Local Music
North East Hardcore promoter Conviction Records hosted their annual sold-out all-day concert at Anarchy Brew last Saturday. Conviction Records, a small one-man promotion company commonly known as ‘the home of North East Hardcore’, boasted a lineup of 12 bands, both local and international. The lineup featured newer local bands such as Silence|me and I Miss […]
North East band Primaveras will be performing alongside local bands Bogus and The Marbellas at The Bunker, Sunderland, on Saturday 5th April in an already sold-out event. The band consists of four members Tobey Hall,19, Joshua Hancox,19, Fynn Bowman,19, and James Bacon,20. Tobey is the Vocalist and also plays the Rhythm Guitar. Fynn is the […]
We here at Spark Sunderland have compiled a list of all the best metal venues in Tyne and Wear to create a list for you to visit, play or mosh at these venues. Click the map below to check it out:
Small music venues are in crisis, according to the Music Venue Trust, 66 venues have closed in the last 12 months. However, we at Spark believe they need celebrating. As part of this we went to Cobalt Studios and asked them why they love their venue and why you should too. One of the reasons […]
North East venue Bobiks has announced its closure after over four years. The closure comes after the Punch Bowl Hotel (which houses the venue) in Jesmond has recently changed operators from Frank & Bird to local Mexican restaurant Birria Bella. Bobiks themselves have given the reason for the closure as the music venue “doesn’t fit […]
The British music industry contributed £6.7 billion to the UK economy in 2022. Yet, according to the Music Venue Trust, 66 venues have closed in the last 12 months. But why and what can be done? The origins of this crisis are due to rent increases with 125 UK venues abandoning live music in the […]
I saw ‘Bring Me The Horizon’ for the first time on tour on January 16 2024 at Newcastle Utilita Arena – they simply did not disappoint. This tour had three different support acts, the first support act was Staticdress, second was Cassyette and third was Bad Omens. Since the tour I have had Cassyette on […]
Indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs will be the headline act as Soundwave festival returns to Seaton Carew for the second year. After Bastille set the town alight for the event’s maiden year last summer with over 5,000 people gathering by the sea, and on the back of the incredible success, organisers worked hard to lock […]
Camel Island pictured above [Jay Morris, William Gofton, Daniel Taylor, Alex Lipanov] (Credit: Jake Granlund) North East band Camel Island claims that the global pandemic COVID-19 put a “pause” on their musical progression. The band, formerly known as Bottle Rocket, won the Young Performer category at the 2019 Best of South Tyneside Awards, but have […]
Written by Peter Doherty and Floyd Cordelia The annual WAVES festival hit Sunderland’s shores on Saturday, November 11. Sweeping up the city’s venues, WAVES fest attendees made their way through the streets of Sunderland city to catch the best that the North East and its surrounding areas had to offer. The morning sun set the chilled […]
