All Go in Aberdeen

STEVE ROBERTSON looks at what is on offer at this year’s goNORTH festival in Aberdeen
 

OVER 40 BANDS will play free gigs in seven of Belmont Street’s venues when goNORTH returns to Aberdeen on 1-2 June. The gigs are structured to allow music fans to see at least ten minutes of each exciting act.

That makes Aberdeen THE place to be that week to hear new music from exciting Scottish acts such as The Cinematics, My Latest Novel and Girl Said No. There will also be acts from the rest of the UK and abroad. These include Welsh indie guitar band The Heights and the all-female band Octavia from Norway, who have been getting huge attention from the rock press.
 
Aberdeen gig goers will be joined by some of the top music industry people such as Stephen Jones, manager of The Apartment, who will also be performing at goNORTH. Stephen is renowned in the music industry circles as the A&R man who signed the publishing deals for acts like The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age and Sigur Ros.

As seen in years gone by, Radio 1 will broadcast a special show hosted by the man who champions new music in Scotland, Vic Galloway, Vic had this to say about goNORTH: “Someone described Belmont Street as being like a Broadway of music or a mini-South by Southwest [the prestigious showcase event in Texas where most gigs take place in Austin’s 6th Street]. It has a great infrastructure and is a really good set up for watching bands,”

Since it was launched in 2002 over 180 acts from 14 countries have performed at the event

The Performing Rights Society (PRS) will be sponsoring the singer/songwriter and acoustic stages at the Siberia and Wild Boar venues. Another event to take a note of is the special Fence Records night on 1 June, and an added boost comes from Music Week magazine, who will be giving away a special CD of goNORTH bands in next week’s issue. A selection of the featured acts will be invited to play a goNORTH night at London’s Barfly venue.

The organisers have teamed up with VisitScotland to bring journalists up to the Granite City in an attempt to elevate the city’s profile. There will also be a special reception in Dunnotter Castle near Stonehaven with a surprise act lined up to play an acoustic gig in the ancient fortress.
 
Following this year’s goNORTH will be a range of seminars by Soma Skool, put on for bands and individuals interested in working in the creative industries. These seminars will be held at Snafu (5 Union Street), and promise to include everything from music media to downloads (see www.somaskool.com )

goNORTH, the leading Scottish showcase is part of goEVENTS, which also encompasses HAIL, the music industry association for the Highlands and Islands, and is funded by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise along with the Performing Rights Society Foundation.
 Since it was launched in 2002 over 180 acts from 14 countries have performed at the event. Shortly after the event last year, Raising Kain were signed to Warner label Rushmore, while Poor Old Ben signed a publishing deal with Universal Music.

For more info on the event, see the goEVENTS website below.

© Steve Robertson, 2005
 

Related Link

• goEVENTS website