I went to the Mercury Prize ceremony in Newcastle and it gave me heaps of regional pride
Sam Fender won the first Mercury Prize to be hosted outside of London this week, and we were lucky enough to witness the event in person.
Of all the issues thrown towards the music industry in the age of streaming, one key pushback continues to stand since the early boom of commercial pop music - just how London -centric it can be.
However, in just one night that was flipped on it's head as Newcastle crowds and artists alike welcomed the Mercury Prize to the North East.
Starting in 1992, the event which celebrates the best album by a British or Irish artist stepped away from the capital for the first time this year, and the North East crowds stepped up.
Sam Fender closing the set of performances in front of a hometown crowd before being crowned as the winner - only the second act based outside of London to win the award since 2014 - was arguably the highlight, but the smooth running of one of the biggest nights in UK music showed the North East can show itself off at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena.
This is the second national award show to take place at the Arena this year, following the MOBO Awards back in February.
While the finale took place north of the Tyne, this was a culmination of Mercury Fringe events which took place from County Durham to Northumberland with songwriting masterclasses and local artist showcases taking place in smaller independent venues across Tyne and Wear and beyond.
Each live performance sounded immaculate at he region’s largest full-time venue and, more than anything else, was a fantastic shift from the 2024 edition of the event which did not see any shortlisted artists perform.
By contrast, this year was a true celebration of the UK music scene. From Pulp’s anthemic opening performance to spellbinding, stripped back performances from Jacob Alon and Martin Carthy, each act was welcomed with open arms by the North East crowd.
As someone who does their best to get to as many shows each year as possible, the night gave me a real sense of pride. Knowing the region stepped up, not only through the night, but in the build up the main event during the Fringe events, showed how amazing the scene is in our corner of the country.
Not only are the North East’s biggest stars such as Jade and Sam Fender releasing critically acclaimed albums, across the arena on Mercury Prize night I saw merch from - and overheard people talking about - some of the brilliant independent venues across the region. From Pop Recs in Sunderland to The Cluny in Newcastle, we have something to be proud of.
The more we support these venues, the more likely we are to see another local act like Sam Fender get the praise and national support they deserve.