Eight acts to catch at Newcastle's Tour de Moon festival
Landing in Newcastle between May 27 and 30, Tour de Moon is a unique, three city, four day festival of free public events (tickets available here) celebrating nightlife and youth countercultures across the UK and beyond. Linked together by a sustainable touring convoy, the festival exists as a direct response to the current world we live in and aims to provide a platform for fresh thinking and new ideas – with the belief that radical imagination can create a better future for all.
Aimed at 18-25 year olds, Tour de Moon is composed of 8 programming strands offering a wide array of live and virtual experiences, including Moon Cinema, Moon Games, Moon Live, Moon Experiences, Moon Convoy, Moon Press, Moon Hotline and Moon Music.
Creating a unique showcase of Newcastle’s finest musical talent across a range of genres, Moon Music platforms emerging artists with a blend of live performances and DJ sets at the iconic North East venue World Headquarters. Traversing an eclectic range of genres, from techno and hip hop, to pop, soul and beyond, the Moon Music programme brings together some of the country’s finest underground artists for a weekend of radical thinking and artistic freedom. Below, we’ve highlighted 8 emerging acts from the Newcastle area who are poised to make this leg of the Tour de Moon journey one to remember.
Up-and-coming DJ and producer Anish Kumar is certainly one to watch over the next year with his unique and soulful take on electronic music. Having already caught early backing from the likes of Four Tet and Jaguar, this exciting talent will be showing off his future-facing sound at the Tour de Moon afterparty this Saturday.
As well as being one of Newcastle’s most exciting dance labels, Ape-X is arguably the city’s leading underground electronic music night and has been bringing diverse and fresh line-ups to the area for 14 years. You can expect a showcase of some of the collective’s finest selectors throughout the weekend.
Seamlessly crossing the borders between techno, dub and breakbeat, Darwin has become a formidable force in dance music of late. From curating her Reef parties at Berghain to fronting up her label SPE:C, the Canadian DJ’s upwards trajectory is undeniable and she’ll be taking over Saturday’s afterparty for a high-octane set you won’t want to miss out on.
Kicking off proceedings on Friday in room 2 of the World Headquarters club, lo-fi soul vocalist Georgie May is locked in for an intimate live performance. A self labelled “Nigeordian” (Nigerian/Geordie) and founder of NEWISM (North East Women in Soul Music), this rising songstress is poised to be one of the weekend’s highlights.
Nadedja
Originally hailing from Brazil and currently based in North East England, emerging vocalist Nadedja’s soul-bearing music has been steadily gaining recognition in and around Newcastle over the last year. Taking to room 2 of the World Headquarters club alongside Georgia May, it’s heating up to be a great evening for showcasing Newcastle’s underground talent.
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Spin City Crew are an emerging crew of Queer DJ’s and performers based in the North East of England who will be officially launching their brand at the Tour de Moon after party. Not much is yet known about the burgeoning collective but this weekend is about to change all of that.
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Westy has stood as an Ape-X resident for just over 5 years now and has become a permanent fixture in the North-East dance community. You can expect to hear a selection of some of electronic music’s finest anthems and underground gems as the rising selector shows why he’s gained a reputation as one of the best DJs on the Newcastle clubbing circuit.
With a sound spanning the realms of classic hip-hop, stripped back broken beat, sparse elements of left field house and ambient techno, Willow’s output is simultaneously distinctive yet hard to define. Having been on the scene since 2014, the DJ is currently in full-swing and is sure to bring the party to Tour de Moon this weekend.
Tour de Moon Newcastle is taking place between May 27-30. Book your free tickets here.
Following the Newcastle leg of the tour, the festival will stop off at Plymouth on June 8 before travelling to Southampton for 4 days between June 10-13. Tickets for Tour de Moon Southampton can be claimed here.
For more information on Tour de Moon or to claim your free tickets, visit the festival’s website.
