Member Article

Orange Evolution festival returns for its fifth year

Tomorrow will see the return of the region’s biggest music festival. Orange Evolution 2006 features 100 artists in 30 indoor gigs in six venues across Newcastle and Gateshead, culminating in a free outdoor event – Freevolution – on Bank Holiday Monday (29 May). Back for its fifth year, the Festival not only features some of the biggest bands in Britain including HARD FI and The Futureheads, it also gives the region’s unsigned bands the chance to showcase their talent in a series of live music events. The Spearhead series, organised by music development agency Generator, includes performances at The Carling Academy 2 by Free Diamonds, Chippewa Falls, Shin Jin Rui on 19 May and (The) Catweasels, Dartz! And The Eye Jab on 26 May. Both gigs are free.Jim Mawdsley, Orange Evolution Festival Director and Development Director at Generator, said: “One of NewcastleGateshead’s real assets is its passion for music at a grass-roots level. To continue to thrive as a music city, we need to nurture this and the Spearhead series of events aim to really support and showcase some of the most talented bands from the region who have the ability to become the stars of the future.“The culmination of the festival – Freevolution – will see the NewcastleGateshead Quayside transformed into a major stage set where it will play host to over 20 bands throughout the day, including HARD FI, Graham Coxon, Orson, The Go! Team, The Freestylers and The Proclaimers. The festival kicks off tomorrow with a double-header from The Futureheads. For information about all the gigs taking place over the twelve-day period log onto www.orangeevolution.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .