Chase Park Festival @ Saltwell has confirmed a stellar line-up for this year's August gathering with Liverpool's seminal indie rock gods The Coral set to roll into town.
Organisers of the North East’s “festival for everyone” last week confirmed that it would return for an 8th year, taking place this summer at Saltwell Park on Saturday 26th August.
In what is a genuine coup for one of the region’s blossoming festivals, music fans will be delighted to hear that The Coral will be making a welcome return to the region and will be joined by other ground-breaking acts for a full day of family fun and musical wonder.
Newcastle’s much-loved indie outfit Little Comets have also been confirmed to perform at this year’s event along with Sunderland’s Boy Jumps Ship and Teesside’s folk indie popsters Cattle and Cane, still fresh from their sell-out show at the Sage Gateshead.
Speaking ahead of today’s line-up announcement – which will see yet more great bands added to the bill in the coming weeks – Chase Park Festival @ Saltwell’s organiser, Alistair McDonald, said: “We’re delighted to secure The Coral as our headline act and I think it shows we are growing as a festival.
“We’re all massive fans of The Coral and they’re a brilliant live act. We wanted a lineup that was going to make people sit up and take notice and I think we’ve done that. Part of the ethos of the event is to provide an event that is accessible to all and to create a create a unique atmosphere, you only do that if you have a great line up that will appeal to people from all walks of life. We also want to give local emerging disabled artists a platform to develop their audiences, so it’s really important that the line up will bring in the crowds.
“I am really pleased to have a strong bill of established and emerging talent this year. We have got the amazing Little Comets just before The Coral, which I think it is brilliant.
“They are local boys who have made a mark nationally and internationally. We also have Cattle and Cane and Boy Jumps Ship who first played Chase Park in 2012, since then both bands have gone onto bigger and better things, it’s great to have them back and continue to share our history.”
The Coral, formed in Merseyside by brothers James and Ian James Skelly, were hailed as the first English band of the 21st century’s “guitar group revival” and have a string of chart-topping hits including ‘Dreaming of You’, ‘Pass it On’ and ‘In the Morning’.
Their eponymous debut album The Coral, released in 2002, reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and was nominated for the Mercury Prize the day after its release.
Since then, the band have gone on to release seven studio albums, including their latest critically acclaimed release, Distance In Between which confirmed that they’re one of the UK’s most influential and iconic bands of modern times.
Steve Davis, of SSD Concerts, who are responsible for spearheading Chase Park’s programme of music this year, added: “The Coral are one of our favourite bands and it’s great to see them coming to Gateshead. We have had a lot of successful shows with them over the years so brilliant to be bringing them back. They’re one of the great British sing-along indie bands and are perfect act to headline this year’s event.”
General admission is £12.50, £7 for people with disability (carers go free), under 16s £7 and a family ticket (2 Adults / 2 Children) is £33.
