Sunday Sun Today...

Sunday Sun Today...

Read this in the Sunday Sun today:

A famous North nightclub saved from the threat of closure is going back to its roots as a live music venue, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Newcastles Foundation was taken out of administration last week after former boss David Phelps bought it back following an intense bidding war.

And one of his first plans is to bring top live bands back to the Melbourne Street venue.

Thats a move intended to revive those heady days when the club was famed throughout the region as the Riverside and hosted gigs by big-name bands such as Nirvana, David Bowie and Oasis.

The award-winning nightspot had been facing closure after its last owner, bar and club chain Po Na Na, collapsed in May.

On Thursday David Phelps and his company Barvest beat 300 other bidders to buy the chain back for £6m, securing the future of Foundation and 26 other venues including the prestigious Hammersmith Palais in London.

The Tyneside clubs new owner plans to keep regular attractions such as the weekly Shindig and monthly Traveller events going.

It is also on the lookout for new ideas, though, following a downturn in the popularity of dance music and increased demand for rock and live events.

Its great that Shindig can still command the big crowds week in week out because dance music is in a big state of flux, said David Gaydon, music projects manager for Po Na Na.

Thats why part of my role is to push live music at Foundation.

Were spending about £10,000 on modifying the stage area and tweaking the sound system to accommodate big bands.

Theyre all very excited by the idea of playing there again because they remember how good it was when it was the Riverside.

Its great that they come to Newcastle to play at the universities but they can only play in big, bland rooms whereas Foundation has a more intimate atmosphere.

I cant confirm any acts yet but weve had lots of interest from big stars. Exciting times are ahead.

In its heyday the Riverside was a platform both for local bands and some of the biggest names in rock, as well as world music nights.

In 1993 it was voted best regional venue in NME magazine.

Among the acts that played there were Moby, the Lighthouse Family, Stereophonics, the Verve, Tindersticks, Death in Vegas, Ocean Colour Scene and James.

And it was at the Riverside that Nirvana played their first ever European gig, back in 1989.

Foundation is now set to welcome back those days after live music returns in October.

The Super Furry Animals, another band that played there first time round, are rumoured to be among the next lot of acts on the way.

HEYDAYDavid Bowie at the Riverside in 1997.

LEGENDSNirvana, inset, played at the Newcastle venue.


Link...

Very sad news although I doubt mark would let Promise die off.. We'll see how he responds.

I will be looking forward to some of the live acts though.

oh well...looks like more trips to vision and crasher are on the cards!

i dont care either way...ill go to see live bands, ill go to see live dj's...prefer to see dj's tho i guess...we have the uni's and the telewest for bands.

crikey. well, nothin has been said about promise so i guess we need to wait for the official line on whats gonna happen...

Shite, I hope we don't loose Promise

Agreed! Sure he wont! Sure the new owners will let it stay, it's become busy since it went monthly!!

Agreed again-gosh whats happening!
In Death in Vegas played there again that would be amazing


I think they might be able to keep Thursays, Fridays and Saturdays pretty similar ar they're pretty popular on the whole!! It'll be better having the bands in the weekdays anway as they dont generally go on late, unlike clubs.

Dont mind live bands but id rather Promise anyday

Think they may keep stonelove, but they'll probably emphasise more live acts... are they may just replace them with live bands (be weird to go foundation ona thursday and not hear Stone Roses). Shindig will defo stay, as it says.

Fridays I'll wait for marks comment.

mon, tues, wed, sun - I can't see being up to much (Cept maybe the odd hed kandi ball)... Think this may be the time when they fill the place with bands... it doesn't matter what day you put a gig on - if the bands in demand the people come.

can't imagine promise goin but others will prob be out.
went to see a few bands when it was still the riverside like. last one was asian dub foundation but cannot remember what year it was. it was close to the time the place closed pre-foundation.

guess we wait and see.

might as well slit our wrists now then!!!

top tip: try looking on the brighter side of things

yeah but they're all hard house or RnB! unlucky

they have weekly trance in london, which is more than we do!

peach and the gallery, and crasher.......

and they have Turnmills

The bastards! :evil:

I heard about this at Foundation some time ago and thought the guy I was talking to was on the wind up.

I hope the clubbing stays.

Any official news yet then?

ditto

Does anyone know how this might affect Promise yet??