world of popular music, selling over 100 million albums and singles.

This brand new show for 2023 once again features the outstanding vocal talents of Claire Furley, with Musical Director Phil Aldridge leading The Carpenters Story Orchestra as they re-create Richard Carpenter’s original orchestral arrangements.

Featuring all of the Carpenters hit songs including (They Long To Be) Close To You, Yesterday Once More, We’ve Only Just Begun, Superstar, A Song For You, Rainy Days & Mondays, Goodbye to Love and many more!

RHYTHM OF THE DANCE

Rhythm of the Dance has brought audiences around the world to their feet for over two decades and is returning with a brand new production.

Rooted in Ireland’s rich culture and heritage, the show takes a different perspective on all things Irish. Featuring world class live musicians, vocalists and champion

dancers, the show will be a completely immersive experience.

Join us on Friday 7th July 2023 for a journey through Ireland’s history from the ancient, rich in legend and myth, to the modern, urban Ireland that we see today, bursting at the seams, now more than ever with talent. For tickets and info visit https://www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk/events/all/

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Sunday 29th October 2023

Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Friday 16th June 2023

71 Thursday 4th May 2023

With essential 80s clobber from Fila, Sergio Tacchini along with your usual brands like Pretty Green, BOSS and Lacoste, plus more new stock arriving daily so make sure you pop in store or keep checking the website’s LATEST PRODUCTS

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Hypnotherapy, but what is Viking Hynotherapy?

Viking Hypnotherapys’ business motto is having “The Strength to Conquer Anything”. Wherever

you are today this is just a situ ation you’re in now, this is not your life, we all have the power to change our lives and I am basically your guide for this. Utilising the power of positive suggestion to bring about subconscious change to your thoughts feelings and behaviours. NLP is an approach to communication, personal devel opment, psychotherapy and also Life Coaching.

How different is Hypnotherapy compared to a hypnotist, is it the same thing or is it completely dif-

physical conditions.

Have these comedy hypnotist shows, where they put you under and then get you to do silly things

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The Midnight Live at Manchester Academy.

Music really is a very powerful thing, it can transport a person to a specific moment or time in an instant, it can cheer you up or it can really play with the emotions. Not many things have that power, not the way music does. So when you connect to a band or a song, it stays with you, you become passionate about it. The Midnight are one of those bands. Listening to them really has hit me on an emotional level with several of their songs, so getting to see them perform live, WOW, now that is taking it to a whole other level. These guys were incredible, they had the sold out crowd going crazy, like putty in their hands, singing the words back to lead singer Tyler every single time he pointed the mic at them, it gave

me goosebumps!

My love for The Midnight started a few years ago when my good friend Ryan Tabone introduced me to them. Both Ryan and myself are big music fans and we often share tracks via messenger in the

hope of introducing each other to new bands and songs. During lockdown he sent me three YouTube links…the first to a song called “Sunset”, the second was “Explorers” and the third “Lost Boy”. This was my introduction to The Midnight, safe to say I was literally hooked from the very first song. It was like being transported back to the 80’s, I even replied saying “the start of explorers literally is my childhood hahaha”.

Fast forward three years and I am now on such a comedown after getting back from one of the best gigs I have ever been to…and I have been to lots of great gigs, so that says something! With the release of the latest album “Heroes” and the announcement of a UK tour, it was a no brainer I would be going, thankfully this time the

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shows didn’t clash and so tickets for Manchester and the Academy were snapped up about thirty seconds after going on sale.

As always I tried my luck to see if I could get an interview with the band as I really wanted to spread the love for The Midnight, as it really bugs me how few people I talk to have actually heard of them, which now sounds crazy to me as these guys really are amazing and everyone should know their music. Tim and Tyler have somehow managed to hook me with their songs on such an emotional level,

so I had to at least ask for an interview. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be (this time at least…hint hint), as they had such an insane schedule, but I have to give a big thanks to one of team, Justin, who got back to me and sorted out a photo pass instead, Justin, you are an absolute legend, so thank you.

Now I am not going to lie, I’m not a professional photographer, but I have covered a fair few events in my time, so getting a photo pass was a great chance that I most certainly wasn’t going to pass up on. Typically I had a nightmare with

my camera deciding to stop working the day before the gig and not enough time to get a lend of one, so I did what anyone else would do in that situation…I worked with what I had, my crappy old Iphone 7. Did I look out of place… yes, would my pictures be good… not really, did I care…hell no! Because I got free reign to snap away at a band I love during the first 3 songs, being within touching distance, it really was an incredible experience for a fan to be in.

I did get chatting to one of the ACTUAL photographers that was covering the show, a young talented lad called Ben Redshaw, who very kindly offered to let me use some of his images in this review, as I genuinely did not know how mine were going to turn out. Thankfully they were not too bad, which was a bonus. But a big thanks goes to Ben, please show him some love folks, he has some great images from The Midnight and other gigs.

Trying to be professional and capture some good images was a pretty hard task, as I could easily have got lost in the moment, those vocals of Tyler really do mesmerise you. The band were on fire from

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the off, coming straight out with the new albums title track “Heroes to a Manchester crowd that really were up for a great night! Tyler had the crowd from the off, but the interaction between him and the crowd during “Gloria” was insane; I have not heard a crowd sing a song back as loudly as the fans did in Manchester that night.

Tyler even said Manchester was always a special place for him as his best ever gig was Manchester from a few years ago. The crowd really did not disappoint, they joined in with every single song, the atmosphere was unbelievable.

The whole band were tight, really giving everything to an eager crowd who lapped up every song, but special props has to go to Justin Klunk on Sax, every time he stepped forward to give an unreal sax solo the crowd went mental, I swear he had the place hypnotised, even Tim got out from behind the drums to applaud Justin during one of his sax solo’s. He has a set of lungs on him that’s for sure, he was outstanding! Lelia Broussard and Royce Whittaker where incredible too, both showing some unreal skills, Royce played some crazy solo’s and Leila on the bass was equally as impressive as her stunning vocals. They all played

together as one, belting out hit after hit, with new track “Brooklyn Friday Love” really getting the crowd going, that song was meant to be played live!

My personal favourite was “Comeback Kid”, that song gets me every single time I hear it, the lyrics

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really hit home with me on a personal level, so hearing them perform it live was the highlight of the show for me, plus I don’t mind admitting, I had tears rolling down my face as they sang it. It is one of those rare songs that you just connect with so deeply and emotionally, that it makes you cry and you feel every single word deep within your soul, it is a thing of beauty. Something I was lucky enough to be able to thank Tyler for personally after the show. That is a memory that I will treasure forever, hearing that song live really did blow me away.

No review will ever get across how good or bad a band really is, all I can say is if you are a fan of The Midnight please get to a future gig, you need to see them perform live, they really are incredible. Some bands just play and go through the motions, these don’t, they connect with the crowd and bring some magic to their performance. If you have not heard of them before then please give them a look up on Spotify or youtube, honestly you will not be disappointed.

Lastly, thank you to Tyler, Tim, Justin, Lelia and Royce, not only did you put on an epic show full of anthems, but you took to time

to chat with us outside after the gig, sign some autographs and pose for pics, you really did make our night by doing this. Though I am so glad Tim forgot his charger and went back for it, if he hadn’t we wouldn’t have gotten to chat as much, every cloud.

https://www.themidnightofficial. com/

Ben Redshaw Photography

Website: benredshawphotography. co.uk

Instagram: @benredshawphography

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that: “I’ve been involved

Magazine

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Hazlerigg’s Pro Fitness Infusion Fitness Studio, with Michael Johnson and Louise Coates at the forefront, are helping push getting youths off the streets, and promoting ‘Knives Down, Gloves Up,’ alongside it.

Michael, who comes from a fourdecade long boxing background himself, is enthused by the challenge presented, but also delighted by the support in which has already been afforded the programme now in place.

Although just twice a week at the Infusion Centre, they’ve already enlisted, voluntarily, support from two, fully qualified, England boxing coaches, meaning that there’s five coaches for a set of kids that’s already past thirty getting involved.

“I was taken under the wing, back in my childhood, by an old coach over Blakelaw,” explained Michael, who now lives in the area having moved from the West End a few years back.

“I was eight-years-old back then, and it totally changed my life, giving some forty years to the sport, and the people in it.”

That support, it’s included Les

Welsh at the nearby, Empire School of Boxing, and Spennymoor Sports, as well as a recent visit from a certain, Mr Joe Egan, among others.

In utilising his contacts, and with the exposure ascertained, the programme is already gathering some momentum in what, in the modern era, is a vast change to that of years gone by.

“Myself, and my partner, Louise (Coates) suggested between us really, that we put on free boxing classes,” explained Michael.

“We’re only doing it twice a week,

but it’s to help get the kids, not just off the streets, but also off of their computers, their mobile phones. “Kids, they don’t do what we used to anymore, so we just thought we’d do something, and see what happened.

“There’s not really crime here (Hazlerigg), more people that are opportunists, from elsewhere, during the night.

“And the kids, they aren’t bad really, it’s just a case of giving them a chance, getting to them first, and giving them other opportunities, especially when I know, first hand,

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what boxing has done for me, my entire life.”

Although an adult gym, something which they were originally set up to be, and a bookings-only one at that, the addition of these types of classes has meant that they are having to look at fundraising, in order to facilitate the right equipment, for the youths to utilise.

That also included a surprise donation, of £1,000, from one of their gym member, Darryl Chana (The Luxury Loft Company), someone who’d been training at the gym for the past two years plus; in doing so he stated how he’d like to help them purchase their much needed equipment. Someway to achieving that goal, it’s a process that could take time as well, but Michael, Louise, and their fellow coaches, are certainly committed to the cause.

“We’ve got kids desperate to get in, so this, what we’re doing, is certainly a good thing,” added

Michael.

“There’s 30+ already, and attracting the two, England boxing coaches, who are giving their time to us, is great.

“I’ve satisfaction to what we’re doing here, what we’re achieving, but, in being an adult gym, we do need to cater for these kids as well.

“The donations thus far, the exposure, it’s amazing and, if anyone does shine, from what we’re doing, there’s certainly places in which they can go to progress.”

In helping 9-16-year-olds, through that of the ‘Knives Down, Gloves Up’ campaign, is certainly helping the current generation of youths in and around the Hazlerigg area. To get involved, check them out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profitnessinfusion and

their website via https://profitnessinfusion.ueniweb.com/

To donate, visit their GoFundMe via https://gofund.me/d2052d9a

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Back in December we were lucky enough to be invited to the launch night of Four Quarters Newcastle, which is an incredible retro arcade bar filled with original arcades, games consoles and a phenomenal choice of beers and cocktails. Since then the bar has went on to run themed nights and other events. So it was great to finally get to chat with co-founder, Francois…who believe it or not, actually hails from the North East

So why don’t I give you some background about what we are? So I mean, I grew up in Seghill, and as a child, you know, I used to just gan to Whitley bay all the time. So the Spanish City and the

old Whitley Bay was, you know, key to my sort of experience growing up. And I spent so much time in the arcades, I mean, sometimes you would ride your bike there, you’d have to make that decision whether you’re going to eat anything, or whether you were just going to put more coins into the game. Fast forward my life and I got this opportunity with some people I met in London, to actually finally be able to put together this concept of like retro arcade games and craft beers and cocktails. And so we started in 2014, and I’m a co-founder, and the whole ethos was just like, how do we bring these wonderfully authentic experiences of video games to a modern audience in a place

where they’re meant to be enjoyed, right? They’re meant to be enjoyed with friends. They’re meant to be enjoyed with a drink. You know, they were designed that way. And I think it just created this wonderful counterpoint to what I feel more than video games or as a whole, modern video games, which feel like a very insincere experiences, even though they are multi-player, it’s all very much put a headset on and stay in the house and play at home. And so for us it was all about how do we find games that are fun to play, easy to play, and can be enjoyed, like in a social environment. I mean that is everything about the ethos of the business from the very start, and it was, it was a fun and successful venture, even though it took us

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absolutely ages to get up to Newcastle. So we started in 2014…and I’ve only just got home. You know, it just makes me super proud of it, you know, we were the UK’s is first arcade bar. Yeah. So the idea is you can choose from 16 lines of craft beer, you know, lots of it is local on all of our sites, you can get extremely well made cocktails, so the quality that you would get in a proper cocktail bar. You can also come and eat as well, we do pizzas.

So we can do a lot there, in fact we cater for a lot of birthday parties, work events, anything where people want to gather, we’ve even hosted weddings in our other venues, because people just love the idea of the quality of the food and drinks and the retro videogames, which, everyone wants to relive their youth. That’s the thing, is that everyone wants to relive their childhood and obviously, the likes of Stranger Things is really helping with stuff like that as well, I mean even The Last Of Us has just had an episode with an arcade thing going on?

The thing is like you cannot beat playing a real arcade. You can

play Pac-Man on any device, but It’s not the same, it isn’t the same experience at all, because it’s got a control mechanism that is designed expressly for it. Even though it’s just a four way joystick, It is perfect for the game. There’s just so much more of a feeling that you get from standing in front of the machine. I mean, our Pac-Man that we’ve got it in Elephant and Castle actually, the guy called Billy Mitchell who was like the 1980’s World Champion of video games, and was subjected to some controversy and notoriety. He starred in a documentary called the King of Kong, which was all about who was the best Donkey Kong player

in the world. But he came to our site at Elephant and he did what you call a perfect Pac-Man where he completed the entire game eating every single power pelett and every ghost until the game crashes which takes about 10 hours. He did it on a live stream, so from an authenticity angle we have like ties with things like that.

We’ve taken on an amazing historical basement space that has stood derelict for 10 years and we’ve turned it into this awesome arcade bar, it’s a space that I think people don’t know is even there! People who have since come in have all said “the space is amazing, the

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drinks are amazing” and I believe that to be very very true! Some people don’t even know what Four Quarters is in Newcastle!

As a brand, we have got all of the authentic original arcade games in their most perfect form, we swap the games around every now and then. So the game won’t be the same forever, you know, so every few months, we’ll take two or three out and bring two or three new ones in, because we have got a huge hoard of them. But then we also have console games. And I think what’s really important to understand is like, again, what are we? We’re definitely like a neighbourhood Bar Style vibe. So you can come in, we like our people are locals. That’s what we have in other sites, you know, there’s comfortable areas of the bar where you can come and sit, we’ve got little areas, like the Nintendo versus Sega zone, which is really cool, where we’ve got a Megadrive and a SNES. It’s all when you see it, you’ll be like, Oh, I get it. You know, so it’s a nice place to come

and hang out, and you can just turn up. So, you know, it’s not like the crazy golf kinds of things that people like, those experiential things to do these days, right? So we do sit in that same sector because we are experiential. However, you do not have to book. You can come and you can hang out all night If you like. Whereas with the crazy golf, you have a time slot, you go in, you play your through and ou come out at the other side. Whereas we are much more just kind of come and hangout for the evening. All that being said, if you want to play Goldeneye on an N

64, you can book you can, you can have that space. And you’d be like, I’ve got six people coming in, we want to book a table for, you know, whatever time. And we’ll make sure that you’ve got that console. That’s kind of the other thing that we do. We don’t run any emulation. So all of our consoles are absolutely original with original disks, cartridges the lot. Yeah. It’s a little bit costly, sometimes troublesome to deal with, but it’s all authentic.

So what we are saying to people is we have a lot of options for you. One, you can book table with us for something specific. Two, you can just turn up and play at any time day or night, or even just pop in for food and drinks without even playing a game. Three, we cater for parties and functions, so it’s just letting people know that they can do all of these things. The hard part is letting people know that families are welcome during the day. But we are a bar so in the evening, there’s no kids. There’s this issue of like, you’ve got to make sure it doesn’t turn into a cresh. Because that also puts people off as well. So I always love it when I see a parent and a child come into our bar and play games together, It’s amazing. My daughter just had her 11th birthday party in our bar at the Elephant and Castle and it was absolutely

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awesome and we played blindfolded Pac-Man, if you’ve ever played that before? It’s so much fun. You have teams or two, and then one person puts a blindfold on and controls the joystick. The other person just shouts up, down, left, right, right. And then you swap over, then you add the other two scores together. And then you have a bunch of teams doing that. The team with the best score wins! We also have themed nights going on, like our Hot Ones Quiz Night. So it’s a quiz with questions on pop culture and video game knowledge, but it’s punctuated by slices of pizza with increasingly hot hot sauce on. That has become quite popular as it’s something

very different.

We’ve had a Superbowl event, we’ve had a WrestleMania event staying open all night over the WrestleMania weekend showing a bunch of old wrestling matches with The Undertaker and the likes and then we showed WrestleMania in the evening.

As Four Quarters, that is what we do. It’s, it is a retro arcade it is beer and cocktails, but it’s also these kinds of thematic events that are a little bit out of the norm. You know, we’re not going to be showing the football, you can go to any bar for the football, but not Wrestlemania. So it ties in with the retro aspect of things…and I love the football, but it’s just not what our crowd is.

So there you have it folks…the UK’s original Arcade Bar is finally here in the North east, so make sure to check them out on socials and the website (as they have other sites around the UK, not just London), more importantly, pop in, play, have fun, just make sure you share the love and let people

know all about Four Quarters Newcastle.

https://fourquarters.bar/location/ newcastle/

Images by Charlie Pearson

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The North East’s “Queen of Comedy” Miss Rory returns to The Tyne Theatre & Opera House

Friday 12th May 2023

Newcastle’s own Miss Rory will take to the stage at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House on Friday 12th May 2023 for a high flying, globe trotting adventure. Expect tan lines, good times and plenty of surprises along the way! After the sell-out spectacle Land of Hope and Rory in 2022, Miss Rory returns to the Tyne Theatre & Opera House this May with her high-flying new one woman show – WINGING IT!

Critically acclaimed, adored by (most of) the public and often hailed as ‘A Tyneside Institution’,

Rory’s razor sharp wit will have you laughing until you cry as she departs on a surprise filled, globe trotting adventure in a characteristic no holds barred critique, taking in the whole world as she goes!

Theatre Director Jo Johnson commented: “You never know what to expect from Miss Rory but you can always guarantee she’ll put on a hilarious and spectacular performance! We

are delighted to have Miss Rory return to the Tyne Theatre and Opera House as her performances are always well loved by audiences. She joins our growing programme of comedy events for 2023.”

Tickets are priced at £33.50£27.50 and can be bought from: www.tynetheatreandoperahouse. uk/events/miss-rory-winging-it/ Please note that this show is for audiences 16+.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Winners

come to Newcastle with new show Slay Queenz

Tuesday 17th October 2023

The latest RuPaul’s Drag Race winners take the stage at Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre and Opera House for an exclusive spectacular of side-splitting laughs, jaw-dropping vocals and eye-popping outfits. This show is starring Krystal Versace (Series 3 Winner), Danny

Beard (Series 4 Winner) and Blu Hydrangea (UK vs The World Winner) as they sashay on down to Newcastle for One Night Only!

Crowned at the mere age of 19, Krystal Versace is the youngest Drag Race Winner! Krystal has since appeared as a guest on TV shows like Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and has guest starred on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 4.

Danny Beard won Drag Race UK

Season 4 and was also a contestant in 2016 on Britain’s Got Talent where they reached the semifinals. Danny has even made a cameo on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks! Blu Hydrangea became the first Northern Irish Drag Queen to win across the franchise, when they won RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs the World. Blu has since released the hit song ‘Champion (Ru x Blu)’ alongside RuPaul, as part of their win.

Set to be a dazzling show, Slay Queenz will have you on your feet and ready to party along with some of the UK’s best Drag Queen talents.

Theatre Director Jo Johnson commented: “We are thrilled to have the show Slay Queenz come to our theatre! It is sure to be a fun night full of exciting performances and our audiences love nothing more than a top class drag show”. Don’t miss out your chance to meet the stars themselves, at £76 not only will you get the beast seats in the house, but your ticket will include a Meet and Greet opportunity with the fabulous Queens!

Tickets are priced from £28-£76 and can be bought from: https:// www.tynetheatreandoperahouse. uk/events/slay-queenz/

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Historian Lucy Worsley shares stories about Agatha Christie at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House

Thursday 28th September 2023

Following a sell-out tour in 2022, the Queen of History, Lucy Worsley, is heading back out on the road to share stories from the fascinating life of the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie. For these unique, live illustrated talks, Lucy will present one most elusive and enigmatic figures of the twentieth century. Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was ‘just’ an ordinary housewife, when she clearly wasn’t? Agatha went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness. So why - despite all the evidence to the contrary - did

she present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?

Sharing her research based on the writer’s personal letters and papers, Lucy will uncover the real Agatha Christie – the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working

woman. This promises to be an entertaining and enlightening evening, emphasising not just Agatha’s unique gifts as a storyteller but her revolutionary qualities as a determined, successful, and thoroughly modern woman.

Lucy is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and a hugely popular writer, broadcaster and speaker. Her recent TV series include Blitz Spirit with Lucy Worsley (BBC One) and Lucy Worsley Investigates (BBC Two). Lucy has an OBE for services to history, and her series Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley won the BAFTA. ‘One brilliant woman writing about another: an irresistible combination.’ Antonia Fraser Theatre Director Jo Johnson commented: “We’re thrilled Lucy is stopping at our Theatre as part of her tour sharing stories about Agatha Christie. The show is set to be very interesting and engaging, and audiences will learn a lot from the night as well as enjoying it! We have a wonderful programme of in-conversations lined up for 2023 and we’re delighted to add Lucy to this fabulous selection of shows.” Tickets are priced at £37 - £31 and can be bought from: www. tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/ events/lucy-worsley/

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Newcastle’s Local Hero Alan Shearer comes to the Tyne Theatre and Opera House for an exclusive one-night event

Thursday 23th November 2023

Footballing legend Alan Shearer comes to the Tyne Theatre and Opera House in Newcastle on Thursday 23rd November for an exclusive live on stage ‘Evening with’ event.

Football fans need no introduction to Alan Shearer. The top icon in English football and muchloved patriot of the United Kingdom, Alan has a fan base that stretches worldwide – especially in his hometown Geordie land. Arguably one of the most passionate players of all time, who always left everything out on the field in a commitment to himself, his manager, his teammates, and the fans. Alan is one of the best players England has ever produced and was a fan favourite throughout his career. Listen how Alan came from a working-class family to become a true footballing legend, role model to the younger generation and a respected ambassador of the game.

Come and join Alan Shearer as we take a trip down memory lane.

From Southampton to Blackburn to the black and white stripes of Newcastle United alongside the England Football team and being live on air most weekends as our favourite sports pundit. This exclusive show will see a twopart live and unscripted interview with Alan Shearer, reminiscing about those glorious football memories old and new. A fantastic opportunity to get a real-life insight to one of the best players to ever light up the football world. Who knows what will happen when Alan Shearer takes to the stage to give you his ‘off camera’ stories.

Theatre Director Jo Johnson commented: “We are delighted to have

Newcastle’s own Alan Shearer for this special evening event. Our Theatre is just down the road from Newcastle United’s iconic St James’ Park making it the perfect venue to host this fantastic event for football fans. Alan joins our superb line up of in-conversation events for 2023.”

Tickets are priced at £42.50£303.50 and can be bought from: www.tynetheatreandoperahouse. uk/events/an-evening-with-alanshearer/

To check out more recently announced shows, head over the Tyne Theatre & Opera House website: https://www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/whats-on/

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Bank holiday Monday saw all of the Geeks and Nerds all come together and join forces for a fun day at Newcastle’s Boiler Shop for another packed Nerd Fest event. This time the two Michael’s (yes, both organisers are called Michael), decided to change things around and brought in a special guest in the form of Ian Whyte, who if you don’t know, is a rather tall gentleman (he’s 7’1” tall) best known for playing Wun Wun in Game of Thrones (just one of the GOT charcters he has portrayed), the Predator in the AVP film series, various characters in the Star Wars franchise, and many more films, basically, if you need a very tall person, he’s your man. So it was great to see him delighting fans with photos and autographs. Other new additions were Johnny 5, the robot from the Short Circuit films; Transformers very own

Bumblebee and the DeLorean from the Back to the Future series, all giving fans unique photo opportunities. If that wasn’t enough, Simon Donald returned to delight fans with his stories and of course his commission drawings of his

infamous Viz characters. Plus if that wasn’t enough, there were loads of stalls selling everything a geek could ever want, from toys to collectables, art to clothing and lots more in-between. You also had the Nerd Arcade room where people could test their skills on various retro arcade and console games. There was a mix of costumers and cosplayers representing every fandom going, anime, star wars, superheroes, they were all present and happy to pose for photos.

Make sure you follow Nerd Fest on social media to keep up to date with announcements for their next event, Nerd Fright Fest, which takes place on Sunday 22nd October at the Parks Sports Centre in North Shields. For more retro gaming follow Nerd Arcade.

Images by N J Dunn Photography

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NE Online Magazine Issue 62 - Ronan Keating

Published on Apr 17, 2023

Wayne Groves

With another jam packed issue, we chat to Ronan Keating ahead of his Newcastle gig at Ladies Day, we get geeky with Ryton Retro7 Need For Speed and Nerd Fest 2023, talk retro gaming at Four Quarters Newcastle, get musical with the D-Day Darlings, Jazz things up with Rachel Sutton and Claire Martin, review The Midnight at Manchester’s Academy, get on board with Brutus Gold & The Love Train. We also find out more about Pro Fitness Infusion Fitness Studio Knives Down Gloves Up campaign, the very first National Armed Forces & Emergency Services Event here in the North East, plus another of Peter’s Book Tales featuring Dr Peter Wynarczyk. We also see what’s coming to Cineworld, Playhouse Whitley Bay and Tyne Theatre & Opera House as well as bring you the latest fashion from Northern Threads, plus lots of adverts for some great events and businesses in the North East.

Articles inside