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Thieves Of Liberty, Gwailo and Project Black @Newcastle Cluny 2, May 22 2026

Thought it was hot on the Costa del Ouseburn as a sun-soaked Bank Holiday weekend burst into life?

Try stepping inside the oven-cooked Cluny 2 where three trailblazing North East bands with talent to burn turned up the heat on a sizzling bill.

Openers Project Black weren’t even halfway through a sweatbox of a set by the time temperatures started to soar.

Gwailo turned the dial way past 10 as baking punters started to wilt.

And when headliners Thieves Of Liberty finally piled on to the stage it only took a couple of fan favourite bangers before the whole place came to the boil.

Word of mouth, completing the hard yards, ballistic tunes or that first whiff of summer?

Who knows how — or why — this gig caught fire.

But a fast-filling room felt up for it from the start and there’s no better party starter than scene leader Norman McGlen.

The tattooed titan helming Project Black remains one of the region’s most consistently powerful frontmen.

Backed by a band that kicks out killer earworms for fun, this is Norm’s time.

Set Me Free sets the standard but that debut album can’t come soon enough.

Gwailo are the group that just keeps on giving and a Friday rock show is where they give it their best.

Thirty minutes of 70s and 80s-inspired throwbacks melted faces and made us believe…

…that maybe, just maybe, a band that Lives For The Weekend can make it big the rest of the week. And the week after. 

Watch Michael Curry spice it up on Rock N Roll Seduction and you don’t need convincing those days will come.

So to Thieves Of Liberty and if kicking off with Overdose felt premature then what followed was a hard rock shot in the arm.

Better Believe (we do), Ain’t Going Home (thank fuck) and Too Much (not enough) showcased a five-piece hurtling towards the top of its game.

And the Cluny 2 somehow found a second wind just as the stifling heat threatened to sap all energy.

Did Thieves Of Liberty steal the show? Just about.

But this was a night when a hat-trick of local heroes dropped a searing reminder that the North East rock scene’s on fire right now.

Images by Adam Kennedy