Music in Newcastle and the North East

Bluesman in special Cluny lunchtime gig

ALAN NICHOL has the latest musings on the roots music scene

Stockton Calling to top bands

THE inaugural Stockton Calling, a massive all-day music festival, will involve 30 bands playing across three of the area’s top venues in a 12-hour musical marathon.

Lost Mendelssohn work is aired

RICHARD YATES has the classical music news and listings for this week

Teesside gig of the week: Deviant UK

DARK alternative rockers DEVIANT UK will be heading to Teesside tonight and bringing along a wealth of new material.

Babyshambles due in Darlington for one-off show

YOU may love him or loathe him but it’s hard to ignore him

Review: Reverend and the Makers, Empire, Middlesbrough

JON McClure is a bit like Liam Gallagher, Pete Doherty - and Marmite - you either love him or loathe him.

Review: X Factor, Metro Radio Arena

THE fact that X Factor can command four capacity shows at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle is proof of just how big this reality TV show has become.

Review: Grizzly Bear, The Sage Gateshead

THIS was, despite the luscious harmonies and addictive hooks, certainly not a night of easy listening.

Review: Steve Howe Trio, The Sage Gateshead

BACK in the day, before X-Factor came along and made massive stars of mediocrities, you had to learn an instrument and get very good and very lucky before you made it.

Review: Charlemagne Palestine, St Thomas's Church, Newcastle

FOR four and three-quarter hours, the organ of St Thomas’s Church in Newcastle proved equal to the demands of avant garde composer and musician Charlemagne Palestine.

Live Music at Archer Street Social Club

Disco Night

Stephen Lynch

Comedic songwriter from the U.S.

Alex Horne: Wordwatching

Comedian Alex Horne explores language, and slang in particular.

Musicians Unlimited

Big Band directed by Mick Donnelly.