The Bridge!

It's been done many times and obviously by blippers far more skilled than me, but I had to give it a try. I wanted the bridge and the Sage, so here they are - the Sage through the Bridge.

We're here in Gateshead for Bellowhead and if you haven't heard of them, you should have! It's a sellout and we're hoping it will be as stupendous an evening as it was last time we saw them.

The above was written in a bit of haste, as I only had a short time to blip before the performance and knew we wouldn't be home until after midnight. So, for anyone who hadn't a clue what I was on about, a few words of explanation.

Bellowhead

John Spiers and Jon Boden have been playing together for a long while now, as a folk duo. They have collected traditional English folk songs and tunes and play them in their own individual style. Boden has the most incredible charisma and an amazing voice; Spiers is a very gifted musician. Between them they play a vast range of instruments. We've seen them a few times, just as a duo.

However, when they gather nine other musicians around them and form the band Bellowhead, they are something else entirely. The others are professional musicians in their own right and play brass, drums, strings - just about everything between them. The result is loud, energetic, unexpected and totally riveting. It's just an amazing experience to be there. We've seen them three times now and would go again and again. To be immersed in such enthusiastic, exciting music making is exhilarating. This is folk music as you've never heard it before.

They are extremely popular at the moment and play to packed houses. I don't think they travel outside the UK very much, although I do notice this current tour ends in the Netherlands and Belgium.


The bridge

The bridge is the Gateshead Millennium Bridge that crosses the River Tyne, linking Gateshead and Newcastle at The Quays. A quick Google will give you lots of pictures of it. It really is a beautiful bridge.

The Sage Gateshead is a large purpose-built music venue by the River. It's a lively place hosting a huge of range of music. It's shaped a bit like a slug and again a Google search will give you lots of pictures of it. It's quite a drive for us, but we do go quite often because of the things that are on offer.

My picture was taken from the bridge itself looking over towards the Sage.

Fourseasons gave me this link to a great picture taken by a blipper from the other direction. Here you can see the Sage and the Millenium bridge more clearly. I'm sure there are others on blip, as there are some talented photographers in the area and it is often a focus for camera work. When we were on our way to the theatre there were a few tripods in evidence. Obviously what I could have done with + my other camera + some filters + some time!