FEATURE: NOW BOOKING…

Image: Luxmuralis at St Augustine Abbey, Canterbury 

As you should know by now, our main raison d’etre is to tell you lovely readers all about the amazing things that make our region the best place to live. And, while this may be the last monthly print edition of NARC. you’ll hold in your hands, we promise to continue to serve you with all the best alt. music and culture through our website.

We didn’t want to leave you hanging for the rest of the year though, so here you’ll find a very busy rundown of some of the best stuff coming up in 2025. Diaries at the ready…

OCTOBER

Touring season is in full swing come October! Heavy prog rockers Giant Walker play The Grove (Fri 3); intense and dynamic songwriter Billy Nomates plays The Glasshouse (Sun 5); gritty rock ‘n’ roll trio Bilk play Sunderland’s Independent (Sun 5); spellbinding live performer and multi-instrumentalist Nerina Pallot performs at Stockton’s Georgian Theatre (Sun 5); Bhutanese avant-garde guitarist and improvisational musician Tashi Dorji plays Star & Shadow Cinema (Mon 6); country-pop whirlwind CMAT performs at O2 City Hall (Mon 6); Gosforth Civic Theatre welcome the return of their Beyond The Moor folk festival featuring Kathryn Tickell & the Darkening, Martin Simpson, Ceitidh Mac, Nev Clay and many more (Sat 11); experience the raw holler of folk, synths and spoken word with Stick In The Wheel at Cobalt (Sat 11); Welsh multi-disciplinary artist and producer Cate Le Bon plays The Glasshouse (Wed 15); Newcastle’s Utilita Arena is the location for this year’s Mercury Music Prize celebration (Thur 16); the ever-evolving John Grant brings his genre-blurring sound to Boiler Shop (Thur 16); twisted pop artist Scott Lavene is at The Engine Room (Mon 20); chameleonic alt. rock artist Lizzie Esau plays The Cluny (Fri 24); local indie hero Andrew Cushin plays a big show at O2 City Hall (Sat 25); oddball innovator Thomas Truax plays Eaglescliffe’s The Waiting Room (Sun 26) and Newcastle’s fabulous alt. pop songwriter Nadedja launches her album at Zerox (Fri 31).

At the region’s theatres, Hasbian is a queer comedy based on real 00s teenage diaries (Gala Theatre Fri 3 & Alphabetti Theatre Thur 23); Bad Lads tells a devastating true story of the boys held at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham in the 1980s (Live Theatre Thur 2-Sat 11 & ARC Tue 14-Wed 15 Nov); Mama Afrika tells the remarkable life story of an iconic South African singer, songwriter and civil rights activist, Miriam Makeba at Northern Stage (Sat 11); Fatherhood at Bishop Auckland Town Hall is a highly physical and humorous take on fatherhood across generations, cultures and languages (Wed 15); Ensemble ‘84 and South Africa’s Isango Ensemble bring Lee Hall’s acclaimed adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children to Live Theatre (Thur 23-Sat 1 Nov); Darlington Hippodrome welcomes acclaimed folk tragedy SALT, a visceral and immersive tale of ancient fisherfolk (Fri 24); Birdwatching at Northern Stage is a folk horror about the female experience (Sat 25); and Taiwanese contemporary dance performance bulabulay mun?/how are you? promises a visually arresting and deeply moving production at Dance City (Tue 28).

Comedy-wise, Natalie Bellingham’s Look After Your Knees celebrates the messy business of being human, sprinkled with joy and ridiculousness at Arts Centre Washington (Thur 9); The Georgian Theatre hosts work-in-progress shows from Lou Conran, Tez Ilyas, The Halls of the Ridiculous and more at The Stockton On Tee-Hee’s Comedy Festival (Sat 11); Grayson Perry attempts to find out if his audience are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil at Tyne Theatre & Opera House (Mon 13); sharp and surreal comedy troupe Metroland return to Live Theatre (Wed 15-Sat 18); Emmanuel Sonubi’s hilarious and heartfelt show explores his life after surviving heart failure (The Witham Thur 23 & The Stand Sat 25); and self-confessed prick and star of Taskmaster Rosie Jones performs at Durham Gala (Fri 24) & Northern Stage (Sat 25).

Elsewhere on the cultural calendar, Luxmuralis returns to Durham Cathedral with a new immersive sound and light extravaganza, The Storytellers (Wed 8-Sun 12); bibliophiles are in for a treat as Durham Book Festival includes Mary Portas, Jeremy Vine, Pat Barker, Steph McGovern, Eliza Clark and more (Fri 10-Sun 12); the WOW – Women of the World festival celebrates women, girls and non-binary people of the North East with a variety of events at Gala Theatre and Live Theatre (Fri 17-Sat 18); Jumpin’ Hot Club celebrate their 40^th anniversary with an exhibition at St Mary’s Heritage Centre (Sat 18 Oct-Sat 1st Nov); and the North East International Film Festival returns to Newcastle (Fri 24-Sun 26).

Image: Kathryn Tickell performs at Beyond The Moor

NOVEMBER

Musical diversions in November include a rare live show from electronic duo Autechre at Newcastle’s Digital (Mon 3); Japanese visual artist and musician Yama Warashi performs at Eaglescliffe’s delightful Waiting Room (Sun 9); and there’s more experimental Japanese sounds from electronic improviser Phew at The Lubber Fiend (Wed 12); Willy Mason performs his darkly atmospheric songs at The Cluny (Wed 12); BC Camplight tells tales of resolve and redemption at Boiler Shop (Wed 12); Pictish Trail brings his self-described songs of tenderness and weirdness to North Shields’ Engine Room (Thur 13); Sunderland’s beloved odd-pop sons Field Music celebrate 20 years since the release of their debut album at The Fire Station (Fri 14); while on the same night there’s shows from electronic music trailblazer Halina Rice at Newcastle University and a spell-binding mash-up of punk, funk, disco, hip-hop and jazz from Warmduscher at The Glasshouse.

Tyneside faves Little Comets promise rollicking new tunes and old favourites alike at Northumbria Uni (Sat 15); North East folk legends The Young’Uns celebrate their 20^th anniversary at Middlesbrough Town Hall (Sat 15); Teesside’s Finn Forster offers up soul-stirring anthemic songs at Middlesbrough Empire (Sat 15); alt. indie duo Getdown Services head to Sunderland’s Pop Recs Ltd. (Thur 20). At various venues in Sunderland, Boundaries Festival celebrates adventurous, curious, bold and exciting live music from an international cast of performers (Fri 21-Sat 22); Teesside’s rabble-rousing duo Benefits play KU in Stockton (Sat 22); and on the same night there’s more opinionated shouting from Irish hip-hop band Kneecap at O2 City Hall. Join poet Kate Fox and evocative musicians Staithe for a night of words and music inspired by the much-missed Sycamore Gap at Arts Centre Washington (Thur 27); discover the infectious alt. indie sounds of Tune–Yards at Sunderland’s Fire Station (Thur 27); or check out the genre-hopping sounds of multi-instrumentalist Low Girl and crew at Teesside Uni (Thur 27); while at Cobalt Studios, get a dose of ‘grrriot_punk_noise’ courtesy of Avalanche Kaito (Fri 28).

Gateshead’s Baltic gets two new exhibitions for the winter season, For All At Last Return is a group exhibition which explores marine ecosystems and how human activities affect marine life, while filmmaker Saodat Ismailova’s work interweaves rituals, myths and dreams to investigate the historically complex and layered culture of Central Asia through mediums of film, sound, installation and sculpture (both exhibitions run 8 Nov 2025-3 May 2026).

Comedy-wise, Father Ted’s Ardal O’Hanlon performs at Tyne Theatre & Opera House (Fri 7), and lovable geek Josh Widdicombe is also at the venue on Mon 17 (and at Stockton’s Globe on Tue 18). At The Stand, highlight performances come from Harriet Dyer (Thur 20), Helen Bauer (Sun 23), Nicola Mantalios (Sun 30) and local comic Kerris Gibson, who presents her first solo stand-up hour (Sun 30). Funny Way To Be bring Neil Delamere to The Witham for a chat about life’s absurdities (Wed 5); at Stockton’s Georgian Theatre, The Shoe Cake Comedy Club return for mischief and mayhem (Fri 21); and top comic Adam Rowe turns up at ARC for a stand-up show alongside mystery guests (Thur 27). Also at Stockton’s ARC, they’re rolling out the red carpet for Tees Valley Film Festival, a three-day celebration of filmmaking and gala screenings, making it a must-attend for anyone interested in the field, as well as film buffs (Thur 6-Sat 8).

At the theatre, House of Kaos: Alice in Underland at Newcastle Arts Centre is a gothic reinterpretation of Lewis Carroll’s classic (Sat 1); Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular is an end of the pier show at the end of the world from performance artist and theatre maker Harry Clayton-Wright at Northern Stage (Thur 6); while Shit-faced Shakespeare return for a unique take on Hamlet at Middlesbrough Town Hall (Sat 8).

Image: Mother Courage & Her Children by Keith Pattison

DECEMBER

As the year draws to a close, there’s still plenty of good cheer to keep the winter blues at bay. Head to Newcastle’s Grove to see feral psych post-rockers Snapped Ankles (Thur 4); the Music Against Child Poverty fundraiser returns to Sunderland’s Fire Station, promising performances from local luminaries (Sun 7); indie folk siblings Cattle & Cane perform acoustic shows at The Cluny 2 (Fri 12) and Stockton’s ARC (Sat 13); and cross-genre music makers IDER play The Common Room (Mon 15).

As always, the region’s independent theatres pull out all the stops for their alternative Christmas shows. Stockton’s ARC offers up a rollercoaster of magic, music and mayhem at A Town Called Christmas (Tue 2-Sat 13); Northern Stage’s big production this year is an enchantedly wicked retelling of Beauty & The Beast (Thur 4 Dec-Sat 3 Jan 2026); at Live Theatre, there’s a wintry tale courtesy of local schoolchildren in Where Do All The Kittiwakes Go At Christmas? (Tue 9-Sun 21); Alphabetti Theatre promise There Will Be Tinsel during an evening of poems, stories and music with John Osborne (Wed 10); there’s seasonal joy at The Big Family Christmas at The Stand, in which Lee Kyle, Elaine Robertson, Hannah Walker and Kelly Rickard offer up chaotic family fun (Sat 13-Sun 14, Sat 20-Sun 21); The Suggestibles’ Impro Pantso is always a riotous night out at Live Theatre (Thur 18-Fri 19); while the Mixtape crew return with a festive-themed cult comedy quiz show at Arts Centre Washington (Thur 18).

Away from any festive silliness, comedian Josie Long explores discovery, wonder and extinction in her show The Time Of Monsters at Newcastle’s Stand (Thur 4); while Se Gæst | The Guest examines tolerance, survival, blame and nostalgia through a lens of dance, live music and storytelling at Dance City (Thur 11).

Image: Nadedja