INCOMING

Something for the weekend
Have you seen that film The Human Centipede yet? It’s about a mad doctor who grafts three people together, mouth to anus, to give them one digestive tract (thus forcing two thirds of the entity to survive by eating the person in front’s excrement). Well, we hear that the Theatre Royal are trying to get The Human Centipede to appear in this year’s panto. Beats two people in a funny horse costume we suppose. Anyway. Here’s four fab ‘uns for the weekend ahead.

Pokey LaFarge
Pokey LaFarge (pictured) was born in the heartland of America and took to the open roads at a young age, earning the key to freedom by hitching rides and writing boxcar ballads that spun tales of a boy finding his way through this big wide-open country. He submerged himself with the most American of music and embraced himself in the beauty of the land while picking and strumming with down-home groups everywhere he went, falling in with travelling caravans of vaudeville poets and hell-raising bluegrass pickers alike. Hooray.
Friday September 3, Cluny 2, Ouseburn, Newcastle, 8pm, £12.
www.pokeylafarge.net

From A-Z
Super eclectic club night playing anything and everything from, well, A-Z (I wonder if that means no 808 State…). Anyway. Think indie, disco, new wave, soul etc etc etc.
Friday September 3, Retreat @ St. Dominics, New Bridge Street (opp. Tanners pub), Newcastle, 8pm, £2/£3

Sedgefield Folk Festival
This year’s bash (taking place from Friday-Sunday) takes in some superb folky acts including: The Doonan Family Band, Jez Lowe, Johnny Silvo, Isambarde, Full House and many more. Always a fabulous affair.
Friday September 3-Sunday September 5, various venues in Sedgefield (check their website), prices vary. www.sedgefieldfolkfestival.co.uk

The Grinning Idiot Comedy Club
Hoot your trap off with a great line-up tonight featuring the always hilarious Ian Cognito and Paul Tonkinson. Support from Luke Benson.
Saturday September 4, Live Theatre, Newcastle, 8pm, £8/£10. www.live.org.uk

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Film review: Avatar: Special Edition
David Willoughby has been to see James Cameron’s remix of the world’s highest grossing film. But is it a case of let’s ‘Av it, or has it merely left him feeling blue…?

Click here for all the truth that you’re going to need…>>>>

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Attention gay history aficionados!
A quick gay quiz? Cop for these: What’s the oldest gay pub in Newcastle’s Pink Triangle? Which club in the 60s gave gay men the chance to sparkle on the dancefloor? And the bar of which now vanished Grey Street hotel was for many years the preferred haunt of the older gay crowd? Questions questions, but answers answers can be found on a new walk which highlights the city’s gay history. The two and a half mile walk, which takes in areas including the Haymarket, Grey Street, the Bigg Market and the Pink Triangle formed part of the Northern Pride celebrations. Now organisers are hoping further research can uncover new information which can be incorporated into the walk and they'd like to hear from others within the LGBT communities, particularly older people. Organiser Steve Paske: “We know that other people within the LGBT communities will have their own memories and we would welcome any additional information so that we can build a fuller picture of how Newcastle's gay scene has developed and thrived over the years”.

People can get in touch to share memories and information by contacting Steve at mailto:stevepaske@talktalk.net 

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A nice painting
I’m sure you’ll agree this is a very nice painting indeed and more like it can be seen at the rather marvellous Newcastle University MFA Exhibition. Not only painting, but printmaking, video, installations and computer interaction (this doesn’t mean Pac-Man. We don’t think, anyway). Expect nostalgia, absence, sex, moral relativism, decay, materiality and politics to be a few of the themes that will be interrogated, mediated and consumed in this intriguing exhibition.

Newcastle University MFA, through September 12, Hatton Gallery & adjacent Department of Fine Art, www.mfa2010.com 

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Film review: The Girl Who Played With Fire
David Willoughby has been to see the middle part of Steig Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. But is it a roaring success or a real Steig of the dump?

Click here for the only review you’ll ever need…>>>>

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Film review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World
David Willoughby checks out the graphic novel/videogame inspired latest film from Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright. But is this Sega Saga a Nintendo or a Nintendon’t…?

Click here for film review >>>>

 

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Film review: Salt
Director Philip Noyce’s latest, Salt, is an action thriller starring Angelina Jolie. David Willoughby is just the man to see if this Salt is good or bad for you…

Click here for the full review >>>>

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Cutting edge! Contemporary! Jewellery!
When you want to talk about prestigious Silversmithing and Jewellery Departments, you NEED to talk about the Glasgow School of Art. One of the top studios IN THE WORLD they’re sending six designers down to The Biscuit Factory to display their extremely covetable wares. Expect to see award-winning work inspired by the natural world, Japan, abstract stuff and pieces that explore new paradigms of beauty… (oh yes).

Air Ten, through September 7, The Biscuit Factory, 16 Stoddart Street, Newcastle www.thebiscuitfactory.com

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Film review: The Last Airbender
David Willoughby chances his arm with the latest fantasy epic from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan. But is it a Night to remember or simply a case of thank you and good Night…

Click here for the truth about The Last Airbender >>>>

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Win Girl Who Played With Fire stuff
Everyone is going bonkers for these films/books are they not? Murder has never been so popular. The cinematic sequel to “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is out at the end of this month and we’ve got some related booty that you might like to have, to wit: three copies of the novel and three branded t-shirts. Hooray.

WIN: To be in with a chance of scooping a t-shirt and book tell us who wrote the book that inspired the film that inspired the t-shirt. Email your answers to  comps@thecrackmagazine.com along with your address.

The Girl Who Played With Fire is released at cinemas on August 27.

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Free cinema-style screenings in Eldon Square!
High street shoppers are being invited to take a break in Eldon Square, put their feet up and watch digital stories made by people in the north-east in the Culture Shop! cinema. People can take time out from shopping and drop in to relax in the Culture Shop! - a space in Eldon Square that has been transformed into a comfy cinema-style area screening digital stories from the Culture Shock project. Culture Shock is one of the world’s largest storytelling projects and this unique space in the heart of Newcastle’s shopping centre is giving people the chance to sit back and enjoy the exciting array of stories which have been created so far. These digital stories are short films made up of pictures, sound or animation. They have all been created by people living in the North East and have been inspired by museums and galleries.

Culture Shop! through September 11, 9.30am-5.30pm, free. More: www.cultureshock.org.uk 

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Cooking with Stacie
In a move that will see Jamie Oliver and High Fearnley-Whitlessness quaking in their home-grown organic boots, The Crack has invited Masterchef finalist and Roker lass Stacie Stewart to share her brilliant tips, recipes and general modish loveliness with Crack readers. First up - pasta with broad beans, pancetta, mint and lemon here >

 

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It’s Jethro Tull! See them for free!
The Tull are playing only one date in the UK in 2010 and what do you know, they’re playing it in South Shields. Imagine. This special concert is part of this year’s Bupa Great North Run weekend and will take place in a giant marquee at Gypsies Green Stadium. Prepare yourself for mucho blues rock with an experimental flavour as well as plenty of one-legged flute playing.

WIN: We’ve got three pairs of tickets for this gig and you can bag a pair if you can tell us the name of the fella who wields such a mean flute for the band. Email your answer and contact details to: comps@thecrackmagazine.com

Jethro Tull + Bessie and the Zinc Buckets, Friday September 17, Gypsies Green Stadium, South Shields, £27.50. www.customshouse.co.uk

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Climb the BALTIC. Slide down it. Help Badgers.
The Northumberland Wildlife Trust are launching themselves forth with their first ‘adrenaline rush’ fundraising event. Imagine. And you can get involved in this jolly wheeze which will involve sliding across the Tyne from the top of the BALTIC and over to the Newcastle side. You can glean all the info and download a registration form from their website below but the gist is that you need a deposit of £30 to secure your place and then must commit to raise £120 sponsorship. You must also practise shouting “Wheeeee!”

The zip wire event will take place on Saturday September 11.  www.nwt.org.uk

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Twitter ye lots
And there’s a headline that doesn’t really work. Anyway. You can now ‘follow’ us on Twitter. By clicking on the below link be prepared to receive the heads up on forthcoming albums and gigs, Song of the Day (day by day builds up into the coolest collection of tunes ever assembled), website updates and more More MORE!

Seek: http://twitter.com/the_Crack

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The Pilots: interview & session
We’re more than enamoured with Newcastle-based band, The Pilots. They’re a three-piece and I suppose you may like to lob words such as “indie” and “rock” in their direction; but they’ve got a certain chutzpah that lifts them clear of the murk and shoots them towards the stars. They have a confidence in their songwriting ability and that’s very evident with their melodic know-how which is straight out of the top drawer. Check ‘em out.

Interview and session recording with The Pilots: listen to it Here >>

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Follow us on twitter >>>

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Crackcast
This month's Crackcast features twenty minutes of top class music from our favourite bands who just happen to be living on our doorstep - Pilots, Oh Messy Life, Dot to Dots, Moleck and Beyond the Valley.

Listen here>

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ON TOUR...