AN EVENING WITH SHAUN RYDER Review

An Evening with Shaun Ryder Review – Riverside Newcastle  

Now I haven’t been to The Riverside in Newcastle since it was Sea nightclub, so I was quite surprised to see most of the building including the toilets were pretty much how I remember (I think). 

There was a drunken almost rowdy feel to the evening but that fitted the persona that was Shaun Ryder or at least the one I grew up with. 

The info for this event was slim but the night was billed as; 

An Evening with Shaun Ryder features an in-depth interview with the man himself, about his years in Happy Mondays & Black Grape, the Manchester music scene, and of course the notorious hell-raising antics that make Shaun such a fascinating and beloved figure in British culture. 

The audience will have the chance to ask Shaun questions too, and there will be live music from some special guests. If you’re a fan of the Happy Mondays & Black Grape, and the Manchester indie music scene in general, this is an event you DO NOT want to miss. 

What should have been billed:

An Evening with Shaun Ryder features a sparse overly staged interview with the man himself about whatever questions are on the compares cribbing cards. 

The audience will have the chance to ask questions pretty much from the get-go as the host/compares loses control and leaves the stage. 

There will be some live music that has nothing to do with Happy Mondays or Black Grape. 

If you are a fan of the Happy Mondays & Black Grape there is a significant likelihood that you wish you’d missed it. 

An overview of the evening

Lines of chairs were in place below the raised stage and a band were already singing (I later found out the band is called Velvet and they are from Newton Aycliffe). Although I really liked them they weren’t exactly what I was thinking when it stated ‘special guests’. A second band came on after Velvet, alas I didn’t catch their name but it wasn’t Adam Verner. 

Shaun was greeted well by his audience and questions started ok, well actually the answers were ok the interviewer Alan McGee seemed uncomfortable as if this had been the first time he’d done something like this. 

The man in the row in front of me kept interrupting Shaun, he wanted so badly to ask his questions and Alan decided to open to the floor to audience questions after only 10-15 minutes of interviewing. 

This continued for the rest of the evening. The last question topped itthough and they asked Shaun for his thoughts on Mike Ashley FFS. Even when Shaun said he didn’t really have an opinion on football the gent continued. Enough about football and Newcastle there is so much more to the city. 

Then that was the end of the Shaun/Alan part of the night and there was a random auction taking place. Some die-hard fans were bidding for some memorabilia and one item reached over £400 however I’m still not sure where the proceeds were going. 

My review is based on what I saw in Newcastle. Other interviewers may have handled the crowd better but unfortunately, I feel Alan McGee let Shaun down.

Thanks for reading,

InNewcastle

This was a guest post by Suzanne Whelan on behalf of InNewcastle.co.uk Want us to review your show, event or venue then EMAIL and get in touch and Follow me on the socials:
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