SUNNISIDE

NIGHTS

POP RECS, 172-175 High Street West, Sunderland

Pop Recs host Du Blonde, fresh off the back of the release of her critically acclaimed album ‘Sniff More Gritty’.

Du Blonde is the audacious alter ego of multi-instrumentalist, producer, and visual artist Beth Jeans Houghton, a Newcastle-born creative whose trajectory has taken her from folk-rock curiosity to full-throttle alt-rock juggernaut. For fans and newcomers alike, Du Blonde stands as a symbol of creative reinvention and unflinching authenticity in modern alt-rock—an artist who refuses to play by anyone else’s rules.

Support comes from Sunderland-based rising star Lottie Willis. Rejuvenated and backed by a new live band and a catalogue of fresh material, Lottie is inspired by pop and indie songstresses such as Nieve Ella, Olivia Rodrigo & Amber Bain (The Japanese House).

Doors: 7.30pm

Lottie Willis: 8.15pm

Du Blonde: 9pm

FREE TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT ARE AVAILABLE HERE

After the gig, Pop Flix Community Cinema will present a late-night screening of the 1979 cult film ‘The Warriors’. One of the New York Times ‘Best 1000 Movies Ever Made’, The Warriors is a late-night classic, centring around a New York street gang who must travel from the north end of The Bronx to their home turf on Coney Island in the space of one night, in the midst of danger, chaos and all set to an iconic and much-loved disco, funk-rock soundtrack.

Entry from 10.30pm

Film Screens at 11pm

TICKETS NOT REQUIRED – JUST TURN UP!

DIEGO’S, 27-28 Norfolk Street, Sunderland

Diego’s are playing host to ‘A Celebration of Athletico Mince’ – an evening with podcaster, comedian and presenter Andy Dawson. Andy will be talking about the mega-hit Athletico Mince podcast that he’s been making with fellow comic Bob Mortimer since 2016, including some never-before-seen footage from Mince episodes and live shows. What started out as a football podcast quickly drifted off into other areas such as safety tips, crime, eggs and brass hand maintenance. The pair have recorded almost 200 episodes with almost 100 million listens, as well as embarking on two sell-out UK tours.

In this special Sunniside Nights event, Andy will talk about how Athletico Mince started and has developed, and show a selection of unseen clips from both the podcast recordings and live stage shows. There’ll be much silliness, and a Q&A at the end, giving fans of the podcast a chance to ask their questions.

Doors: 7.00pm

Show: 7.45pm (90mins inc. interval)

FREE TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT ARE AVAILABLE HERE

ABJECT GALLERY, 27 Fawcett Street, Sunderland

Abject Gallery presents ‘Is This Thing On’ – a specially curated group exhibition, that brings together world-renowned visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, and poets who reflect on the mundanity and culture surrounding them as sources for their work. Its title taken from one of the two thousand song titles—each phrased as a question—that appear in artist and curator Graham Dolphin’s work ‘2000 Questions’. The questions may seem profound or enigmatic, their meanings having slipped from their original sources, yet they are just as likely to be absurd. This could serve as a metaphor for the exhibition—perhaps even for art as a whole—or maybe it was simply a last-minute decision to sound clever.

Featured artists include: Graham Dolphin (UK), Benedict Drew (AUS), Rose Eken (DEN), John S. Hall (USA), Richard Hughes (UK), Henry Miller (UK), Shit and Shine (USA).

Exhibition open 6.45pm – 10.00pm

TICKETS NOT REQUIRED – JUST TURN UP!

176 HIGH STREET WEST, Sunderland

176 High Street West will be opened up as a one-off for Sunniside Nights, and we’ll be using the ground floor space to host two events across the evening.

First off, Frankie and the Heartstrings singer and Sunderland Music City’s Frankie Francis will be ‘in conversation’ with legendary songwriter, Kane Gang member and fellow Mackem Martin Brammer. An Ivor Novello nominated songwriter, Brammer has sold over 25m records in a career lasting 40 years as an artist, producer and songwriter. He’s contributed songs to many multi platinum selling albums from artists as diverse as James Morrison, Tina Turner, James Bay, Olly Murs, John Newman and The Lighthouse Family. Brammer has also worked with artists such as Ella Eyre, Karen Harding, Mr. Hudson, Beverly Knight, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, Melanie C, Josh Kumra, Julian Velard and many others. This event will be a rare chance to hear from Martin and get some insight into his music industry dealings, tour stories and advice on how to make it as a successful songwriter, producer and music manager.

Doors: 6.45pm

Discussion: 7.00pm (discussion lasts 1hr inc. Q&A)

NO TICKETS NEEDED – JUST TURN UP!

Later, Sunniside Nights collaborate with Sunderland-based experimental music festival Boundaries to present Water Lattice and Shelly Knotts.

Mashing up SuperCollider synths since 2006, Shelly Knotts is a musical improviser who wrangles beats and bloops out of unpredictable and semi-random noise generators and auto-drum machines. In 2017 she was a winner of BBC Radiophonic Workshop and PRSF ‘The Oram Awards’ for innovation in sound and music.

Water Lattice is the duo of composer-performers Jorge Boehringer and Richard Scott. Using bowed and plucked strings and electronics they create kaleidoscopic maxi-minimalist music exploring the nuances of harmony and perception.

Doors: 8.30pm

Shelly Knotts: 8.45pm

Water Lattice: 9.30pm

TICKETS NOT REQUIRED – JUST TURN UP!

BRIDGE HOTEL VAULTS, 145 High Street West, Sunderland

At The Bridge Hotel Vaults meanwhile, singer, flautist and folk instrumentalist Sarah Hayes will be leading an evening session of traditional music, accompanied by musicians Dave Gray, Jon Doran and Tom Kimber. The session will be an open invitation for other local players in the area to come along and join in, and in the setting of the newly-restored and recently reopened Bridge Hotel Vaults, it’s sure to be a popular port of call for fans of folk and traditional music, with an atmosphere to match.

Session runs 7.00pm – 10.00pm

TICKETS NOT REQUIRED – JUST TURN UP!

THEATRE SPACE NORTH EAST, 14a Borough Road, Sunderland

A Pain in the Arts:
An uplifting comedy…about chronic pain? After an acclaimed run in 2024, A Pain in the Arts is back at Theatre Space North East, and the performance on Friday 21st March is presented by Sunniside Nights! Through drama, song, humour, highs, lows and more – inspired and influenced by a creative community workshop series exploring how chronic conditions effect the lives of those in South Tyneside and surrounding areas – A Pain in the Arts seeks to shine a light on the people behind chronic conditions, and raise awareness of the overwhelming and often unseen or unspoken effects on their lives.
The performance is at 6pm, is 55 minutes long and is followed by a short Q&A/chat.

King Ink:
A King Ink Special Event is coming your way! Expect a whole host of poetry and spoken word performances, capped off with a special guest appearance from Rowan McCabe! Rowan has written for Channel 4, Radio 3’s ‘The Verb’, and his work has been featured in the Guardian and on BBC Breakfast.
Catch Rowan and a whole host of other spoken word artists and performers at Theatre Space North East from 7.30pm!

TICKETS NOT REQUIRED – JUST TURN UP!