PAUL WELLER

May 4, 2026, marks the centenary of the first full day of the 1926 General Strike where millions of British workers withdrew their labour and challenged the establishment. They believed a better world was possible.

To mark this historical event the same team that brought successful plays Wor Bella, Carrying David and Hadaway Harry are staging Centenary at the Glasshouse.

“We have a great team and the show will be fantastic. We did a very popular show about four years ago called ‘Boris Out’, and look what happened to him!” said playwright and Theatre producer Ed Waugh

“One hundred years ago millions of workers and their families went on strike. A General Strike poses the question of state power, the 1 per cent – the privileged Establishment or the working class – those who actually create the wealth in society.”

“Despite the heroism and sacrifice of the trade union rank and file, the union leaders in the TUC realised the question of state power was at stake – the Russian Revolution nine years earlier had sent shockwaves throughout the world. These TUC cowards sold out the strike unconditionally after only nine days.”

Ed added “Their pusillanimity led to a carnival of reaction against the trade unions and workers by the Tory government. The miners continued their strike for another six months but were starved back to work. We haven’t had a general strike in this country since. But we’ve been close”.

“We have to learn the lessons of 1926 for the next time, which is on the horizon. The 1926 General Strike was a hugely important period in working class history.”

‘Centenary’ will include songs, comedy, stand up and recitations to celebrate the nine day strike. A big addition are musicians Paul Weller (The Jam) Alan Hull (Lindisfarne), Tom Robinson and Paul Simmonds (The Men They Couldn’t Hang) have personally given permission for their music to be played at the show.

“We are delighted to have been given personal permission from these great songwriters. It will be an evening of brilliant musical and comedic entertainment and inspiration.” added Ed.

Tickets are available for ‘Centenary’ at The Glasshouse, Gateshead at 4pm or 8pm on Monday May 4^th 2026.

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Alikivi January 2026

It’s over a year since Nev featured on this blog where he told great stories about signing record deals, Radio One sessions, London, Amsterdam, Berlin gigs, and playing Leeds with Joy Division and Public Image Limited – all with Newcastle based post punk band Punishment of Luxury.

Later there is news of new creative adventures from Punilux, but first, Nev invites us to tune in….

The first Punilux album The Laughing Academy, will be unfolded during a SKY Arts programme on Friday 14^th May at 9pm courtesy of musician Matt Deighton (Mother Earth, Paul Weller).

The programme is dedicated to Matt’s exceptional creative journey, and once again he shows his support and love of the band, by mentioning Punishment of Luxury in a short excerpt of his musical inspirations.

BABY DON’T JUMP

I first communicated with Matt a couple of years ago on the Punishment of Luxury Fans Facebook page when I responded to his question about lyrics to ‘Baby Don’t Jump’.

It was an interesting question, and it was then that I discovered Matt is a gifted writer, musician and performer with a notable history with his band Mother Earth, along with collaborations with Oasis and Paul Weller.

He asked me if the band would like to release all of their material in a compilation, so after a band chat we all decided it was a great idea, so he arranged a meeting with Cherry Red, hence the Puppet Life box set so a big thank you Matt.

In time Matt shared his work, CDs and vinyl’s with me which in turn encouraged me to look again at some of my own approaches to music resulting in the revisiting of guitar tunings and to the creation of a new collection of acoustic excursions.

This inspired period also prompted me to return to work and develop some of my contemporary musical and media writing, embodied within stories, some of which I aim to complete and reveal this year.

***The debut Punishment of Luxury album, Laughing Academy***.

DIGITAL DECAY

During all of this creative inferno I received an unpleasant dose of digital decay which resulted in the loss of a large part of that music which I planned to share with the band in hope of contributing to the release of a new album.

Thankfully I am an old school practitioner and print off all my words and practice almost every day so I can recall much of the work.

Brian Bond (vocals/keys) and Jimmy Giro (bass) have been busy too and shared some of their songs, and I have applied the Brain Bomb methodology to one of them. Fortunately, I captured this on my phone but lost all of the other additions.

One song about A message and an Alien – territorial rather than terrestrial, survived, and as Brian and I used to share lead vocal on songs such as All White Jack and Metropolis, this one I envisage could help revisit our strength with new vitality and topical relevance.

NEW ENERGY

However, we have all been separated for a while now, and I think the band always work best while meeting face to face and sharing ideas, where the best songs can be tested, rehearsed and then gigged, because for me, this is where the fun and energy lives.

There is much to do, ponder and hope for in the near future and we will share and keep you updated on the band web and Facebook pages.

Matt Deighton – Overshadowed on Sky Arts is on Friday 14^th May 9pm.

Check out previous Punishment of Luxury interviews:

FUNK OFF – The Punishment of Luxury & further tales of musical adventures. | ALIKIVI (garyalikivi.com)

FROM NEWCASTLE WITH LOVE part 3/4 with actor & musician Brian Rapkin | ALIKIVI (garyalikivi.com)

Alikivi May 2021.

ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

CENTENARY – New show at The Glasshouse, Gateshead

TV DINNERS – with Nev Atkinson from Punishment of Luxury