The lowdown from our New Noise show in Newcastle

Over the past year, we’ve been spotlighting some of the most cutting-edge artists of the moment with our New Noise series, a program dedicated to local emerging talents. The first few iterations took place in Covent Garden’s Stereo venue with performances from the likes of Blaketheman1000 and Finn Foxell, providing Londoners a free evening of top-notch music. But last Thursday, for the first time, New Noise headed north to see what tunes the ​‘Toon’ had to offer.

Few venues could provide a more apt space to match the freak of our performers than The Grove, a former Victorian stables-turned-intimate-music-hall in Byker. The industrial outpost features a sprawling courtyard, an above-ground dance floor complete with a cocktail bar – thee spiciest margs ever! – and an outdoor terrace for a bit of gossip and a rollie with your pals.

Until The Grove set up shop last year, residents of Byker had to hop on the metro to reach a decent live music venue. Nowadays, the space provides the area a steady supply of multi-genre events, spanning wholesome summer garden parties with local DJs through to jam nights where new names cut their teeth.

For this event, we teamed again with British outdoor clothing legend, Berghaus, to put on a proper Geordie edition of New Noise, the first in a new sub-series we’re calling, ​‘New Noise North’. For those that didn’t know, the British outdoor clothing giant was founded in Newcastle back in 1966 and holds a special place in underground music history. There, in the catacombs of The Grove, that history was continued by the performers, who repped the home-grown label throughout the night.

DJ ffog, one half of Time Wastin’ and co-host for Slack’s Radio, provided the soundtrack to the start of the night with a textural mix of global sounds, taking cues from old-school hip-hop and R&B – think plenty of left-field samples and syncopated beats. So far, so good.

The97Renn was next, proudly representing the North East, which he made no apologies for shouting about. Too right. Renn’s tracks leant into all corners of Southern hip-hop, cloud rap, grime and luxury rap (it’s a thing). His stand-out track, FLY, made with collaborator Sengi, almost set the venue alight, while his Northern charm proved popular with the audience. Sengi and Dan Swift joined Renn on stage to deliver a slew of fierce bars, unfurling the grit that got them there. Together, the three local artists went head to head, one-upping each other with cheeky quips to the audience – a true testament to community.

Our second rapper of the night, BXKS, cranked up the atmosphere further, fusing rapier-sharp lyrics – ​“Stuck to the money like blood to a bandage /​/​Stuck to the money like ham to a sandwich” – with trap, jazz and house. Every track had the room bouncing, although the Luton-born star stayed cucumber cool throughout.

Ending the night on a high, (DJ) Imelda dropped a shit-hot footwork set splicing in nods to their South African roots, as well as the Northern underground. Together, their set connected the dots in dance music’s diaspora.

Then, the lights came on.

Suffering from some serious FOMO? Don’t fret. Newcastle round two and our first Manchester event are coming your way shortly. Follow The FACE for updates.