IN the annals of Newcastle music, 2023 won't be easily forgotten.
It was a year of incredible highs, and lows.
The home of the Newcastle Knights and Jets opened its hallowed turf to stadium rock 'n' roll and the legendary Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney delivered multi-generational concerts for the ages in front of a packed Turton Road.
Elsewhere, the death knell of redevelopment rang on the Cambridge Hotel, arguably Newcastle's most iconic live music venue of the past 30 years.
But the grungy old girl went out in style. The three-day street festival was both emotional and hedonistic.
Other positives were the opening of new custom-built live music rooms at the Hamilton Station Hotel and King Street.
However, cost-of-living pressures resulted in a softening of ticket sales across the board, leading to the second straight cancellation of Newcastle's biggest music festival, This That.
Despite the negatives, 2023 was easily live music's best year since the pandemic. We give you the 10 most memorable gigs of 2023.
1) Paul McCartney, October 24, McDonald Jones Stadium
A living Beatle, in Newcastle. Two months on it feels surreal that Paul McCartney actually performed in Broadmeadow, even if there's Mitch Rev's mural in Stewart Avenue and the "Thank You Paul" billboard on Lambton Road as constant reminders.
The Tuesday night performance will arguably be remembered as the most historic concert Newcastle has seen.
Many ticket-holders would have been content with a standard 90-minute rock show from McCartney, or been satisfied just to see the pop culture icon. Yet fans were treated to an epic performance.
"How many 81-year-olds could perform a 39-song, near three-hour set without seemingly breaking a sweat?," we wrote.
"The bulk of the music performed might have been recorded in the '60s - a decade whose mantra of peace and love feels sadly naive in our modern world - but the tunes have only grown more powerful."
The explosive fireworks of Live and Let Die, the naked beauty of Blackbird and the euphoric singalong of Hey Jude are moments the near 30,000 people who attended will remember forever.
2) Cambridge Farewell Festival, June 23-25, Cambridge Hotel
In the lead-up to the Cambridge Hotel's closure, many people speculated about whether the crowd would turn ugly much like Newcastle's infamous Star Hotel Riot.
The closures of the two iconic music pubs couldn't be more different. While the Star Hotel was chaos, the Cambridge Farewell Festival was a three-day street party that attracted 10,000 and celebrated everything that people loved about the Newcastle West venue.
Night one featured a hip hop-heavy line-up with Illy and 360, before indie and electronic acts like The Rubens and Peking Duk took over on the Saturday.
Undoubtedly Sunday was the main event. Rock was always the lifeblood of the "Cambo" and it delivered in spades in its finale with thrilling sets from The Smith Street Band, Dune Rats and the closing Grinspoon.
Phil Jamieson, Grinspoon's singer, summed up the sentiment.
"I'm just so grateful to live in the time that the Cambridge was around in this great f - - king rock 'n' roll city of Newcastle," he told the crowd.
When the house lights came on and punters started dispersing, a sense of finality spread over the crowd.
"Not since the infamous old Star Hotel's demise in 1979 has a Newcastle pub's closure attracted so much emotion," we wrote.
"But while the Star Hotel revellers rioted and fought with police, the Cambridge crowd left in a jovial mood, knowing they'd witnessed a piece of Novocastrian history."
3) The Chicks, October 21, Bimbadgen
It was a quiet year for music in the Hunter Valley - no doubt the introduction of McDonald Jones Stadium as a tour venue was a factor - but The Chicks' concert showcased everything that's great about a winery gig.
On a balmy spring evening, Bimbadgen was treated to a slick and professional performance.
The show touched on the US pop-country heavyweights' greatest hits such as Wide Open Spaces, Landslide, Not Ready To Make Nice and Cowboy Take Me Away, up to their most recent album, 2020's Gaslighter.
Unlike many of their pop-country contemporaries there was a real intelligence and political consciousness to the performance through a series of moving videos.
"The Chicks' first-ever Hunter Valley show at Bimbadgen on Saturday night walked a balanced line between fun, politics, nostalgia and determination," we wrote.
4) Elton John, January 8, McDonald Jones Stadium
"Sir Elton John's first show in Newcastle on Sunday night at McDonald Jones Stadium felt like a moment in history," we wrote. "This was an 'event' with a capital E."
Indeed it was. Elton's first of two concerts at McDonald Jones Stadium marked the return of live music to the venue since the 1990 Newcastle Earthquake benefit.
It was also one of the English superstar's final Australian shows as part of his never-ending Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.
There were "listening parties" in parks and homes outside the stadium, and inside multiple generations came together to celebrate the "Rocket Man's" musical legacy.
Even Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman and her country star husband Keith Urban were lured to Newcastle to witness the slice of history.
Elton, 75, was ever the consummate performer, delivering a greatest hits set packed full of singalongs and energy.
Fans who'd shelled out for Elton's 2020 Farewell Yellow Brick Road shows at Hope Estate might have been disappointed with the near-identical set list, but otherwise, it was rocking way to say adieu.
5) The Corrs, October 31, Newcastle Entertainment Centre
The Corrs' return to Newcastle after 23 years might have been infused with nostalgia, but nothing about this performance felt stale.
After appreciated performances from Germein, Toni Childs and Central Coast-raised pop star Natalie Imbruglia, The Corrs gave the three-quarter full Newcastle Entertainment Centre a breezy trip back to the '90s and early 2000s.
"The appeal of The Corrs has always centred in their ability to meld traditional Irish-folk and pop-rock dynamics, with a healthy dose of glamour," we wrote.
That glamour had not dulled in the slightest. Singer Andrea Corr was immaculate and her older sisters Sharon and Caroline provided the ideal accompaniment with their rich Irish harmonies.
6) The Smashing Pumpkins, April 29, Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Wrestling, alternative-rock hits and an ear-splitting sonic assault - The Smashing Pumpkins' The World Is A Vampire Tour was undoubtedly the most unique concert presentation of the year.
In between a stacked line-up that included Australian punk darlings Amyl & The Sniffers and US alt-rock legends Jane's Addiction, wrestlers from Bill Corgan's National Wrestling Alliance fought against competitors from the Wrestling Alliance of Australia in a ring situated behind the sound desk.
While it was viewed by most as a peculiar addition, rather than a spectacle in itself, it gave punters something to do other than lining up to be served in the Entertainment Centre's archaic bars.
Corgan and his Pumpkins - featuring foundation members Jimmy Chamberlin (drums) and James Iha (guitar) - have developed a sense of humour in their middle-age.
Corgan and Iha, in particular, were enjoying themselves on stage, especially during the performance of the joke song Chicken Salt Rap and a acoustic cover of The Church's Under The Milky Way.
But it was the distorted slabs of grunge-metal fans salivated for, like Cherub and Zero.
"If you weren't wearing ear pugs, your ears were probably still ringing on Sunday morning," we wrote. "Smashing Pumpkins were loud. Very bloody loud."
7) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, March 16, Cambridge Hotel
This was the type of pub gig the Cambridge was renown for. A packed, sweaty room with a heightened sense of anticipation for a band that had never visited Newcastle.
Melbourne's Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever didn't disappoint. Their three-pronged guitar attack sounded like The Go-Betweens on speed as they smashed out a lively set exploring all three of their albums.
The anthemic Talking Straight and tense French Press delivered the sweetest of sugar hits.
"Rolling Blackouts C.F exploded onto the stage, as if a ball of tension had be wound tight and released," we wrote.
"RBCF are a true band, in every sense. All five members have their role."
8) Hilltop Hoods, March 11, Newcastle Foreshore
Not that the audience knew it at the time, but The Hilltop Hoods' headline show at the Newcastle Supercars provided a raucous finale to the popular trackside entertainment event.
While the Aussie hip-hop stalwarts didn't match the high-octave power of Cold Chisel's Supercars set in 2017, it was easily the event's best concert since.
"As if they'd been shot out of Fort Scratchley's cannon, Suffa (Matthew Lambert) and Pressure (Daniel Smith) bounced around the stage like prizefighters," we wrote.
"They were the puppet-masters as the crowd waved their hands and danced along to a cavalcade of hip-hop party hits."
The near-capacity crowd were hyped up on racing, booze and hip-hop beats and loved every minute.
9) The Eagles Of Death Metal, July 28, King Street Bandroom
If the Cambridge Farewell Festival was about celebrating the death of an old friend, this show was the flashy rebirth of a nightclub as a rock venue.
The honour of opening the new King Street Bandroom to ticketed shows fell to Californian rockers The Eagles Of Death Metal, led by the charismatic Jesse Hughes.
"Hughes played the rock 'n' roll minister, delivering his high-energy gospel to an adorning congregation," we wrote.
From the power punches of I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News) and I Only Want You to the glam rock reverie of David Bowie's Moonage Daydream, it was an evening of sweet rock 'n' roll theatre.
10) Polaris, September 13, Bar On The Hill
Rarely do you see a band as emotionally exposed as Sydney metalcore band Polaris.
Less than three months after the sudden death of their lead guitarist Ryan Siew, 26, Polaris' frontman Jamie Hails was pouring his heart out to 1500 fans who hung off every word.
"I wanna thank you so much for being a part of his life," Hails said. "For making his dream come true."
Constant cries of "Ryan, Ryan" from fans led to a heightened sense of drama in the performance, in amid the typical metal circle pits, crowd-surfing and rowing pits.
Polaris might usually display a prickly exterior, but on this night the university crowd witnessed their heartfelt interior.
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