The Mayfair Ballroom, opening night, September 12th, 1961

Where's The Book?

‘Ballroom Blitz: The Newcastle Mayfair Story’ should be out later this year. It’s been a massive task researching almost forty years of gigs and interviewing promoters and performers, but I’d also like to hear the public’s side of the story. So I’ve updated this website to include an almost complete list of bands who played the Mayfair Ballroom, from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, in the hope of jogging some memories.

When the Mayfair closed it had no record of the bands who had played there, so these lists were compiled by trawling through every issue of the Evening Chronicle, Sunday Sun and The Journal, spanning four decades, and a variety of online resources. Inevitably there will be some errors: bands may have cancelled after adverts appeared in the local press, and other billings may have changed. If you know that any listing is incorrect, I’d be grateful if you could contact me and I’ll try to put it right.

Me at The Mayfair, 30/5/1980

But I’m also interested in any personal memories of nights at the Mayfair, for inclusion in the book or on this website. If you’d like to help decorate the pages with your tickets, posters or photographs, then I’d also be very pleased to hear from you. Anything used on this website will be fully credited to the contributors, so this is your chance to say, “I was there”.

I've also included on this site a full list of bands that played the City Hall in the 1960s and the 1970s, and the first five years at Riverside, 1985 - 1990, for no other reason than I had the information lying around and thought it might interest others. And I've got a load of gig listings from the legendary Club aGoGo, but I'm saving those for another book.

You can contact me at mayfairstuff@gmail.com

Many thanks, Marshall Hall.