Northern Chords Festival

It's been a crazy few weeks. I have finished my second year at Newcastle University and I have moved out of my flat in Jesmond, returning home to Lincolnshire for the summer break. I have also had a case of writer's block and I haven't been able to think of anything to post about. This has given me an excuse to abandon blogging for a bit (a terrible thing to do, I know) and so yesterday I wrote a list of ideas for blog posts over the summer. Fingers crossed that this period of inspiration will last.

In the last few weeks of term, I went along to the Northern Chords Festival in Newcastle for a review I was writing for Northern Soul. The festival of concerts takes place over a week in different venues across the North East, each equally spectacular, in a celebration of chamber music and young musicians. This year, to mark the centenary of the First World War, the festival had a 1914 theme. The first concert I went to was named 'Midnight in Paris'. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the evening that much. I thought that I would like the first ten minutes of the concert and then become very bored. I was, however, proved incorrect and I enjoyed every moment of it. The music was emotional and rousing, not to mention the beauty of the venue. The Sage in Gateshead is magnificent (I'd never been before and I was seriously impressed) and the chosen hall for this particular concert was small and cosy.

Going to concerts on your own is a very strange strange thing and it takes some getting used to. Aside from the occasional pitying looks from smug couples during the interval, I actually don't mind going to places on my own. I like my own company. The first time I ever went to something on my own, I was reviewing the Radikal Words live literature event for The Courier. I was nervous about being there alone and so I drank a large glass of red wine before I even went into the theatre. This certainly improved my outlook and I thought that evening spectacular, too. Going to concerts and theatres on your own is actually quite fun. However, it is also true that wine and G&Ts really do help, though let's pretend you didn't just read that. I also managed to take some pretty pictures of the quayside in the early evening. I feel quite proud of them, so I put one in this post. You can read my review of the festival, here.

After-hours Culture: The Late Shows 2014

Artists' studios, galleries, theatres and museums across Gateshead and Newcastle stayed open until late this weekend for a true celebration of culture.  The Late Shows, which began in 2007, has gone from strength to strength and this year an astonishing fifty venues participated.

I began my Late Shows exploration at Baltic 39 where the main exhibition, "They Used to Call it The Moon", is part of a group project; curated by Alessandro Vincentelli, the project centres on the enduring presence and impact of the moon upon artists, moon landings and conspiracy theories and includes local, national and international artists as well as screenings of documentaries about astrology at Tyneside Cinema and a stargazing field trip from the Baltic in Gateshead. The art in Baltic 39 was thought-provoking, with some interesting pieces depicting Jesus as the first man on the moon. The staff at Baltic 39 were also keen to promote the night's moon theme, with many of them wearing tin foil headbands and bracelets and one slightly more unfortunate staff member spent her evening with an upturned silver colander on top of her head. The idea here was to provide multiple entry points for the audience to engage with the art being shown. Additionally, there were sci-fi themed board games postioned around the show space; this definitely provided children with a starting-point for them to begin thinking about the moon and space travel, helping them to access the artworks.

The one negative point about the night was that there just wasn't enough time to go to all of the events that I wanted to go to. I only managed to go to Baltic 39, the Baltic in Gateshead and The Toffee Factory though there were many more venues that I had planned on visiting. The Baltic in Gateshead is currently showing a fantastic Lorna Simpson exhibition. I love her work and thought that the exhibition's focus on ideas of gender, sexuality and misunderstanding were fascinating. I particularly felt drawn to the film she had made of her friend whistling an old hymn. Filmed in glorious black and white, her friend whistles while clouds of smoke gradually engulf him until he is no longer visible; the film is then reversed and played backwards. Not only does the song sound entirely different but the haunting movement of the smoke is completely compelling. The way his figure disappears within the smoke and the shortness of his song create a sense of how performance is momentary, as is life. Lorna Simpson's friend, captured in this film, died shortly after filming.

I ended my Late Shows journey at The Toffee Factory. Having never been there before I was looking forward to what had been promised as a night of "vintage glamour, killer cocktails and sounds that swing". The evening did not disappoint; there were people dancing to jazz music, gourmet street food and afternoon tea and vintage clothing pop-up shops to delight the crowds of people who had visited the venue.

I was so impressed by how much The Late Shows had created such a strong sense of community; there were people of all ages attending and everyone seemed engaged with the art. The Late Shows does exactly what it says on the tin; not only is it a fantastic celebration of art and culture, it is also a celebration of the North East. What more could one want?