This post is sponsored
You don’t need to tell me that NewcastleGateshead is hub of music, art and culture, I for one should know that. So when I saw that THE Ray Laidlaw was going to be doing a cultural bus tour of the region, I had to hop on board.
On the 17th August, I went on board the yellow double decker bus that was waiting for me on Bewick Street at 7pm, ready for my three hour bus tour of NewcastleGateshead.
Taking my seat, I went on a journey (quite literally) of music, film and more. Interweaving between times and locations, I was learning so much about the city that I call home.
Driving past music venues such as the Utilita Arena, Sage Gateshead and seeing the new site of the Sage. Ray talked about musical modern talents from the region, such as Sam Fender and how the Quayside (to him) represents the art and culture industry in the North East and the importance of us supporting these venues because if we don’t use them we will lose them.
I also found out that the buildings that we now know as restaurants and pubs were also once music venues. You may have seen or even been to Indian Restaurant, Sachins- well did you know that that used to be hub for Jazz musicians in the 60’s and the demolished Handyside Building used to be Club a Gogo- which is where Ray began his music career.
The North East is also famous for a number of tv shows and films, one of which is Get Carter. We all know the famous Get Carter film , which was filmed in Newcastle, the bus actually took us to one the filming locations(the Las Vegas Hotel Scene) on Corburg Street. Ray told us a very funny story about this but you need to go on the tour to find out all about it.
We got two pit stops on our journey, the first one was the Tyne Theatre, where we got a whistle stop tour of the theatre- including the opportunity to be on the stage. What an honour it was to be treading the boards of such a beautiful venue. Being an ex performer, I felt honoured to be standing on the stage, it made me miss the bright lights and the applause of the audience.
From the Tyne Theatre to another culture hub of Ouseburn, I have never been there in the evening and I was really impressed. We were given the option to visit The Ship or The Cluny. Deciding to go with The Ship, I loved the vibe of the place and the service was lovely- a really relaxed feel to it.
As the evening drew closer and the tour was closing, we returned to our starting point in style- by singing along and celebrating musicians from the North East.
Of course, it was not just Ray and a yellow bus who made it all happen. We had Paul Irwin, Julie Clay and Louise Goodridge all looking after us and making sure we got back on the bus safely.
I loved the whole experience of this tour, I learned so much about how talented we are as a region. NewcastleGateshead is a thriving city that is full of history but also emerging talent in music, art, film and culture. And it was just a really good time and I felt so proud of my city.
To book on the Tyne Idols Bus Tour click here
Gemma's Journey 