Issue 4: February 2002

Opening Time

Shy Talk

Culture Cormer

Feature: Capital of Cuture?

Why We Can't Wait For 2008

THE LOCAL PRESS is getting behind the joint Newcastle & Gateshead bid to become European City of Culture in 2008, and Newcastle Stuff is happy to add its considerable influence to the campaign.
The Chronicle has cleverly gauged the intelligence of its public, with a slogan aimed at those who still move their lips when they read.
The stylish and original pairing of the words ‘culture’ and ‘vulture’ proves that the region is a hotbed of creative writing; while the picture of a cloth-capped pigeon shows the art world that we know how to hold a crayon up here.
The council (or somebody like that) has already spent millions on an advertising campaign with top agency Robson Brown, whose streetwise young boffins once again underlined the region’s high literary standards with their Newcastle Gateshead Buzzin slogan.
Such wit and sophistication is sure to entertain the intellectuals from Down South.
Newcastle Stuff hired top creative team Haddaway & Shite to come up with our own contribution to the campaign, which we are proud to unveil here.
In our last issue, we examined Gateshead’s role in the joint bid. This month we look at what Newcastle has to offer the rest of Europe, culture-wise.

Clubbing

Having a shindig at a local club
NEWCASTLE and Gateshead are legendary for their nightlife, largely due to such super-clubs as Shindig, Nice, Dunston Excelsior, Seghill Comrades, Throckley Union Jack and Stonelove.
Youngsters travel from far and sometimes wide, to thrill to the double-deck wizardry of locals Scott Bradford, Scooby, Skev and Tom Caulker; and dance to the latest sounds from knockout trio Signed, Sealed & Delivered or super songstress Elsie Clench.
Whether it’s pies and peas at Bulletproof or dry ice and E’s at Byker Union Club, Tyneside is the place to be.
When it comes to clubs, we can’t be beaten.

Architecture

OUR Millennium Dome proved a bigger draw than its London counterpart, with hundreds paying a visit last year. Situated in the Bigg Market, it has an impressive porcelain interior by Armitage Shanks and a water feature, which sets the tab ends, phlegm and other curiosities in motion. It also has stylish seating designed by the great Adamsez.

Local Cuisine

IT’S NOT all fish and chips in Newcastle. The city’s popular café culture centres around the classy Grainger Market, where Sarah’s Tuck-In and the Grainger Café can offer Spam fritters, gristle-burgers or salad (only joking…) instead of your fish. Vegetarians are also well catered for: dish of the day is chips.

Public Art

THE CITY COUNCIL has displayed a sense of humour not usually found in the art world, with some of its recent commissions. We were delighted when a showpiece sculpture in the Haymarket, costing half a million quid, turned out to be fifty concrete Legomen which sprayed water over passers-by. And we were even more amused when they couldn’t find anyone to take them off their hands, free of charge.

Local Media

NEWCASTLE HAS a variety of mags aimed at busy youngsters, with little time to waste on reading. The Cack cleverly leads the eye from one glossy advert to another with few bothersome sentences between. Only three words matter in North Guide: ‘one-pound-fifty’ on the front cover is all that people need to read before walking out the shop. Newcastle Stuff is the free mag for people who like to read.