Richard HolmesByker Grave Bookings has announced a string of replacement shows featuring bands originally booked to appear at Dominion Festival.
The festival, which was due to take place at Ushaw Historic House and Gardens in County Durham from May 5 to May 7, was cancelled on April 18 due to low ticket sales.
Dominion Festival was to be headlined by Blind Guardian, Orange Goblin and Skindred, with acts such as Lucifer, Sodom, Cirith Ungol, Diamond Head and Hellripper also featuring on the bill.
Newcastle-based promoters Byker Grave Bookings stepped in this week to salvage much of line-up: Satan, High Spirits, Riot City, Seven Sisters, Visigoth, Green Lung, Equitum, Spartan Warrior, Mars Red Sky and Crowley will now all be playing across a string of shows in Newcastle upon Tyne from May 4 to May 7.
Kicking off the four-day mini-fest -entitled Northern Darkness II: BROminion Edition – will be fast-rising NWOTHM quartet Seven Sisters and Calgary metallers Riot City, who will be playing an intimate show at Newcastle’s Little Buildings on Thursday, May 4. Their sets will be followed by DJ sets from Full Power DJs Turbo and Power Craig.
On Friday May 5, Riot City and Seven Sisters will again appear – this time at Newcastle’s Anarchy Brewery venue. They will be joined by Utah trad metal crew Visigoth, whose appearance will be a UK exclusive, and NWOBHM veterans Spartan Warrior, who will be marking the 40th anniversary of their Steel n’ Chains album by performing the record in its entirety.
Saturday, May 6 will see London doom/occult rock quintet Green Lung, Bordeaux’s psych-stoners Mars Red Sky, Chicago ‘high-energy rock’ crew High Spirits and Newcastle rock quintet Crowley hit Anarchy Brewery. They’ll be joined on the day by Tyneside prog outfit Kylver.
And on Sunday, May 7, North East legends Satan will be headlining a homecoming show at Newcastle’s Cluny 2 – it will their first gig in the city in seven years.
Satan will be supported by Tyneside’s Mythra, who will be celebrating the release of their new album, Temples Of Madness, plus Newcastle crossover thrashers Equitum, NWOBHM stalwarts Millennium and Motörhead tribute act Born Tö Lose.
Byker Grave promoter Stuart Bartlett said: “It’s been 10 years since Byker Grave formed off the back of the last time a metal festival failed in the North East (2013’s Northern Darkness).
“We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs but one thing is we will always try and help anyone we can. These replacement shows are to help out the bands, agents and fans alike.”
More bands are expected to be announced for the Friday and Saturday shows in the coming days.
For info and updates, check out Byker Grave Bookings’ Facebook page.