Clubland Live 2 - Newcastle

Posted By: Steve | Updated: 1st Dec 2008 | Viewed: 6801 Times

On yet another freezing November night, 10,000 people from the North East and beyond made their way down to the Metro Radio Arena on the banks of the Tyne just outside Newcastle City Centre. Having lived there for many years I know all to well that the Geordies are a hardy bunch and generally don't believe in warm clothing in winter and true to form the crazy and skimpy outfits were out in force. Not quite as much high vis as there was in Scotland but the odd cluster of forensics suits could still be seen jumping up and down on the floor.

The Metro Radio Arena is the first venue on the mainland to be in the traditional arena format. Glasgow and Aberdeen are both hall type exhibition centres where the floor is wider than it is deep. Newcastle is a long arena with bowl type seating around the stage and this sort of layout does add an extra dimension to the gigs for me. It's the sort of thing you associate with massive bands and gigs and its amazing to see just how far the brand and the music has come from since the days we were pretty much alone in playing it in local dance clubs across the country. The music always was a blend of quite a few styles that never had a single name or formula but Clubland has also come to be a byword for the music that everybody understands without the need for any further explaining.

Once again from the moment the doors opened and the crowds thronged to the front the atmosphere was electric. There's a subtle difference between the crowds in the various parts of the country and the Newcastle crowd was not quite as frantic as the Scottish crowds had been the two previous nights but the frantic insanity of Glasgow was matched and equalled by the euphoric warmth of the Tyneside masses with each and every tune getting the same massive reactions that they had for the three previous nights.

Interestingly some of the newer tracks are getting reactions which equal and sometimes surpass that of the more established ones. Kelly's version of 'Dress You Up', Stunt's ' I'll Be There' and Ultrabeat's 'Starry Eyed Girl' being particular highlights. I'm also loving Flashlight more and more every time I hear it and it's great to hear Scooter doing a wide selection from their extensive repertoire too. Their intro is worth the ticket price alone as well!

The guys have all had a day off today. We came back down after the gig last night and have been back in the office hard at work but we will be back out on the road tomorrow down in Sheffield, if you're going we'll see you down there. Full blog and gallery from the Sheffield Arena will be online Wednesday!