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Our pick of some of the best events taking place across the region this week…
Image: Hartlepool Mural Festival
Every week we pull together some of the best events taking place across the region, from music and theatre, to comedy, art and film. Read more on these, and other events, in the latest issue of NARC. magazine in print and online.
FILM
Venezuelan Communes Building People’s Power + Q&A
This powerful film platforms important voices and activists behind the resistance against imperialism in Venezuela’s communes; shedding light on the important advances made in the community. This screening will feature a mini documentary, The Great Housing Mission, plus insights from the film makers with a Q&A.
Thursday 31 July @ Star and Shadow
MUSIC
Heading to one of Newcastle’s most stunning venues are The Primitives, a jangly indie pop band who initially formed in the mid 80s and reformed post-hiatus in 2009. Expect fun, sparkly harmonies, unforgettable earworm-y hooks, and an infectious punk attitude – go and hear their poppy chart toppers for yourself.
Friday 1st August @ The Common Room
ART & LIT
Artist Alia Targum debuts her first solo exhibition, exploring her Libyan heritage through works in fabric, metal and salted pigment. The title translates to the feminine of ‘to be fearful’ in Arabic, this exhibition explores childhood memories, loss of culture and displacement, conveying how the western gaze defines veiled women. Open Sat & Sun until 10th Aug.
Friday 1st – 10th August @ 36 Lime Street
Image: SUMMER PARTIES – Tom A Smith by Katie Anderson
MUSIC
The outside venue The Parade Ground at Sunderland’s Fire Station will again host its Summer Parties series of gigs this August. With outside bars, cocktails, food vendors and live DJ sets, gig-goers can expect festival vibes in the sunshine (hopefully) with an eclectic programme of shows encompassing a range of genres and tastes. Opening the season on Friday 1st August are the iconic Kane Gang – aided and abetted by Field Music, followed by local legends The Futureheads on Saturday 2nd; country blues artists Elles Bailey and Kezia Gill join forces for a co-headline show on Sunday 3rd; Friday 15th sees Sunderland’s favourite rockstar Tom A Smith take to the stage, followed by melodic Celtic-punk rockers Ferocious Dog on Saturday 16th, with grime-punk band Riskee & The Ridicule and Sunderland’s own punk upstarts Dead Wet Things; country duo The Shires perform on Sunday 17th; cult alternative act Terrorvision are welcomed on Friday 29th and the following day there’s set to be a sing-a-long extravaganza entitled The Diva Show, where a seven-piece band complete with a horn section will play an eclectic mix of floor-fillers. The Summer Parties season will close on Sunday 31st August with the return of Ibiza In Symphony, where you can party to all your favourite dance classics played by a full orchestra. The doors for most of the shows are early so it’s worth checking stage times in advance if you’re planning on celebrating the summer in the Music City.
Friday 1st August @ Fire Station
MUSIC
Jack Broadbent possesses both a defiant troubadour spirit and soft blues energy. His live shows are a rollercoaster: one moment a fragile folk lament, the next a thunderous waves of blues. Armed with an arsenal of slide guitar wizardry and a voice that can both soothe and erupt, Broadbent has carved a unique niche in the roots music scene, so much so that his slide‑guitar prowess earned him the title “the new master of the slide guitar” at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Jack Broadbent moved quickly from busking on the streets of Europe to playing onstage alongside music legends. His soulful vocals, gritty riffs and howling, stomp‑fuelled crescendos make him, in the words of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a “badass”. Amplifying his acoustic core with beat‑heavy percussion, Broadbent’s sound is anchored in tradition, yet alive with a modern edge. He transforms venues, binding audiences and performers in shared momentum, which will be more than evident at his show at The Cluny 2 on Friday 1st August.
Friday 1st August @ The Cluny
ART & LIT
Hartlepool Mural Festival is a bold, bright new project which sees Hartlepool Art Gallery and community spaces in the area taken over by vibrant, spectacular murals and street art (open now and running until Saturday 6th September). Incredibly talented muralist Lewis Hobson, aka Durham Spray Paints, leads the festival, and whose passions centre around engaging and encouraging individuals who might be hard to reach and not consider themselves as artists, to get involved in the world of art. Graffiti and spray paint art is so accessible and can leave such a powerful impact on communities, with artwork able to spread powerful messages that can be seen by anyone. The festival aims to spread this ethos by transforming streets, walls and buildings into open air canvases that capture stories, identity and the essence of Hartlepool. Many of the murals have been curated and designed by local youth groups, Northern School of Art students and emerging artists, who have been working with Lewis to explore themes of belonging, heritage and community supported by research from The Robert Wood Collection – a remarkable archive documenting Hartlepool’s industries and social life. With a striking indoor exhibition at the gallery and several large scale collaborative, community murals, there will be so much to see and experience, so make sure you pop by Hartlepool Mural Festival and get inspired yourself.
Open Now until Wednesday 10th September @ Hartlepool Art Gallery & Various Venues
Image: GOSFORTH BEER FESTIVAL – Georgia May
EVENTS
Do you like beer? Live music? Pizza and street food? Crafts? Look no further than Gosforth Beer Festival for all your joy-seeking needs, taking place at Gosforth Civic Theatre from Friday 1st-Sunday 3rd August. For a fiver, I’m not sure how you can beat it – and for under 18s (yes, the whole family can attend) entry is completely free! The festival promises over 20 different kegs and 10 casks of beer from local and national breweries, a jam-packed, eclectic array of live music (truly, there is something for everyone), a delicious range of street food pop-ups and even some crafting fun with Mini Crafts for those who may prefer actual crafting to craft beer… The beer festival’s Friday line-up includes pints, pizza and a healthy dose of 90s bangers from DJ Jamagotchi, followed by Saturday’s line-up of Mini Crafts, food from Goodtime Tacos and a generous handful of other delicious street food vendors, as well as live music from 4.30pm with indie Americana starlet Hels Pattison, inimitable neo-soul from Georgia May, and a nice big helping of soul, funk, RnB and hip-hop from Soul’d Out’s seven piece band. Sunday sees more of the same tempting food and drink, but this time with music from blues musician Tommy Arch, R’n’B outfit the King Bees and two remarkable young talents from We Make Culture’s Young Musicians Project. What more could you ask for?
Saturday 2nd August @ Gosforth Civic Theatre
Image: VISIONS ALLDAYER – The Ransoms
MUSIC
Programmed by the brilliant Tees Music Alliance with Toofache Musique, this free entry mini-fest takes over two stages, promoting some of the fantastic local talents Teesside has to offer such as Scruffy Bear, Dawks, The Ransoms, Crescent, Deer Shed, Cardiac, Stockholm, Jake Diaz, The Long Thereafter and Alvo Jade.
Saturday 2nd August @ Georgian Theatre
