The Mouth of the Tyne Festival have been struggling to find a new headline act that will replace the Lighthouse Family, after the duo announced last week the two have split up after 30 years. The festival is set to take place in Tynemouth Castle from the 8th-10th July, and the search is now on for a new headline act.
North Tyneside Deputy Mayor Carl Johnson spoke up about the news, stating, “We were extremely disappointed to hear that the Lighthouse Family are no longer performing together and will be unable to play their headline slot at the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. A sell-out audience have held on to their tickets throughout the pandemic, and like us, they were looking forward to the performance. However, the decision to pull out of the show has been made by the band leaving us all bitterly disappointed.”
The Mouth of the Tyne Festival has been running since Summer 2005 and is known to attract more than 100,000 people.Other highlights of the festivals will include a sell-out performance from Brit Award-winning rock band Keane, a show from Sophie Ellis-Bextor and a vibrant parade featuring hundreds of schoolchildren.
The Lighthouse Family were a duo band consisting of singer Tunde Baiyewu and keyboardist Paul Tucker. They formed way back in 1993 and are best known for songs including “High” and “Lifted”. The duet announced their split last week on social media, with Paul articulating, “I’m so sorry to let you know that our headline show at Mouth Of The Tyne Festival on 9th July has been cancelled. I have tried everything with our agents and promoters over the last few weeks to make this work but we just couldn’t get it over the line. Tunde no longer wants to perform as Lighthouse Family and now wants to focus on his solo career and I wish him all the best. I would like to say sorry to the promoters and to all of you who have tickets for this show and have waited through the last two years. I was really looking forward to this hometown show and playing our songs in this amazing place close to the lighthouses that gave us our name. I am as disappointed as you are. It breaks my heart to let you down.”
Despite no replacement in place for the loss of the Lighthouse Family headlining, organisers have noted that they are still expecting a huge number of visitors across the weekend. Steve Bishop , festival director and North Tyneside Council’s head of culture, said: “It’s been a long time in the making as we’ve had to wait until the pandemic was under control but we’re really looking forward to a great festival packed full of fantastic entertainment for the whole family.The setting couldn’t be more spectacular with our award-winning coastline as the backdrop to our annual celebration and I know visitors will find lots to enjoy.”