The Blackheart Orchestra

Cluny 2, Newcastle

6 February 2026

It's a dark and stormy night. No, really, it is. Only an idiot would voluntarily go out on a night like this. I'm wet through long before I reach the Cluny, and I'm facing a three-mile walk home afterwards because Cluny gigs don't finish early enough for the last bus. When I get to the venue, I'm surprised to see a healthy queue already forming in the rain. I thought I would be the only person this stupid. But The Blackheart Orchestra seems to have a very devoted fanbase. But even the Cluny staff seem to have thought better of coming out, and they're running a very minimal operation: sound guy, door guy, and that's it. They haven't even opened the bar. But I'm not here for the bar, and at least they have put out seats (often the Cluny is standing, and I don't think I could cope tonight). And thankfully the band have made the effort!

First a word about the support, Autumn Dawn Leader (a real name, not a band name). The name is completely new to me, but it looks like she's been releasing albums for around ten years. She sings and plays keyboard, backed by another singer ... who's name I have completely forgotten, sorry. And she has a phenomenal voice, with a natural sustained vibrato almost beyond belief. Good songs too, complex and thoughtful. And anyone with a song about the life (and death) of Thomas Montagu deserves respect.

And so to The Blackheart Orchestra, who are trying out several new songs today, for which they jokingly apologise. One is so new, they don't think they can play it (Rick apparently has stickers on his keys to remind him where his fingers go), and it's genuinely touch-and-go, but the result is worth the attempt, and they're in front of a very supportive crowd. All of the new songs are good, and though it's hard to remember details after just one listen I think the next album is going to be amazing. But the rest of the set is old favourites from across several older albums, mostly from Hotel Utopia, which in a very short time has risen to be one of my favourite albums. It's hard to believe that it's only two years since I first discovered the band (sitting in this very venue, purely on word-of-mouth recommendation, without knowing a note of their music). Still my best musical discovery of the decade.

The only complaint I have about The Blackheart Orchestra is that their songs are too short. Every single one, when it ends there's a genuine regret that it isn't still going. The uplifting, anthemic refrain of Raise Your Heart (still my favourite song, and still makes me cry for some reason) deserves to go on for another five minutes, with an audience singalong and everything. Well, ok, maybe not an audience singalong.

At the end of the set, there's genuine confusion about whether there's an encore, but after an uncomfortable delay they come back and turn all the instruments back on, and thank god they do because they haven't played The Flood yet. This is a longer song, nine or ten minutes, and still not long enough. I could listen to another ten minutes of the closing instrumental break. Watching how Rick and Chrissy move flawlessly among multiple instruments over the course of the song, usually playing severlal at the same time, is magical. Visually, it's an artform in itself. I am totally satisfied, and I'm still singing it as I walk home three miles in the rain, convinced this is the best concert I have ever seen.