Metroland are five blokes from the North East of England (four from Newcastle, one from Sunderland) whose surreal sketch comedy centres on the regional characters and archetypes they saw around them growing up.
Best known for their mockumentary web series on YouTube, they made their acclaimed Fringe debut in 2024 and are back for more this year with Metroland Live: As Seen On TV; a dose of their signature absurdist character comedy at The Pleasance Dome.
Below, Jack J Fairley and John Dole talk us through their selection of tracks by Geordie legends across Newcastle and the surrounding areas of Northumberland and County Durham.
Richard Dawson – The Vile Stuff
Like when my nana used to serve up the corned beef pie, it’s a real deep cut this one. It’s a song that all at once is about a school trip to Featherstone castle, learning to drink and the wonderfully woeful path that can dance you down, it’s about care, or a lack thereof. It’s madness and it’s melancholy, full of evocative imagery. Honestly, every listen will peel back another layer, it’s bloody lovely.
Mark Knopfler – Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero
A song tied to both the heart and spirit of our northern corner of this rock. Played at every game at St James’ Park [the Newcastle United football stadium], it’s in our bones. When you hear it, plastic pint in hand, oh, it could bring a grown man to tears. Not me though, this is condensation.
Sam Fender – Spit Of You
Well, on the topic of not being able to talk about your feelings, and what is and isn’t considered tears, here’s a song that might resonate with some. A reflection on seeing your own reflection in the eyes of your father. All the weight that comes with knowing you’re one and the same deep down, and not knowing for the life of you how to reach out and bridge the gap between you. We’re actually crying for real this time.
Imogen and the Knife – Mother of God
All of Imogen’s work is beautifully haunting, capturing an inner turmoil intrinsically linked to both dreams and pain. I first heard this song in the pouring rain when I’d just missed the last bus home from the Silverlink [Shopping Park, a retail park in North Tyneside]. Its intensity and dynamism helped traverse the wet Coast Road [The A1058, joining Newcastle and North Tyneside] at night. It was almost cinematic.
Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug
We had to include something from south of the River [Tyne], didn’t we? Bryan Ferry is from Washington in County Durham – not too far from where Metroland’s resident pit yacker [someone from the mining villages of County Durham and Northumberland], Connor [Lawson], hails from. I wanted to include a deeper cut from their discography here, but let’s be honest: it’s a bop. An underrated karaoke tune as well.
Jimmy Nail – Big River
“The river will rise again”. A Geordie anthem by a Geordie icon. Me and me dad went to see him live in concert in January and he encored with an acoustic, completely stripped-back version of this song. He said someone recently told him the song belongs to the city now. The tears in mine and me father’s eyes that night are testament to that. “And everything they’ve tried so hard to kill/ we will rebuild” – I think he’s talking about sketch comedy, no?
Metroland Live: As Seen On TV, 5-31 Aug (not 18), Jack Dome at Pleasance Dome