IF YOU LIKE: A Stone’s Throw Festival

Image: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Good things come in threes, and that is never more true than when referring to A Stone’s Throw Festival, with its third edition taking place on Sunday 25th May (with opening party shows on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th May, including a free entry event at The Engine Room on Saturday afternoon). One of the newer kids on the block festival-wise, this multi-venue event showcases all the vibrancy and loveliness of the Tyneside coast, which has been a hotbed of musical activity in recent years, as well as bringing the finest local and touring talent to North Shields.

IF YOU LIKE…

An exciting, talent-packed line-up

Usually, when a promoter says their festival line-up is their biggest and best yet, you can be forgiven for taking it with a pinch of salt. However, with this year’s bill, the good people at Notion Live Events have knocked it out of the park.

Headlining are by post-punk powerhouses Shame, Bristol alt. folk riser Katy J Pearson, Australian psych fuzz favourites Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, thrilling rockers Man/Woman/Chainsaw and indie stalwarts Swim Deep.

They’ll be joined by a plethora of sensational soundmakers, including Brògeal, ERNIE, Home Counties, Pit Pony, DEADLETTER, Lizzie Esau, Amelia Coburn, Callinsick, Cortney Dixon, False Heads, Humour, Jordan Langley, Josh Webb, Look Terrified, Make Friends, Pearly Gates, Projector, Samxemma, Scustin, Slate, Skinner, Stannington, Sun King, The Manatees, Tight Collar, White Flowers, Balancing Act, Cherry Blur, Cosmorat, Ellur, Jasper Hodges, Porcelain, Punchbag, Robyn McLeod, Tapwaterlucy, TV Death, Weston Looney, Ben Harwood, Citrus, Isabel Maria, Katie Grace, Swindled, Zak Younger Banks, and many more.

North Shields

Aside from being home to Britain’s oldest surviving coastal battery, Clifford’s Fort, lots of grand Georgian architecture and a swanky redeveloped Fish Market, North Shields also boasts an array of standout venues that will house the artists at this year’s festival. These include The Exchange 1856, King Street Social Club, Salt Market Social, Three Tanners Bank and The Engine Room. Ferrying you to each venue (allowing you to check out the sitesas you go) are Go North East who are offering frequent bus rides for ticket holders.

A launch party with The Horrors

Who better to kick things off than one of the UK’s most innovative and exciting UK bands of the past 20 years, The Horrors. The critically acclaimed band aren’t afraid to roam between genres since bursting onto the scene with their zeitgeist-shaking garage-goth debut Strange House, before shaking things up a bit with their more atmospheric Mercury-nominated follow-up Primary Colours. They’ll be opening proceedings at The Exchange 1856 on Friday 23rd May with their dark, dense and sometimes unsettling, soundscapes.

…And another one with Lanterns On The Lake

What’s better than having a former Mercury Music Prize nominee opening up proceedings at a festival? The answer? Two! The festival have booked the finest purveyors of dreamy, melancholic indie rock (and local heroes) Lanterns On The Lake, who are launching the show at King Street Social Club on Saturday 24th May. And if that’s not special enough, this will be the band’s first North East show in almost two years. According to frontwoman Hazel Wilde it’s the ultimate hometown show with the venue being a mere three-minute walk from her front door.

Image: Katy J Pearson by Seren Carys