News

Live and Unsigned Area Final, Newcastle

• 25th Apr 2011

Newcastle was the place to be on Easter Sunday as sixty acts battled it out for entry to the Grand Final of Live and Unsigned 2011. All had already come through auditions and Regional Finals in Newcastle, Edinburgh or Glasgow to take their place in this, the first of six Area Finals.

There was an air of anticipation in the Journal Tyne Theatre when I arrived, the atmosphere crackling with nervous energy. The sound checks for the first of the day’s three shows had just finished and the stalls of the old style theatre were packed with musicians impatiently awaiting their chance to shine.

Looking up to the four tiers of seating high overhead, I saw the names of famous composers adorning the decorative interior, although Lennon and McCartney would probably have been more fitting for this event than Mozart and Bach.

Finally the Live and Unsigned crew, who did a tremendous job of organising such a complex event, called the performers backstage. The stalls emptied, leaving only technicians making final checks and the five judges who would have a very difficult day ahead of them.

Then the doors opened and the theatre filled once more as groups of friends and families poured in to back their favourites. Some had painted signs and banners in hand; others wore matching t-shirts to show their support. It was a colourful, and noisy, spectacle.

And then the house lights went down.

One by one the acts were called onto the stage. They had just three and a half minutes to shine, during which time they had to play a cover and some original music. Solo acts, duos and bands all did their thing, some looking nervous, others confident and excited by the opportunity.

The acts performing in this Area Final had already come a long way. From over 10,000 entrants they were now in the last 400 or so – and just one step away from the Grand Final, which will be held at the O2 Arena in London on 23 July.

The standard was, not surprisingly, very high. The musical styles were varied, with everything from gentle pop to hard rock represented, and every act can be proud of their performance.

But this is a competition, and for many this was to be their last appearance in Live and Unsigned 2011. After the final act had finished its short set the judges got together to add up their scores. Meanwhile the audience was entertained by a fine set from The Lottery Winners, the indie band who had triumphed in Live and Unsigned 2010.

And then it was time for the results.

An unnatural quiet descended over the theatre as the audience awaited the name of the winning act that would go through to the final. Newcastle rock band Promo Girl topped the judges’ list, reward for an electric performance. They ran onto the stage, ecstatic and almost unable to believe that they had won.

Then there was more drama. The three acts that had placed next on the scorecards were invited onto the stage. The audience’s votes were to decide the second finalist, and it was Peter Skeen whose strong pop voice and acoustic guitar will be heading for London. Skeen has recently become a father for the first time and seemed overwhelmed by his victory.

The audience filed out of the theatre and into the Newcastle sun to celebrate or commiserate with their acts. It had been a close contest and many performances had impressed. I particularly liked Pete Jones’ powerful acoustic rock and Three Long Words, a teenage rock band from Edinburgh who have a fine combination of male and female vocals.

Around 90 minutes later the whole cycle started all over again with the second batch of acts playing in front of their supporters. If anything the standard was even higher and I didn’t envy the judges their task of trying to pick the winners.

This time two acts gained places in the Grand Final by coming top when the scores had all been collated. The Syndicates from Yorkshire came top, their fine indie rock set taking them through.

The second winners were Loud and Proud, who has starred at the Glasgow Area Final. Their brand of bluesy rock was expertly delivered, while their high energy performance had captivated the crowd. And all of the musicians are under 14 years of age.

Once more, three acts were called onto stage for the audience vote. The winner this time was Scottish folk singer Adam Smith from Ayrshire, a decision that went down very well with his large travelling support.

Again there were those who impressed but didn’t quite make the top of the judges’ list. Two bands with excellent female vocalists were my pick: Realis from Glasgow performed a fine set once again while Koocha from Sunderland were also very entertaining.

As evening came around it was soon time for the third show of the day. The final batch of acts was impressive and there were many contenders for those coveted places in the Grand Final.

The two acts that came out on top were both from Glasgow, Tasty Jailbait and Soho Dandy. Both had performed lively indie rock sets. And both had brought large and noisy contingents of supporters with them, making the announcement an emotional, indeed a raucous one.

The winders of the last audience vote were Wayside, a bass heavy five piece rock band from Harrogate.

Of those who missed out I particularly liked the old style rock n roll of The Frues from Inverness and the fine vocals of Modal Nodes, a male – female acoustic duo from Newcastle.

So, after a highly entertaining day of music eight lucky acts have booked their places at the Grand Final in London. And there is still a final chance for those who didn’t quite make it: a public vote for two wildcard places will take place. Details of this will be posted on the Live and Unsigned website.

One thing that struck me about this superb collection of music talent was how young many of the performers were. It is encouraging to see so many teenagers starting out on their musical journeys and I hope they will have learned a great deal from their participation in this contest.

And there are quite a number who have space to grow and develop musically as they gain further experience of playing live. A number of the bands had only been playing together for months rather than years, and have the potential to go far in the music business.

I had a particular interest in the acts that I had seen progress at the Glasgow Area Final in March, and a return of four Finalists from the eight places available was impressive.

There are many fine recording artists making music today. But it is heartening to see just how much talent there is in the next generation of talent coming through. The future of live music is in some very good hands.