Poetry Night in Newcastle

My couchsurfing buddy Michael and I went into Newcastle for a night of poetry, music, and beer. We went to a pub that had an eclectic mix of things going on in different rooms or places about. Michael wanted to go tonight instead of heading up to Edinburgh because this was the last night of the poetry series for the year. We grabbed a bite to eat and drink and headed upstairs to listed to the readings. For me, it was more of a night of comedic poetry with some seriousness thrown in for good measure. There was some wacky folks who signed up to read. Many of the readers donned costumes to assume different roles. One woman put on an apron and scarf to look like country housewife, one Japanese man put on a biking outfit, and one strange young guy put on 70's style sunglasses and mustache that reminded me of Andy Kaufman's lounge act persona. One South African sounded like he had a professional voice, and when I talked to him later, it turns out that he was an actor and voice personality. One guy had someone play a didgeridoo in the background while he spoke.
During one break, we went outside and came upon some rowdy Morris Dancers having a grand time. There were some rather strange folks milling about and it was fun to watch. After the show we hung out in another room that had folk music playing with acoustic guitars, ukuleles, banjos and singing. The room next to us had accordions and concertinas among other sea shanty associated instruments and songs going on.
Afterwards, Michael showed me a few of the 8+ bridges that cross between Newcastle and Gateshead. One of them is a bridge that was just being completed and made out of bamboo!
Later, we went shopping to prepare for our trip to Edinburgh.