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As someone who was forced to listen to Classic FM in the tea room I worked in as a teenager (I used to change the radio station whenever my boss left the room), I can't say that an evening at the Sage in Gateshead has ever been something that I've considered when arranging date night. I have always presumed that the Sage was a venue for people with a real understanding of classical music and certainly not for someone like me.
So I'm very excited to be able to share our first ever musical experience at the Sage Gateshead and to let you know that not only was I very wrong in my judgements, but I have also found a new shared passion that I can enjoy with my husband - I'm really not exaggerating when I say that our evening at the Sage opened our eyes and quite possibly changed our world!
Although Saturday was our first ever experience of a concert at the Sage, I'm certainly no stranger to the building itself and have enjoyed many an afternoon there admiring the incredible views of the river and Tyne Bridge whilst indulging in a slice of cake and a cup of coffee. I've always loved spending time there, and if you're yet to venture inside the Sage then you are definitely missing out. The Sage is a really community focussed part of our city and even if you don't have tickets for an event you can pop in for some food and, if you're lucky, enjoy some free entertainment.
Unlike a lot of other music venues, the experience of enjoying live music at the Sage Gateshead makes for a really wonderful, relaxing evening from the moment you arrive. We loved that we could easily park at the venue with plenty of spaces available. It cost us £4.80 to park our car for the evening, and the machine in the carpark allowed us to pre pay to save queuing at the end of the night. Once through the doors we couldn't believe the amount of space we had as we waited for doors to open - with themed cocktails at the bar and delicious food available before the show it made the experience that little bit more special and I think next time we'd plan to arrive a little earlier just to give us time for cake.
For our first experience at the Sage we had tickets for an "RNS Night Out" - a regular series of shows that focuses on music from film and the world of pop. If you are yet to experience a night at the Sage and are curious to perhaps give something different a go, this really is a fantastic way to dip your toe in. The nights all feature Royal Northern Sinfonia ("RNS"), the full-time orchestra at the Sage who were founded in 1958 and have gained themselves a lot of fans through their beautiful performances. The RNS Night Out series have seen some really fantastic nights of entertainment including a Star Wars spectacular, ET in concert and Beatlemania. For our evening we were going to be immersed in the magic of the movies with "Hollywood Heroes".
My husband has to be the biggest fan of film soundtracks, I'm not talking about "Mamma Mia" style sing alongs here, he's all about the big dramatic movie scores and if you were to take a look at his Spotify playlist you'd find it full of his favourite composers like Hans Zimmer and John Williams. He can tell you what film a piece of music is from within one bar and whilst most people run on the treadmill to dance music, Simon sets his pace to the Batman soundtrack (maybe he's training to be a superhero). To say he was excited about the Hollywood Heroes night would be an understatement.
Taking our seats in Sage One for the first time was a pretty special experience, the auditorium was very different to any arena or theatre I have ever been in and I spent a lot of time just gazing around at how incredible it all looked. We were very lucky to find ourselves only a few rows back from the stage and as the orchestra entered and took their seats I was having the greatest time looking at all of the different instruments and the beautiful outfits each of the musicians were wearing. I had no idea exactly how big the Royal Northern Sinfonia would be with over 60 people on stage playing everything from Violin and Cello to Flute, Oboe, Trombone, Harp and Bass Guitar.
Our evening began with conductor Stephen Bell taking to the stage and kicking off the night with John Williams' "Summon the Heroes", a piece of music written for the 1996 Summer Olympics and very fitting for the night ahead. Having never seen a live orchestra before I was fascinated watching all of the musicians and the first thing that struck me was how beautiful the violinists looked, their bows moving in perfect sequence across the strings.
Turning to glance at my husband as the sounds of Hans Zimmer's "Gladiator" filled the room I couldn't believe how huge the smile was on his face. Hearing one of his favourite composers performed live was quite a moment for him and he was on the edge of his seat eagerly listening to every note. I have honestly never seen him so happy at a concert before.
For people like me who are perhaps not quite so familiar with movie soundtracks there were some great crowd pleasers within the set including Alan Silvestri's "The Avengers" and an extract from John Williams score from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (instantly recognisable!). With plenty of families in the audience these were definitely both moments that the children appreciated too and if you are keen to introduce the younger members of your family to a fantastic live music experience the RNS Nights Out series are a great way to do that.
We were enjoying ourselves so much that the first half passed in what felt like minutes and before we knew it we were heading out of the Auditorium for interval drinks and a very special chance to meet a couple of members of the RNS orchestra. We had the loveliest chat with violinist, Alanna Tonetti-Tieppo who happily answered all of my "newbie" questions that had left me feeling curious in the first half. I was keen to know more about the role of the conductor and what all of those confusing looking hand signals mean and it was great to have a little bit of insight into life in the RNS. If you are interested in learning more about the RNS then The Sage have recently launched RNS Inside Story sharing all things chamber orchestra and focuses on learning more about the music, musicians and experience including recommended playlists, short reads and Q&As.
Back into Sage One for the second part and Simon's moment of the night arrived with Danny Elfman's "Batman Suite" and John Williams "Superman Love Theme", he was having a real "pinch me" moment at how incredible his favourite pieces of music sounded with a full orchestra. My moment of the show came at the very end listening to the most beautifully haunting music composed by John Williams for "Schindler's List" - with an incredible violin solo performed by Kyra Humphreys which almost moved me to tears. I had goosebumps all over my body and for those few minutes I honestly felt like the only person in the room. It was such an incredible experience.
Of course you can't be ending a show on a sombre note and the whole audience were delighted with the final piece of music from the set - Michael Giacchno ar. McEwan "The Incredibles". An absolutely incredible moment which seemed to include every instrument on the stage in a giant sound of tuneful chaos which, if you've seen the movie, you know is perfectly fitting.
The whole show was a couple of hours but passed in a flash, we were both so sad when it was over and would have happily sat there for days listening to the incredible RNS orchestra. We have well and truly caught the bug and now consider ourselves new fans of the RNS. We can't wait to go back and are both keen to try one of the main series of concerts next with the more intimate shows in Sage Two and the live performances at Wylam Brewery looking particularly special.
If you fancy experiencing a RNS Night Out at Sage Gateshead for yourself then the next in the series will take place on Saturday 28 March at 7:30 pm and will celebrate the work of Elton John. "The Music of Elton John: 50 Years of "Your Song"" will see the RNS joined by four stars of the West End in a tribute to one of the greatest songwriters which will include all of his best hits. Tickets cost from £16.50 and can be purchased here.
We will see you there!
Find The Sage at:
St Mary's Square
Gateshead
NE8 2JR
0191 443 4666
https://sagegateshead.com/
We received complimentary tickets to the Hollywood Heroes Night at The Sage.
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