Live from Times Square confirms Pixies, Becky Hill & DMA's for 2021 summer event

The legendary alternative rock outfit Pixies, the English pop queen Becky Hill and the Australian indie band DMA's will head to Newcastle next summer as the much-loved Live From Times Square makes a welcome return to the city centre once more.

Hot on the heels of Virgin Money Unity Arena, the region's leading festival promoter SSD Concerts has today confirmed more major dates for the 2021 calendar as part of its commitment to bringing live music back to the North East.

Taking place opposite the Centre for Life on Wednesday 4th August (featuring DMA's), Thursday 5th August (Becky Hill), and Friday 6th August (Pixies), the 5,000 capacity inner-city gathering has proved a hit with music lovers, having previously welcomed the likes of Fatboy Slim, The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, The Libertines, Catfish & The Bottlemen and Manic Street Preachers through its gates.

Speaking ahead of today's announcement, Festival Organiser Steve Davis, said: “We're super excited to welcome back Live from Times Square. We've had some iconic shows at this event in the past with the likes of Fatboy Slim and Manic Street Preachers and we're looking forward to many more nights like those. Our team is fully committed to getting the live music scene back in action and thriving once again and we're delighted to welcome an all-star cast of headliners in Pixies, Becky Hill and DMA's.

“Becky delivered an astonishing show at Virgin Money Unity Arena over the summer and she was without a doubt one of the standout shows. We're long-time fans of DMA's and to see their rise has been nothing short of astonishing. Pixies, well, it's an honour to be welcoming one of the most iconic and influential alternative indie bands of all time to the Live from Times Square stage.”

In the summer of 2019, DMA'S completed sessions for their upcoming third album ‘THE GLOW’ in the historic Westlake Recording Studios. Working with the Grammy-winning producer Stuart Price proved to be a career highlight for the band.

They first broke through with their 2016 debut album ‘Hills End’ and then stepped up another level with 2018’s ‘For Now’. They’ve ticked off landmark moments ever since: two domestic Top 10 albums; 200 million streams; five ARIA Music Award nominations; and an MTV Unplugged session. Even Liam Gallagher - one of their heroes - thinks they’re “biblical.”

They recently sold-out the O2 Academy Brixton & Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl and have since confirmed an even bigger show at London’s cavernous Alexandra Palace. Every achievement is the result of DMA’S persisting to triumph against the odds.

Becky Hill, meanwhile, is the undisputed queen of UK pop right now. Not many artists are as adept at producing chart-topping pop tunes as they are at underground dance bangers, but not many artists are like Becky Hill.

The 26-year-old from the West Midlands has established herself as one of the brightest talents in the UK music scene.

Already clocking up over 1.5 billion streams in total, she has released a string of hit singles under her own name – including the stellar 'Lose Control', 'Wish you well' and 'Gecko' – and has collaborated with producers such as Tiesto, Sigala and Jonas Blue.

It’s been a long time coming, but her upcoming debut album, Becky, is due for release in March 2021. She has just put out a single, Space, which blends her love of dance music with the more pop-orientated sound she hopes to explore in the future, and will return to the region once again following her sell-out show at Virgin Money Unity Arena in September.

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Pixies need little introduction.

Combining jagged, roaring guitars and stop-start dynamics with melodic pop hooks, intertwining male-female harmonies, and evocative, cryptic lyrics, Pixies, are one of alternative rock's most influential bands.

With seven epic studio albums under their belts which started out with the landmark album, 'Surfer Rosa', Pixies are renowned for turning musical conventions inside-out, melding punk and indie guitar rock, classic pop, surf rock, and stadium-sized riffs with singer/guitarist Black Francis' bizarre, fragmented lyrics about space, religion, sex, mutilation, and pop culture.

His lyrics may have been impenetrable, but the music was direct, forceful, and laid the groundwork for the alternative explosion of the early '90s.

From grunge to Brit-pop, Pixies' shadow loomed large; it's hard to imagine Nirvana without Pixies' signature loud-quiet-loud dynamics and lurching, noisy guitar solos.

Their latest album, 2019's masterpiece, 'Beneath the Eyrie', demonstrates a new dawn for the band and will be a worthy heavyweight addition to the Live From Times Square line-up.

With more dates set to be announced, tickets for the first three Live From Times Square shows will go on sale Friday 6th November at 10 am.

Tickets for DMA's will cost £28, for Becky Hill £28.50 and for Pixies £45. All are subject to the normal booking fees and will be available via https://www.livefromtimessquare.co.uk/