Jesmond residents are familiar with Osborne Road’s lively reputation. With crowds of drinkers, rows of glasses, and the latest sports game aired live in its bars, the renowned street plays a key role in Jesmond’s identity and remains part of the local culture.  

But a bar on the road is attempting to offer something different – and altogether more laid back.

‘Behind the Curtain’, a series of concerts held at Hüs, involves “intimate, stripped back gigs featuring some of the best musical talent”. The event was created by 55-year-old Richy Hetherington who has been a prominent figure in promoting Newcastle’s diverse music scene over the past couple years.

The name for the event is well-suited, as Hüs sections off the back of the bar with a heavy black curtain. If you were to draw it aside, a softly lit space is uncovered, replacing the usual chaos of a bar with an alternative audience, immersed in captivating music that ranges in style and sound.  

On November 14th, the second sold-out event offered two performances, including a solo performance by local musician Elliot Dryden and music by Annie Prior, or ‘Weather Balloons’ as she goes by, who travelled up from Leeds.  

Dryden is part of the duo “Lots of Hands” recently signed on by the New York record label ‘Fire Talk’. His performance involved singing and some acoustic guitar, adapting similar, sentimental styles to the likes of Bob Dylan and the introspection of Elliot Smith.  

After a small break, allowing the audience to get some wine and snacks, Weather Balloons offered a more eclectic performance, involving an abstract and Avant Garde appeal, as she blended elements such as voice, computer and guitar to create compelling sounds. 

Hetherington said he wanted to offer an event that could provide an alternative experience. “I’ve put on gigs before, but in much bigger venues like the Two-by-Two Brewery and the Cumberland Arms,” he explained.

Those gigs were good for large, loud bands, said Hetherington. “But if you wanted an intimate setting, where the artists would play quietly, but also powerfully and emotionally, then it wasn’t going to work,” he explained. Hüs was different – and enabled a different style of concert.

Hüs replaced the bar formerly known as Quattro in March 2024 as a family business. The performance was accompanied with soft lighting and candles, making the atmosphere feel more like a room of friends, over a bar of strangers.  

The bar manager and son of the owners, Will Hemy, who is also a Jesmond resident, said: “It’s important to showcase what Newcastle culturally has to offer beyond town and audiences who may not necessarily attend these things, so I thought it was important to give it a space.”

He added: “The bars on Jesmond are opened by operators who have loads of venues across Newcastle, which is a massive change from what it used to be when there were more independent places. It’s nice to reclaim that and have somewhere that has an identity and feels a bit more like a local pub you can go to.”

The next Behind the Curtain show will be on December 12th and is once again expected to sell out.