Simon Duke

Simon Duke covers the busy, crowd-driven side of entertainment, concentrating on bars, gigs and mainstream TV moments for Chronicle Live. He works as a TV and showbiz editor, shaping the masthead’s coverage of nightlife, popular culture and leisure across the North East. His patch runs from city-centre bars and restaurant openings to big-ticket music events, race-day occasions and the TV shows that pull in mass audiences.

Nightlife, bars and restaurant changes

A large share of Duke’s recent work tracks the rhythm of the local bar and restaurant scene, with particular attention to openings, closures and last nights. He has covered the shock closure of Revolucion de Cuba in the city centre in detail, reporting both the initial announcement and the bar’s “one final fiesta” send-off, as well as confirming what will replace it. He reports on other hospitality changes such as the closure of Italian restaurant Ask in a major shopping centre and its replacement by a fast-growing fried chicken chain, treating these moves as news events that reshape where people go out. His coverage extends to restaurants being recognised nationally, highlighting local venues included in guides to the UK’s best places to eat and positioning them within the broader food landscape of the region. Across these pieces, he combines clear explanations of what is happening with practical detail on timings, locations and what regulars can expect next.

Gigs, TV events and entertainment news

Duke consistently covers live entertainment news, especially music gigs and television-linked events.

He reports on major hints that well-known music icons are about to announce large arena shows, explaining the social media clues and reminding readers of the act’s previous sold-out dates in the city. His work is cited in round-ups of Chronicle Live’s festival and gig coverage, including extensive reporting around high-profile hometown shows for artists such as Sam Fender.

He also writes about television drama premieres at venues like the Tyneside Cinema, introducing the shows, naming principal cast and flagging the regional filming connection that matters to local audiences. Away from premieres, he covers touring productions fronted by familiar TV personalities, including reporting on a show that was abandoned late in the performance due to a medical emergency in the audience.

This strand of his beat blends straightforward entertainment news with a strong sense of occasion and the impact on attendees.

Crowd moments, queues and local buzz

A distinctive feature of Duke’s coverage is his focus on scenes where crowds and queues tell the story.

He has documented “late night queues” outside a city-centre bar that ended up “packed to the rafters,” describing lines down the street and the atmosphere among revellers waiting to get in. He reports on promotional stunts that generate large turnouts, such as a pop-up Subway truck giving out free samples near a central landmark and the big crowds it attracted. His writing also tracks competition between venues for status and recognition, including city-centre bars vying to be named the best drinking spot in Tyne and Wear in national awards shortlists.

In these pieces he foregrounds how people respond on the ground - the size of queues, the buzz around a promotion, the sense of a bar or brand suddenly becoming the place to be.

Lists, competitions and audience favourites

Duke works extensively with lists, shortlists and competitions that tap into audience sentiment about where and how they spend their leisure time.

He has produced a detailed shortlist of the 11 best places for Sunday dinner in the North East, explaining that the candidates emerged from reader nominations and setting out each venue’s credentials. His coverage of local bars in national awards pits three venues against each other for the title of top drinking spot in the area, spelling out what makes each contender noteworthy.

Earlier work highlighted two Newcastle restaurants named among the best in the UK in the Good Food Guide’s list of 100 Best Local Restaurants, situating the city’s offering within a national benchmark.

Beyond food and drink, he also covers competitions at social events, such as race-day Ladies Day, where he reports on best dressed winners and the personalities who stand out in the crowd. These pieces show him using rankings and contests to reflect back what readers value in their going-out culture, rather than treating lists as filler.

Across these strands, Duke’s work is marked by an emphasis on the lived experience of entertainment - who turns up, what the atmosphere is like and how changes in venues, gigs and shows alter the local going-out map. He combines this with an editor’s eye for reader-focused information, consistently giving clear context, timings and practical detail so that people can decide which events, bars or restaurants matter most to them.