Tynemouth festival fails to find replacement following Lighthouse Family split: “I was really looking forward to this hometown show”
Tynemouth festival fails (image credit: Suhaimi Abdullah/getty images)
Keane, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Eliza Shaddad and Newton Faulkner play the Mouth of the Tyne Festival
After Lighthouse Family split up, the organizers of the Mouth of the Tyne Festival were unable to locate a last-minute substitute headliner.
Last Tuesday (June 7) the Newcastle-based duo declared that they had “reached the end,” with vocalist Tunde Baiyewu now wanting to “focus on his solo career.”
Bandmember Paul Tucker apologised for the break-up, telling fans: “I was really looking forward to this hometown show and playing our songs in this amazing place close to the lighthouses that gave us our name. I am as disappointed as you are. It breaks my heart to let you down.”
North Tyneside Council, which is organizing the event in Tynemouth, North East England, on July 8-10, said BBC News that an appropriate artist could not be secured in such a short time.
At the Priory, Keane, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Eliza Shaddad, and Newton Faulkner are still set to perform. Acts and performances will be free on Front Street and at the Metro station, as per NME reported.
Since 2005, the Mouth of the Tyne Festival has taken place. Normally, about 100,000 people attend, however owing to COVID, the event has been canceled for the previous two years.
Steve Bishop, festival director and North Tyneside Council’s head of culture, said: “It’s been a long time in the making as we’ve had to wait until the pandemic was under control but we’re really looking forward to a great festival packed full of fantastic entertainment for the whole family.
“The setting couldn’t be more spectacular with our award-winning coastline as the backdrop to our annual celebration and I know visitors will find lots to enjoy.”
