Songs, sounds and solos this summer at Live Theatre
There is a fantastic range of events for music lovers this season, with a great line-up of shows featuring songs, sounds and solos.
On Saturday 2 July a stellar line-up of musicians will perform as part of Make Hope Possible, a radical weekend that will bring society-bending manifestos to life. Ross Millard from the world renowned band The Futureheads offers a rare, stripped back set of solo electric guitar to accompany actor Charlie Hardwick’s reading of the political manifesto Paint Your Town Red. His evocative and minimalist style evokes a profound melancholy that brings out the human from within the political. A rare opportunity to see this dynamic artist play with no thrills, straight from the soul.
Mariam Rezaei is fast becoming one of experimental music’s most unique improvisers. Taking the turntable and reimagining it for the new age, Mariam’s fast and electrifying post-modern style is the perfect accompaniment to the cutting edge political writing of Preti Taneja’s Four Models In Bright Hats Think About The Future at 7.30pm. Me Lost Me will be accompanying the animated reading by screen and stage star Toby Jones of Alex Niven’s New Model Island. Me Lost Me plays a gorgeous and deeply evocative style of electronic folk music, with beautiful vocals lamenting a lost England, paired with an incredibly moving and complex bed of electronic beats and tones.
Live Theatre is thrilled to be hosting Vagaband on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 July for an intimate evening with music, song and poetry about legendary North East outcast and busker Jamie Allen. North East poet Tom Pickard collaborates with acclaimed musician Ben Murray (War Horse) on a poetic and musical evening celebrating the life of the musician-outlaw and border piper, based on Pickard’s own The Ballad of Jamie Allan, finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Awards. Live original music will be performed by Liam Hiatt, Phil Murray, Ben Murray, Jed Grimes and Louise Peacock. The event also includes a talk and Q&A with Pat Thomas about his soon to be reissued masterpiece New Jazz Jungle and a screening of Cath Soreny's film portrait of Adam Bohman, again followed by a Q&A.
On Sunday 10 July, TUSK X YEAH YOU, will take over Live Theatre with a uniquely diverse programme of adventurous international music celebrating the Frank and Nancy of freeform electrosplurge that is YEAH YOU. Joining the duo will be UK free improvisation stalwart Pat Thomas, astounding UK producer/musician Petronn Sphene, voice artist and cellist Audrey Chen, turntablist Mariam Rezaei, London’s legendary Bohman Brothers, percussionist Lukas Koenig, Newcastle’s Kenosist, guitarist/sound artist Julian Desprez and the multinational trio Mopcut.
The musical line-up concludes with The Six Twenty’s MixTape Summer Sizzlers on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 July. With non-stop hits from across the decades and genres, this quizzissential summer edition is guaranteed to get audiences head scratching, dancing and singing along. Using only song lyrics, the Mixtapers perform comedy sketches as teams battle it out to guess the tracks that inspire the sketches in the hopes of winning the highly coveted Golden Mixtape!
For more information and to book tickets go to www.live.org.uk or call Box Office on (0191) 232 1232.
