A glorious day along the Northeast coast saw almost 60 bands perform across 8 venues for the second ever A Stone’s Throw Festival.
Lyras – Tynemouth CIU
Contemporary R&B 5-piece Lyras opened the Tynemouth CIU venue with newest songs ‘Here When You Need Me’ and ‘Figure It Out’ as a handful of early comers lined the front of stage.
Dreamy vocals were provided by Ada Francis with fellow Scot Gavin Christie on drums, Luke Gaul on guitar, Luke Elgie on bass and Grace Alexander on keys. Penultimate song and oldest single ‘Don’t Keep Me Awake’ saw even more of the growing crowd make their way to the floor to dance along.
Hit the road with Lyras on ‘The Journey’.
Lyras on Instagram.
Motel Carnation – Tynemouth CIU
North-east supergroup Motel Carnation were the second band to hit the stage, and they did so dressed to the 9s, quite literally as guitarist Alex Soper sported a NUFC shirt with local hero Alan Shearer across the back (despite protesting he supports Manchester United).
The floor is now packed, with only a handful of folk remaining in their seats, and those that do are more than likely now unable to see.
The trio flew through their set of groove laded electronic indie featuring ‘Sweet Separation’, ‘Saul’ & ‘Baby You’re A Nightmare’, the crowd singing along with every word.
See what a night on the Toon is like with Motel Carnation’s ‘Baby You’re a Nightmare’.
Motel Carnation on Instagram.
Pave The Jungle – Barca El Globo
A change of venue as I headed just across the road to Barca El Globo to check out Pave the Jungle and their powerful brand of post-punk.
Throughout the set the band showcased songs from their debut EP ‘The Hissing’ as well as new number ‘Lucky Ones’ from last year’s offering, ‘Waiting For Nothing’.
However, it was the final track and their debut single ‘Jelly’ which saw lead singer and guitarist Rachael Whittle standing atop the drum platform at the back of stage that was the highlight of their set (though as a photographer, I think I am perhaps being a little biased!!)
Quite possibly the heaviest performance of the day, the only slight issue was that Whittle’s vocals were occasionally lost beneath the noise of instruments. Ultimately this didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment of their set and I will definitely be keeping an eye on Pave the Jungle going forward.
What they said: “AST was a huge success as far as we’re concerned. A risky move splitting the stages across such a wide area, but it paid off. It was a one-of-a-kind day by the sea for live music lovers, and the open top bus was a dream. We wish the organisers every success for the future and hope the festival becomes a permanent fixture!”
Check out the visually stunning video for ‘All You Know’.
Pave The Jungle on Instagram.
Faye Fantarrow – Karma Coast
After the heaviest band of the day so far, I moved to a new, smaller venue, Karma Coast, for a coffee and a change of pace, an intimate acoustic set from Sunderland native Faye Fantarrow.
The singer/songwriter delivered a dreamy set of soulful indie-pop including songs ‘10’, ‘Contraband Kisses’ and ‘L O V E’, the latter being a song about a friend who keeps returning to their toxic ex (I’m sure we all know someone like this).
Listen to Faye Fantarrow ‘Noughties’.
Faye Fantarrow on Instagram.
Hi Sienna – Barca El Globo
The highlight of Manchester alt-pop based Hi Sienna was undoubtedly their cover of ABBA’s ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man Before Midnight)’, which saw the entirety of Barca El Globo get on their feet and join in the party.
Check out newest offering, ‘Pride’.
Hi Sienna on Instagram.
Zela – Tynemouth CIU
Back over at Tynemouth CUI, Brat-pop brother sister duo Liv and Max Griff aka ZELA delivered a relentlessly energetic set to a full house of now semi-pissed patrons (a festival is after all a bunch of gigs and a day sesh rolled into one!).
Newest single ‘Chaos Queen’ went down a storm, and is a glimpse into a heavier, punkier side of ZELA.
What they said: “The whole day was a riot from start to finish for us. Always love getting to see some of our favourite North East artists, and then playing Tynemouth Social Club felt like going back to our roots – the crowd was class. Can’t really remember the van journey home which means it was a top night.”
This was my first time seeing ZELA live, but it most certainly won’t be the last!
Hear their latest offering ‘Chaos Queen’ here.
ZELA on Instagram.
FEVA – Tynemouth CIU
Launching into singles ‘Uneasy’ and ‘We’re Not Defective’, FEVA feel like a headline act, which tonight, they were, lead singer Sam Reynolds swaggering on and off the stage as he joined the biggest crowd of the day on the floor during the first song.
Everyone in the room had descended into a drunken madness of the best kind, singing and dancing along to ‘Waiting Room’ and ‘Undone’ as Reynolds ended their frantic set sitting shirtless atop of a ledge above the emergency exit.
FEVA are a band you need to witness live to fully appreciate, and that isn’t taking anything away from their recorded works at all, it’s just that their live performance brings so much more to the table, truly a perfect way to end the day and the festival.
Check out ‘I Wanna Know’ .
Whilst set times did overlap slightly, which of course does happen at a fair few festivals, ASTF partnered with local bus company Go North East to offer free travel between the venues in North Shields and Tynemouth, which, in its sophomore year, is impressive.
By utilising a handful of spaces that wouldn’t normally host bands, A Stone’s Throw Festival made wonderful use of local venues and no doubt gave them a bit of a financial boost, which given recent years, would have been more than welcome.
This did also occasionally make for quite an interesting spectacle, such as when, upon leaving Tynemouth CIU post-FEVA, there were festival goers and locals gathered together in the main bar downstairs watching the Champions League Final, not something you’d usually see in a social club on a Saturday night.
Ultimately, A Stone’s Throw Festival made one thing crystal clear, the North East music scene is truly alive and well post-Covid, and the future looks brighter than ever.
Follow A Stone’s Throw Festival on Instagram.