Simon Rushworth
Maybe it’s too early to make this wild and wonderful claim but is Newcastle about to reclaim its title as one of the UK’s hotbeds of rock?
A series of sold-out Academy dates in 2009, coupled with a vibrant club scene and forthcoming arena dates with two of the region’s favourite sons, Paul Rodgers and Mark Knopfler, suggest as much.
And glowing endorsements from bands as diverse as The Answer, Machine Head and New Generation Superstars imply a city once famous for boasting the biggest rock club in Europe is about to bounce back.
NGS, of course, were the support for Vain at Newcastle’s Trillians this week and that gig, more than any other, reinforced the view that the seeds for a city-wide rock revival are being sowed.
The night might not have been a sell-out – and it might have suffered from the fact that local favourites Fables Last Stand were playing alongside Plant Junior’s Sons Of Albion in Gateshead – but it was rocking.
And for that we have to thank a new name on the promotions scene and a small but committed group quite capable of sparking something much bigger.
Electric Kicks burst onto the rock radar earlier this year delivering a series of underground metal nights.
Soon they had persuaded LA Guns to headline Legends and next thing we know Sian and her team were bringing Vain to one of Newcastle’s most famous rock stages.
Next year they’ve already confirmed faster Pussycat and Enuff Z’Nuff for Legends and all the talk is of an Electric Kicks-organised glam/sleaze summerfest in the city.
Now none of these bands are the biggest of names 20 years after their commercial peak.
And neither Legends nor Trillians can lay claim to competing with the Academy or the City Hall.
But there is clearly a market for gigs like this week’s triumphant Vain show with the old Mayfair crowd out in force.
Those of us who queued along Newgate Street, massed in old Eldon Square and congregated at the church that was Windows’ basement have never gone away.
We bump into each other watching bands like Tesla, Love/Hate and Great White and reminisce about the good old days. But thanks to Electric Kicks those good old days could become more and more frequent in 2010.
Grassroots rock has always been vital to the Newcastle scene and it can be again. So the next time you see Sian and her mates buy a ticket and buy them a drink. They could well be your ticket to rock heaven right on your doorstep.