21.06.2026 - Marina Zispin/SQ Mice/Modern Heaven - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

 

Another hot night at the Lubberfiend on a Sunday!

Don't really know much about Modern Heaven, they are a duo from Melbourne, Australia.
A bit of mix of shoegaze/dream pop, some pretty catchy tunes from their set.
Looking them up online they do have an EP from 2018 and nothing much else though believe they do have an album coming out.

Second up were SQ Mice who also I don't really know much about, looking them up they seem to be based in Paris, which makes sense as sure in their final song sounded like the lass was singing the word 'la bouche'(?!) which is definitely French! They are down as a three piece but they played as a duo this night.
Decent enough set, again a mix of dream pop and electronic beats - nice music for a warm evening into night!

Mainly came out for the headliners, Marina Zispin.
Known Martyn for a few if not more years through the Newcastle noise scene via his solo offerings as Depletion, don't know Bianca well, though know she is local and have seen her do a short solo set a few years back at one of the Tusk festivals and believe she has a lot of solo lo fi ambient/electronic releases herself.

Together they do some really good synth pop, it's a bit daft it's the second time I've seen them play!
Really great set with a couple of new tracks played? Catchy as always! Pretty cool to see how far they have came as been playing all over the UK and a few dates in mainland Europe.

Was also the first time when going home when stopped by someone asking for money if I could just make a bank transfer to their account!

03.06.2026- Gorilla Biscuits/Unified Action/Turn Your Back - Anarchy Brewery, Walker

Good night of hardcore with NYC legends Gorilla Biscuits playing Newcastle for the first time! Last time they were up North was back in 1989 when they played the Casbah (which later became the infamous After Dark nightclub) in Sunderland.

Opening up were local straight edge band Turn Your Back, decent band and think this may be like their fourth gig, I'm not sure.

Only thing I found a bit off putting is the singer saying he won't play unless the empty space got filled, mean understand get more people near the stage so everyone isn't packed at the side but can see the point where some people won't go near the front when some kids are going apeshit and karate kid all over the shop. I think it's something that will always happen. Anyway the crowd did pick up and the young folk were enjoying themselves though did notice some Max Cavalera look a like trip some kid over on purpose which was a bit shit!

Though speaking of look a likes, a one point I thought Moby was at gig, mean wasn't him as dude had no tattoos like Moby!

Another great set from Unified Action, really enjoyed the bit where some kid staged dived in the area I was knocking the person in front of me drink all over me! Next time at gig I'll wear darker shorts and not light sandy tan ones so it would look like I pissed myself! Also same kid somehow managed to get me in the bollocks!

Finally Gorilla Biscuits came on and it was just fucking class, I stayed at the back as knew it would be full on plus I'm too old now for that sorta stuff!

Played all the good stuff with added Minor Threat and Clash cover! Kids stage diving, jumping in for singalongs. Civ did gave out a shout out to the OG's that saw them back in 1989 and was happier that now compared to 1989 it was easier to get more vegan food!

Was cool to see a bucket list band and great Conviction Records/Byker Grave managed to get them here as it was a short UK tour of 4 dates, also great seeing a ton of people I hadn't seen for a while.

26.05.2026 - Ayucaba/Diall/Dead Stare/Proposition - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

An awfully hot day in the North East to go a gig but in the end worth sweating like a motherfucker!

New kids on the block Proposition opened up, think maybe their fifth gig and were solid, nice mix of 80's inspired hardcore with a hint of fast hardcore and a nice Negative Approach cover thrown in, looking forward to a demo but has also made me think I need to start taking my recorder to gigs and try get sets recorded in case bands never release anything.

Another brilliant set from Dead Stare, heavy hardcore. Really like how they just blitz through there set, proper relentless as fuck! Think I saw they have recorded some new stuff so will be on the look out for that when it drops as their demo is pretty good.

Diall were class as always and think we are overdue a new release by them!

Ayucaba come from Barcelona, Spain, with members hailing from Argentina, Colombia and Spain and are current members of Muro (who played the Lubber last year and killed it) and Inyeccion. Some absolute class Japanese esque hardcore in the vein of The Execute/The Comes maybe Nurse but with a but UK82 to them. Really enjoyed their set, despite them being tired as they have been on tour for the past two months they still gave it 100% and regret not picking their LP up!
Was a fairly decent turn out for a Tuesday night and a day after the Bank Holiday Monday! Plus a nice early finish so wasn't to much of a fanny on getting home!

11.05.2026 - Pharmakon/Pale World/Public Affection - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

 

A decent turnout for a Monday night gig in Newcastle and had been looking forward to seeing Pharmakon as she was originally scheduled to play back in November but had to cancel the Euro tour to a medical issue.

First up was Public Affection, Mark from Diall's solo noise/ambient project. Was a decent set, nice mixes of ambient then heavy noise bits and only the second gig he has played as Public Affection, look forward to see how other gigs/releases may turn out.

Pale World replaced Natural Causes who were unable to play. Really decent dark ambient, heavy noise machine! Was hard to see him play as the lights were off but set was decent and loud! Did laugh a bit as there was nice quiet bit then hit with a loud load of noise which made a few people shit themselves!

Was definitely worth the wait to see Pharmakon play, nice loud noise, maybe edging on power electronics. Jumping into the crowd and screaming and creating from what I saw some people to feel uneasy with her being in their face which was class! Think she played for over an hour, really excellent stuff!

It also reminded me that I have still to pick up her last album, Maggot Mass up! Will sort that out soon!

10.05.2026 - Smote/Death Wvrm/Andi Jackson - The Cluny, Newcastle

 

A nice Sunday evening of music at the Cluny.

Andi Jackson opened up the night, replacing Louse who had to pull out. Don't really know much about him but he is part of Thraa.

Really great drone set with him using a Taishogoto through guitar pedals, that built up in a way that if I was at home I'd probably just sink into the ground and be away into the void! A lot of people missed out on how great his set was.

Not sure where Death Wvrm are from but a decent set, a bit post rocky/heavy psych, should have an album out soon so will probably check that out when it drops.

Smote as always killed it live, this time as a 6 piece, sure every time I've seen them their line up differs but think that what also makes what they do excellent, like slight changes. Always to me, feels like your watching something very special, kinda hoping from they played with Water Damage set gets released when they joined Water on stage as that was fantastic!

Did notice that Andi for the last song got on stage to play guitar with them but I had to dash for the bus home (Sunday night busses have shit last times!)

25.04.2026 - Penelope Trappes/Rún/Earthball/Nëwsün/Sage Over Syringe - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

A bit of a mad rush to get into town for this gig, had been in ASDA doing my shopping round 5:30pm when I got an email saying the door time was now 6pm instead of 7:30pm! Still managed to get there before the first band started! 

Opening act were locals Sage Over Syringe, thought they were alright a bit sort of no-wave stuff going on with them. Did wonder during their set what the lass was doing as she was sitting down and writing/drawing? Anyway I liked their set and interested to see how they go.

Nëwsün are from Glasgow and reminded me a bit of Electric Wizard, someone later said a lot like OM but I didn't see that like, wished they had stuff for sale as would have picked something up.

Was really impressed with Earthball, from Canada, they are a nice mix of free jazz(?), experimental and psychedelic rock! Think they have played the Lubber a couple of times now and will definitely make sure the next time they are here to see them play again.

Not sure what I was expecting when Rún played as only briefly hard a snippet of their music while at work. The three piece were fucking class live, synths, drone and folk blended into to something quiet extraordinary to see and hear. They didn't have anything for sale from what I could see though have picked up their debut album from Rocket Recordings this morning!

Penelope Trappes set was fantastic! Glad I got switched onto her music when she supported Smote last year. Dark ambient shoegaze tunes and fog machine!!!!

Only shit part of the night was some arsehole talking really loud at the start of her set, he was very drunk which isn't an excuse and he did get told more than once to shut up. Final straw was when my mate asked him again to be quiet and the dick told him to get fucked which led to the blokes mate talking him out of the venue!

21.04.2026 - Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O./Sister Ray Davies - Cluny 2, Newcastle

 

Always find it weird that I saw Kawabata Makoto solo and with his other band Mainliner (who when I saw them had apparently rarely played outside of Japan?) before seeing Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. play! Now the fourth time seeing them, would have been the fifth but missed when they played the Lubberfiend. This time it's a bit different as they are joined by original member Cotton Casino on synth and vocals.

Openers Sister Ray Davies are a two piece shoegaze band from Alabama. Strangely their debut album is called Holy Island and actually references the Holy Island that isn't two far up the Northumbrian coast, one of their tracks is even called Lindisfarne (Holy Island's other name.) Singer did explain that when he toured with a previous band they cam down and went over to Holy Island and really enjoyed it! Their set was pretty decent, a mix of ambient and shoegazey tunes, kinda wish I picked up their CD now.

Sister Ray Davies

Think this is the best I've seen Acid Mothers Temple play, as always solid 90+ minutes of absolute class psych/space rock and I liked seeing Cotton play as it deff seemed to add a bit extra especially when they played Pink Lady Lemonade to close the set. Enjoyed being part of the gig when Kawabata put his guitar into the crowd for us to add a bit of noise!

Also the first time I never picked anything up from the AMT merch table, which was very hard as they normally have a load of stuff I don't have! Had to restrain myself due to a dentist appointment coming up which may be pricey due to a chipped wisdom tooth!

Was good to see some mates I hadn't seen for years too! Also a bloke whose name I didn't catch who had came with his son who has autism and according to the bloke decided he wanted to go to gigs, pretty cool and both him and his son have seen some class bands together!

Acid Mothers Temple