THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO  ❤
We raised a total of £2,300 in just one day
On behalf of Brian & Claire Mear and Down Syndrome North East we wish to thank everyone involved as we raised £1500.00 for DSNE

For the Steve Grimett fund, who lost his leg while touring south America, through the incredible donations of music merchandise we received, which was raffled off and some items auctioned, we raised £500.00 for Steve 

It's difficult to know where to begin with thanking everyone involved in Mearfest North.
What an amazing day !
We were met by the Wonderful Dave Hills and his team at Trillians. What a venue and what great support we recieved. Dave worked tirelessly throughout the long day with a thousand jobs not only running the bar but also doing the sound and a million other tasks at once. Brilliant !!
Huge thanks also to Gary Young and his brother Sean who also put in an immense shift with all the equipment and making sure all the bands ran to time and the event ran seamlessly.
We were apprehended by the Strong arm of the Law early on.
            Local Policeman John checking all was ok and taking an interest only to rejoin us after his shift pint in hand with a huge smile on his face!
The bands were amazing with Damaj opening the show with a great Metallic crunch. Thankyou James Haggart and the army of the Northern Skies. Then from the Deep South came Tony Coldham and his very Merry men.
Wow the Deep were on fire and gave what was for me a perfect Performance.
Next the Clan and Craig Mac s band were so professional and bought lots of compliments from the crowd. First class, love the moves !!
Our great friends the Filth hounds Bryan McGill leading the pack,once again gave a wonderful and at times very emotive set. Under the banner of Molly's handprint the song dedicated to James and all born sleeping babies was a incredibly touching moment.
Now Millennium under the guidance of Mark Duffy were a revelation !
All my plans of being reserved and staying in the back ground went out of the window.
Grabbing my first beer of the day I rushed to the front and along with Nick Grimley was transported back to 1985 for 40 glorious minutes of incredible Heavy Metal!
Well what happened next was amazing. Mandora Born Again ! Superb performance from Paul Binyon , Duncan Binnie and their very merry men. 
Sadly due to illness Fist were unable to play so Spartan Warrior were up next with a superb highly professional performance. David Wil Kinsonowned that mic stand !!!
Tysondog then took to the stage with an altered line up really were Metal Gods !
Kevin Wynn and Tysondog Steve rocking out once again !!
And then for me the Climax of the Night Avenger ! With Swifty on vocals and the tireless Gary Young back on drums they tore the place apart!! It was a fantastic performance and bought the day to a end.
Thank you to The PFJ for your mega cash contribution.
Thanks to everyone especially Jaime YB who came all the way from Mexico city !
Helen I'll have a brown ale Helen Gaffney, Melany Melanie Shearer, Andrew Davison, Bob Hooker Sarah-j Gentil and Chris from Dealer who helped us all day, Jackie Allom, Paula Evans, Antony Bray and Rachel, Karl give me some Karl Moore, Andrew Halliday, Christophe Vernimmen and his lovely partner Katrina. 
Patrick from Belgium and his yummy chocolates!
THANK YOU to all our creative team, Steve Ritchie, Ian Colt, John Lambton, Martyn Turner, Ruth Hindson
There are so many people to thank......Wow amazing !
Most of all I'd like to thank my lovely Wife Claire Mear for her endless love and support and for helping keep Molly's spirit alive.
To everyone who attended welcome to the Mearfest family.
Turning loss into Legacy.
Thank you to all you smashing people from the North East for digging deep and donating to these amazing causes.
 

​Mandora were like the Gillan Fronted Black Sabbath Born Again !!! With the screams from their crowd of youthful supporters there was no stopping these boys from putting on one hell of a show.
Highlights for Claire were ” Crazy Horses and the Sex Pistol Pretty Vacant number which made her night.
Duncan Binnie’s moves were as hot as the curry we all shared the night before.
Paul is a first class front man from a first class band.

​I first saw Millennium play at Brofest last year and have known about Mark Duffy’s band along with his other act Toranaga.
I had made firm plans to be in the background during the whole day and not to have a beer until at least ten o clock.
When Millennium started the set that all went out of the window! Grabbing a beer and Mearfest veteran Nick Grimley, I forced my way to the front and suddenly for 40 minutes I was 18 again and oblivious to anything else around me.
What a fantastic band seeing Marks smile get wider and wider throughout the set was a highlight of the whole day. 10 out of 10 !
Metal Perfection!!!

Local Hero’s the Filth Hounds are no stranger to Mearfest.
Being close friends with Bryan, John and Kris it was great to see them back as a four piece once again with new guitarist Liam.
Taking their name from the Iconic Tank Album they play original material material in a NWOBHM style.
Bryan Mcgill is every inch the front man and when they play ” KEEPING THE PAIN ALIVE”  
​(a number penned by John Allom about his son James who was lost to stillbirth) there’s not a dry eye in the house. Claire and Johns wife Jackie were at this point hugging each other throughout this moving song which was so right for today.
A Fantastic band we will be looking forward to seeing again at Mearfest South in December.

Having been Facebook friends with Craig Mac from The Clan for some time. I had heard great reviews for his band and I was very keen to see them play.
 
They played all original material and couldn’t have been more professional in their moves and their musicianship.
 
Once again the 40 minute set flew by and they also went down a Storm . Interestingly loads of praise from the many musicians in the crowd. It’s no wonder this band are as popular and prolific as they are.
 

​After a lot of soul searching, alternative therapies, counselling, crying, grieving, stupid diets, praying to a God that does not exist, blaming everything, hatred of one’s self, working 24/7 to bury the constant disappointment and disbelief.

This time last year there came an opening, an awakening, a wanting for something better, a need to turn everything around into a positive, a wanting to stop being miserable and depressed and to try again......

It is with the greatest of pleasures and the most amount of obvious worry, that Brian and I would like to announce to the world the imminent arrival of our second baby girl, Amelie Mear. I just turned 50 in February and I am currently 25 weeks pregnant and finally brave enough to tell the world, that we will be having a healthy baby girl sometime late May early June. 

​I wish to voice her arrival and be proud of the incredible journey it’s taken us both to get here.