Riverside (music venue)

Riverside, Newcastle upon Tyne

Location	57-59 Melbourne Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Coordinates	54.9717°N 1.6051°W / 54.9717; -1.6051
Owner	1985-1994: Co-operative - Riverside Entertainments Ltd 1994-1999: Riverside Operations Ltd
Opened	1985–1999

Riverside was a music venue in Newcastle upon Tyne, England which operated from 1985 to 1999. It is the subject of a book, Riverside: Newcastle's Legendary Alternative Music Venue, by Hazel Plater and Carl Taylor, published by Tonto Books on 6 October 2011.

The Riverside name has been resurrected for a medium-sized music venue and nightlife spot in the city today, although it is not a direct continuation of the original venue.

Co-operative

It was set up as a left wing co-operative, Riverside Entertainments Ltd, using funding from Margaret Thatcher's government. Each member had a share and a vote on how the venue was run.

Significant appearances

Artists who played included Julian Cope, The Waterboys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, The Go-Betweens, The Primitives, Michelle Shocked, Harrington, Pop Will Eat Itself, Doctor and the Medics, The Smiths, The Fall, Bad Religion, Belly, The Cranberries, James, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans (UK band), Sonic Youth, Nirvana (Riverside was their first live show outside North America), Pearl Jam, Oasis (famously cut short due to a fracas whilst broadcast live on BBC Radio One), Super Furry Animals, Catatonia, Faithless and David Bowie (at 890 capacity, it was the smallest venue on his 1997 tour).

TV show

In 1991 Riverside had its own self-titled Tyne Tees Television "fly-on-the-wall" TV show when the genre was still new.

Club nights

The venue was also renowned for its club nights; Bliss, Woosh, The Bing Bong Rooms, Scarlet Weasel, The Palace, Viva and, most notably, its house night, Shindig. In an interview with The Crack magazine, Shindig promoters Scott Bradford and Lee Melrose said that the best days of Shindig were those the club night spent at Riverside, between 1994 and 1999. There was also noted the regular goth night called The Midian that ran until the mid 90s, ran by the producers of local alternative magazine "Bats & Red Velvet". It also hosted a one-off night for what became a regular goth night called "Snakebite & Black" which later moved to Rockshots. There was also the Panhandle, a welcomed alternative that rocked the upstairs room of the Riverside, around 1997/98. Hosted by Newcastle's own psychedelic and Panhandle resident band Furthur, the band's manager Janine Blakeburn and the Kif Jilala collective. Together they created bi-monthly live liquid light shows and an open inclusive scene of musicians, artistes, writers, sculptors, locals, dancers, hatters, composers, travellers and more... They brought an array of local and national bands, an occasional international band and saw an influx of wanting music lovers letting their dance floor freak flags fly free. The Panhandle at the Riverside made for being a major player in the much needed revitalising of Newcastle's underground live band music scene, before it expanded out in other forms, across other venues, forever changing.

Changes and sale

Riverside ceased to be a co-operative and became a limited company - Riverside Operations Ltd in 1994. The venue continued to trade until the building was sold in 1999. Foundation nightclub then ran on the same site, from 2000-2005. The building is now office space with a private gym where the venue once was. Since 2010, Newcastle upon Tyne has a new venue called "Riverside" on the site of the former Sea night club - this is not connected to the original Riverside venue.

Book

In 2010, Hazel Plater (who worked at the venue) and Carl Taylor (an enthusiastic attendee) began work on a definitive book about the venue, Riverside: Newcastle's Legendary Alternative Music Venue. A preview of the book appeared in the September 2011 edition of The Crack magazine.