RAMONA’S TEA PARTY RETURN TO THE CLUNY 2 — WITH SUPPORT FROM HOLLY REES
8 August 2025 | The Cluny 2, Newcastle
After making a lasting impression in 2024 with a high-energy support slot at The Cluny, Ramona’s Tea Party are back — this time headlining The Cluny 2 on Saturday 8th August 2025, fresh off the release of their sophomore album, Pour Your Heart Out.
Known for their genre-defying sound and riotously engaging live shows, Ramona’s Tea Party have built a loyal following through their mix of art-pop flair, punk edge, and emotional depth. Their new album Pour Your Heart Out is already making waves (pardon the pun – iykyk), and this intimate headline show will be one of the first chances to experience it live in full-force.
Joining them is Holly Rees, one of the North East’s most beloved songwriters. With her band in tow, Holly brings a powerful new energy to her emotionally honest indie-folk style. Her performances are raw, warm, and often deeply relatable — a perfect pairing for the night.
This one’s going to be special — a summer night of noise, feeling, and fearless live music in one of Newcastle’s best venues.
TICKETS: Available here
DOORS: 7:30PM
AGE RESTRICTION: 16+
SOCIALS:
@ramonasteaparty | @hollysounds
#PourYourHeartOut #RamonaReturns #TheCluny2 #HollyReesLive
Previous Interview with V.Brewster
RAMONA’S TEA PARTY: “It’s just friendship, fun, and noodles.”
Recorded live at The Cluny, Newcastle – 7 November 2024
I caught up with Ramona and Chris of Ramona’s Tea Party after their support set for Millie Manders and the Shutup at The Cluny — a set I’d expected to enjoy, but not to be quite so thrown by. They delivered something far more chaotic, charged, and thoughtful than I’d anticipated. Naturally, I had questions.
“So… that was pretty electrifying. How do you keep that kind of intensity up for a whole set?”
“We’re just having fun,” Ramona said like it was the most obvious answer in the world. “Every night.”
“It’s just the joy of life and music and being together,” Chris added. “Friendship.”
And noodles. That came up quickly too.
“No alcohol, no substances,” Ramona said. “Just noodles before we go on.”
“Pure, noodle-fuelled chaos,” Chris laughed.
There’s a looseness to the way they play — but never sloppiness. The set feels like it could come apart at any moment, but doesn’t. No one dominates the stage, and no one fades out either. The energy seems genuinely shared. “Everyone brings their own little battery pack,” Ramona explained. “It’s not about one person carrying it.”
“Your sound is hard to pin down — it doesn’t really sound like anyone else. Intentional?”
“Not really,” she said. “I’ve never tried to sound unique. It’s just a pile of everything I’ve grown up with. The Ramones, The Beatles, Weezer — things my parents’ listened to, and then, like, Disney’s Camp Rock… And then I studied classical piano and went to a classical music school for a bit. Then I hit my teens and started listening to modern indie stuff. So it’s all just in there, mashed up.”
Chris mentioned that some of the songs in the set were written when Ramona was just 14 or 15, while others were brand new — and yet nothing felt out of place.
“They are totally different eras of my life” she said, “But I guess it still feels like me.”
“Does that classical background still shape how you write?”
“Oh, definitely. I think a lot about theory, about chord progressions — I can’t help it. But I try to turn that part off sometimes and just go by feel. Still, it’s useful when you want to break the rules on purpose.”
“So how does the writing work between you and Chris?”
“It’s pretty much all Ramona!” Chris said. “Most of it’s me,” Ramona admitted. “Music and lyrics. I might give a suggestion of how I imagine something sounding, but I don’t write the parts for anyone. The guys take it and build it into something better.”
“Do you still think about how songs will translate live when you’re writing?”
Ramona thought about it. “At first, yeah. The first album was written during lockdown, so we were imagining shows while writing it — the whole thing is kind of structured like a live set. But now I’m more focused on how to serve a song. Less ‘will this go off live’, more ‘is this what the song is trying to be?’”
“What’s been a standout moment for you on stage?”
“There are little moments,” Chris said. “Like tonight, I looked out at the crowd mid-song and just felt it all land — where we were, what we were doing. And you’re not thinking about the song or what comes next. You’re just in it.”
“For me,” Ramona added, “it’s when I catch Chris’s eye or we move at the same time. That’s when I know we’re connected. Even if we’re on different parts of the stage — it clicks.”
They told me they’d only done about a dozen shows together with this current line-up, which genuinely shocked me. “You wouldn’t know,” I said. “It looked like you’d been playing together for years.”
“That’s so good to hear,” Ramona said, genuinely touched.
We talked about setlist tweaks — apparently they were still switching songs around night by night, testing transitions, deciding which bits of crowd interaction to keep or ditch. “We’ve been comparing notes after every show,” Chris said. “In the car the next morning, we’ll be like, ‘should that come earlier? Should we cut that intro?’ It’s constantly shifting.”
Pour Your Heart Out is the debut — raw, vulnerable, a bit chaotic (obviously), and exactly the sort of record that feels like it had to be made. It’s noisy in a very honest way. It doesn’t flinch.
And now they’re coming back!
Ramona’s Tea Party return to The Cluny 2 on 8 August 2025 — exactly nine months after this interview — for their first Newcastle headline.
Expect new songs. Weird jokes. Possibly learning some Norwegian. Possibly some noodles. Definitely a night worth showing up for.
Recommended if you like:
Unfiltered noise, boundless energy, guitars that match your hair.
TICKETS: Available here
DOORS: 7:30PM
AGE RESTRICTION: 16+
SOCIALS:
@ramonasteaparty