Note from a small island...
Pete Doherty is coming to Lindisfarne
CONTROVERSIAL pop star Pete Doherty has helped boost ticket sales at a popular North East music event.
The Libertines and Babyshambles frontman was named last week as one of the headline acts of this year’s Lindisfarne festival with his other group, The Puta Madres.
Organiser Conleth Maenpaa said: “Pete Doherty has definitely been one of our more controversial headline announcements – it’s certainly got people talking.
“Overall it’s been very well received and we’ve seen a nice spike in ticket sales since the announcement last week.
“We think Pete adds a great bit of edge to our deepest and most diverse line-up yet, which showcases a vast array of local and upand-coming talent as well as iconic music names.”
The talented Doherty was born in the North East in Hexham, Northumberland, to a military family. His father was a major in the Royal Signals, while his mother was a lancecorporal in Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps.
Conleth said: “Many people may not realise that Pete was born here in Northumberland, but the fact he has a strong connection to the North East – not to mention the fact he fronted one of the greatest English rock bands of recent decades – is just one of the many reasons we’re excited to provide a stage for Peter and his new band, The Puta Madres.
“We’re super excited for his performance and it sounds like most of our festival-goers are too. I’m sure he will play some of his well-known classics for good measure.”
The three-day event from August 29 to September 1 will be the fifth Lindisfarne Festival and takes place at Beal Farm, which overlooks beautiful Holy Island.
Billed as the ultimate end-of-summer party, the 5,000-capacity music and camping event gives festivalgoers the opportunity to party until 4am and will showcase in excess of 200 performances across its 10 stages.
Doherty and his band will play the main stage on Friday, August 30. Ocean Colour Scene have already been confirmed for the Saturday night headline slot.
Other live acts set to take to the stage over the weekend include The Showhawk Duo, Ferocious Dog, 3 Daft Monkeys, Tankus the Henge, The Baghdaddies, Tom McGuire & the Brassholes, Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5, and Elvana: Elvis Fronted Nirvana.
The festival will also play host to a number of leading DJs, including multi-award-winning hip-hop DJ and producer DJ Yoda, Slipmatt, and Goldie – who is well known for his pioneering role in the 1990s UK jungle, drum and bass scene.
The homegrown Northumberland festival, which prides itself on championing local talent, will also see another strong line up of North East acts including Lindisfarne, Smoove & Turrell, House of the Black Gardenia, Portraits, HATi and The National Anthems to name a few.
Conleth said: “We could not be happier with our line-up for this year and it seems the public are loving it too with tickets being snapped up at an unprecedented rate.