During the first week of February, we celebrated Independent Venue Week, and this year was a little extra special with Independent Venue Week having been celebrated for ten whole years! As a live music enthusiast and someone who works in music, that is an incredible milestone and one to celebrate. So naturally, the week was jam-packed with live gigs at several independent venues all over Newcastle and its wider area.
And with its close proximity to Scotland, it should come at no surprise that Scottish bands visit Newcastle on a regular basis. Independent Venue Week was no exception, on the Saturday of IVW, local alternative rock outfit Ten Eighty Trees headlined Little Buildings, a venue with a layout and capacity resembling that of Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh, the band got support from local rockers Kulpa and Glaswegian outfit Shredd!
KULPA
The evening starts with a powerful set of young, energetic and raw rock outfit Kulpa who are still a tad rough around the edges but are being driven by an enthusiastic audience to give it their all. They have found their strength in alternating between singers and have got some very catchy rocking riffs up their sleeves. A favourite is single ‘Sunny’, which they have released on Spotify and they dedicate specially to two of their loyal fans in the audience.
SHREDD
We move on to Shredd, who, from the very first second, impress and captivate the entire audience’s attention. The trio bring an incredibly tight set filled with wildly ferocious garage tracks. Drummer Calum is a joy to watch and brings their songs to life even more. Shredd are savage in their delivery and leave no riff unplayed. We eat it all up, every single tune they play and every move they make, Shredd show that dedication, hard work and incredible songs are still very much appreciated and after their set we talk about having them return to Newcastle for a headline show… They have secured their spot on my ones-to-watch-list!
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TEN EIGHTY TREES
Headliners Ten Eighty Trees are known for their wild live shows and live up to the expectations once again with their very well-crafted alternative rock tracks and inexhaustible energy. Drummers that steal the show seems to be the theme of the night with Ten Eighty Trees’ drummer Michael Mather going at it like his life depends on it. Again, the audience is loving it. The venue is moving, shaking and beaming thanks to Ten Eighty Trees’ feral riffs and infectious tunes, with of course new releases ‘Running Back 2 U’ and ‘The Incubator’ on the set list. New or not, the audience understood their assignment and blurted out every single word right back at the band. As befits a successful Ten Eighty Trees live show, we end in a mosh pit that leaves no one out, and even though we get an encore with crowd-pleaser ‘Contact’, a Ten Eighty Trees show will always be slightly too short. Luckily, a little birdie told us that the band will soon be returning to Edinburgh for another one of these TenEightySmashingGigs!