Late September will see a fresh, third-year festival with immense promise descend on Stockton-on-Tees for a dynamic and exciting day of live music. Utilising multiple venues across the town, the third iteration of The Gathering Sounds on September 25th will present a considerable selection of emergent acts in a brilliant line-up likely to give committed fans of up-and-coming music a scheduling headache.
That is where the downsides begin and end as the jamboree installs itself throughout the constellation of Stockton’s superb arts venues (minus our own NE Volume Music Bar, at the moment, but we’ll be speaking to the promoters about next year’s event) for its comeback stint. In the mix, naturally, will be ARC, The Georgian Theatre, KU and The Green Room at Green Dragon Studios, hosting six stages between them and covering many of our local touchstones for live performance, although the fact that other venues have also played host to the festival in previous years speaks to the strength of Stockton’s sonic ecosystem.
With previous Stockton festival events attracting internationally-renowned performers, and Stockton Calling in particular now a most notable and established crown jewel in the town’s musical calendar (pre-pandemic), The Gathering Sounds stands as another bold addition to the community’s still-foetal festive identity, which will introduce unconverted attendees to the locality’s venues as much as the music on offer. Tucked into the various crannies of Stockton’s twisting, regenerated centre, the venues have an almost secretive mystique to them, and trotting between them as part of the town’s festivals is an integral part of the experience.
For the array of burgeoning artists involved, this is an outstanding opportunity to build confidence and stage identity; for many acts, this date will be utterly formative. This cultivates a special bond between audience and performer THAT many festivals cannot replicate, making this a slate to treasure.
Of the acts set to entertain, Sophie & The Giants return as headliners after their 2019 appearance, graduating up the bill despite the interruption of the last two years. Liverpool dispatches two momentum-gathering rock headliners to the fest in Red Rum Club and The Mysterines. Other top-drawer names on the poster include Kid Kapichi, Himalayas and, in an otherwise rock-dominated upper bill, the madcap genre-bending of Du Blonde. Newcastle wonderkid Andrew Cushin is but one of the countless talents on the remainder of a rammed line-up which is too rich to fully explore here.
After 18 months of bubbling-under acts and music venues suffering similarly sustained damage, The Gathering Sounds seems as vital and amplified an event as we can ask for.
For further information, head to arconline.co.uk.
