Review: Miles Kane at NX Newcastle

Miles Kane – Friday 2nd February 2024

The legend that is Miles Kane visited us in Newcastle again this Friday night after his successful tour last year. He promised that ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ and that was certainly true.

Our night began with a bang with some help from the support band- The Royston Club- a band I had been excited to see for a while. They’ve definitely been on my bucket list of bands to see and they’re appearing at a festival I am going to later this year. 

It was great to get an insight into what they would be like. 

They opened with the banger that is Blisters and their sound filled the venue of NX. Their stage presence was electric when they were playing but I think a little work on audience participation would be good to see. They are a pretty young band so I think more experience with audience banter would be great. Nevertheless, the vocals and vibes were great. The crowd were excited and sang their songs back to them which seemed to bring them to life even more. Their final song I’m a Liar is an absolute tune and a must to listen to. I’m really looking forward to seeing this brand grow, develop and really come into their own. I think they’ll be sticking around for a while so be prepared to see their name on many festival line ups. Brilliant songs and undeniable talent. 

We weren’t waiting around for too long for the man himself and as always NX provided some absolute world class tunes to keep us going. Around twenty minutes later, at half past 8, we secured our spot and the venue was flooded with orange lighting and ‘You Sexy Thing’ blared out of the speakers – what an entrance! He opened with Troubled Son which is one of my favourite tracks from him. The audience responded so well to this with screams and a rapturous applause. 

He has stage presence in abundance and always gives off that effortlessly cool vibe. It was nice to see a real mix in the audience from his newest fans to those who’ve been following him for the past twenty years. It was nice to see him acknowledge this too and show such gratitude for his fans and following. 

The band reeled out banger after banger and the audience soaked it all in. Miles Kane audiences are not for the faint of heart though as he has quite a bouncy, anthemic feel to most of his songs the audience are busy singing their hearts out and moshing around. I did really enjoy his relaxed section too with Colour of the Trap and Rearrange and loved how these were interwoven throughout the set. At the perfect point – a sign of an artist who knows his audience and how to put on a show. 

The whole band were on point throughout the show with sick riffs and brilliant timing supporting Kane’s effortless vocals as well. Ben Rose on guitar, Liam Toon on drums and Nathan Sudders on bass made up this killer foursome who just put on such a great, tight knit show from beginning to end. 

The penultimate three songs included extended bridges and outros and gave that final pizazz to the end of the show. Coup de Grace was absolutely iconic and I just loved the level of audience participation – the whole crowd chanted back coup de coup de and the whole place was bouncing! I just love these numbers that are meant to have that audience interaction to bring them to life. 

He came back on for the final encore with Don’t Forget Who You Are which was the perfect ending to a truly wonderful gig. 

Epic vocals, a brilliant set list and clear experience upon that stage just made for a wonderful evening. Thanks to NX for a great night in such a brilliant venue – it really is just made for gigs like this.