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ROCKER Rod Stewart has announced his first indoor tour in five years. The legendary singer returned this week with his new studio album Soulbook, which charted at No.4 in the U.S. and No.10 in the UK. He has now announced seven dates in the UK. He will play Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena in May. Tickets cost £70 & £60. To book yours call 0844 493 6666.

BAND of the moment Mumford and Sons has announced a UK And Ireland spring tour. The shows in March will be the folk rockers’ biggest headline shows to date. They will play Newcastle University on March 7. Tickets are £12 and available at www.gigsandtours.com. You can also call the 24-hour credit card hotline on 0871 220 0260.Read

JAMIE CULLUM – THE PURSUIT: This is the fifth studio album from jazz singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum and features a blend of upbeat pop tunes, romantic ballads and sparkling piano. The Pursuit is a musical journey through Cullum’s personal life with the over-riding themes on songs like I’m All Over It, You and Me are Gone and Music is Through, based on break-ups and relationships. There are also some notable covers, kicking off with Cole Porter’s Just One of Those Things, plus Rihanna’s Don’t Stop the Music and If I Ruled the World, a song often associated with Sir Harry Secombe and which has been performed by James Brown and Stevie Wonder. A great return to form. 8/10

STEREOPHONICS – KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON: The Welsh band’s seventh studio album does what the ‘Phonics do best . . . capture the zeitgeist. This has been a year of recession, depression, wartime frugality and nostalgia. Keep Calm and Carry On, itself a message from a Second World War poster, is writer and singer Kelly Jones’s response to the current times in his usual poetic lyrics and gravelly vocals. Trouble starts with “Can you feel it? There’s no money in this town”. From the retro rock beat of the opener She’s Alright and Uppercut and Beerbottle – where the band experiment with a more electro sound – to upbeat love songs, like Could You Be the One, the album is a melodic mix of the good old with a new twist. 8/10Read

Jamie proves he’s all that jazz

JAZZ musician Jamie Cullum is back with his first solo album in four years and a UK tour. LIZ LAMB chats to him . . .Read

THE CHARLATANS, once the purveyors of the 1990’s Madchester sound, along with The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays, have a confirmed a date at The Empire, in Middlesbrough, Teesside. The band, who enjoyed hits such as One to Another and North Country Boy, will play the venue on Thursday, December 17. Tickets cost £20. Call 01642-253553.

AFTER going down a storm at Leeds and Reading Festivals in the summer YEAH, YEAH, YEAHS are going on the road in a headline tour, taking in only five dates in the UK. The New York three-piece, fronted by enigmatic singer Karen O, play Newcastle O2 Academy on December 3.Read

NME TOUR KICKS OFF IN NORTH

INDIE band The Maccabees are to headline a UK tour, with the first date kicking off in the North.Read

Comets are set to soar

SUMMER may be over, but things are still looking bright for Newcastle indie four-piece Little Comets. RUARI O’TOOLE talks with them about the future and drags up a history of shoddy band names and sweaty venues . . .Read

AFTER headlining at this years Leeds and Reading Festival, Arctic Monkeys are set to perform at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Monday November 16 2009. The band are promoting their third studio album called Humbug, their third consecutive number one album.

Mark Knopfler has confirmed he will be performing at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Saturday May 22 2010 in support of his new album Get Lucky.Read

BASEMENT JAXX – SCARS: It’s been a decade since the release of Basement Jaxx’s breakout single Red Alert, and Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe are still producing some of dance’s most effervescent and catchy tunes. But fans can expect something a little different on their latest offering. Opening title track Scars is dark and deeply addictive, setting the tone for a more grown-up Basement Jaxx. The Brixton-formed duo have roped in impressive vocals from the likes of Yoko Ono, Santigold and Sam Sparro. Raindrops, the perfect release for 2009’s sun-absent summer, is a highlight along with the bluesy funk of She’s No Good and defy-you-not-to-dance Twerk.

RICHARD HAWLEY – TRUELOVE’S GUTTER: The Sheffield crooner’s sixth album is both his most traditional and most experimental yet. Gone are the rousing rockabilly anthems of its predecessor Lady’s Bridge, leaving the hushed ballads more reminiscent of his earlier material. But his new offerings are, on the whole, longer and – fortified in places by a plentiful string section – meander into uncharted musical territory. His voice, more transatlantic than ever, takes the lead in many tracks as if he’s resting his head on your shoulder and singing the heartfelt lyrics right into your ear.Read

THE NEXTMEN CONTINUE TO MAKE CONNECTIONS

UNLIKE many other DJs, The Nextmen cannot be pigeonholed into one musical genre.Read

BEVERLEY KNIGHT – 100%: Since she emerged from Wolverhampton 15 years ago, Beverley Knight has rightfully earned herself a respectable reputation for her voice. At once, vintage Atlantic soul-sounding, yet defiantly British, her nickname as the UK’s Queen of Soul couldn’t be more apt. Despite this, and her perennial guest spots with Jools Holland’s Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, she’s never really had the material her vocal talent should have. On this, her sixth studio album, that hasn’t changed. Despite having the connections to secure guest spots from Robin Gibb and Chaka Khan, 100% never really gets going. But then, 60% was never going to fly as an album title, was it?

EUROPE – LAST LOOK AT EDEN: After the pointless Prelude, the opening song on this album, title track Last Look at Eden is a hard-rock fan’s dream come true . . . heavy guitar and bass, violins – albeit computer-generated – and strong vocals, care of lead singer Joey Tempest. Talk about setting the scene. It’s a masterpiece of 1980s proportions from the Swedish band who brought us that decade’s mega-hit The Final Countdown. What follows is quite good song after quite good song. It’s not bad at all. They should probably ditch the slow numbers like New Love in Town, as the band’s strong points lie in up-tempo tracks such as Mojito Girl. Given that I anticipated this album would be a bit dull, it’s surprisingly OK.Read

1 DUPLICITY (12): Ex-spies Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play lovers in this thrilling drama.

2 17 AGAIN (12): Teen comedy starring High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron.Read

Live round-up

AS the summer’s festival scene begins to fade, music lovers in the North can look forward to autumn, with some of the world’s favourite acts hitting the region’s venues.Read

NEIL DIAMOND – HOT AUGUST NIGHT: Having undergone Rick Rubin’s patented “Johnny Cash treatment” with a pair of critically-acclaimed new albums in recent years, Neil Diamond has returned to reclaim his back catalogue. On this energetic live set, he presents a career-spanning look at his past, but stripped of some of the gauche production which all-but ruined his reputation. He is still a hammy performer – how could one perform Sweet Caroline in any other way? – but in this more considered setting, that is more endearing than cloying.

KATE WALSH – LIGHT AND DARK: A country-pop offering from the Essex lass, this is Kate’s third album and follows on from the last two rather nicely. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to break into the charts, but it should be well-received by her fans and offer a nice alternative to other country releases out there. On paper, this album seems like it’s been made for Radio 2. Like a cross between Sheryl Crow and Katie Melua, the smooth style is instantly likeable. It’s probably not an album to listen to on repeat as it will quickly become stagnant.Read

Whirlwind journey for quirky duo

NEW pop duo Mini Viva are set to blitz their way into the UK charts later this month. South Shields-born Britt Love tells HANNAH CHARNLEY about her life as a pop diva hopefulRead

BANDS AID LEAGUE

UNSIGNED bands will be battling it out across the North in a new-style competition that could net them £5000.Read

Beginning of

NORTH band The Futureheads were dropped by their record company but are bouncing back with their own label and material. LIZ LAMB has the details.Read

THE STONE ROSES – THE STONE ROSES 20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION: It’s hard to accept it’s 20 years old. Such is the lasting influence of the album, however, most modern guitar music still hangs in The Stone Roses’s shadow. There are three versions of the album available to mark the occasion – a single disc, double disc and, believe it or not, a six-disc set – with varying levels of extra music, demos and goodies on offer. But, as any fan of the album will tell you, all you really need are the original, flawless 11 tracks.

POLLY AND THE BILLETS DOUX – FICTION, HALF-TRUTHS AND DOWNRIGHT LIES: Given the name of this artist, I automatically expected to be impressed. Unfortunately, it’s all just a little mundane. The vocals are strong and the instrumentation isn’t bad . . . it’s just a bit mediocre. A mixture of jazz, blues and country, this is essentially lounge music, albeit it of high quality. The song Charmed, for example, sounds like something you’d hear as part of a hotel’s entertainment . . . you’d be impressed, but not remember it at the end of the holiday.Read