SwanNek bring full-band homecoming show to Pilgrim

SwanNek Pilgrim Newcastle brings the contemporary jazz collective back home for a full-band show on Thursday 3 December 2026. Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets are listed from £8 to £10, and the date puts a Newcastle-built project back in front of a local audience rather than treating the city as another stop on a wider run.

SwanNek draw directly from the people and places around them, using contemporary jazz as a base for music that stays connected to their own experiences. SwanNek are a contemporary jazz collective from Newcastle upon Tyne. That local identity is central to how the group describe themselves and to the way Pilgrim is framing this date as a homecoming.

SwanNek Pilgrim Newcastle brings seven musicians into one close room

The current line-up includes Mollie Birmingham on vocals, Olly Styles on tenor saxophone, Jacob Egglestone on guitar, Alexa K Palmer Campiglia on cello, Findlay Hewitson on keyboards, Jake Baines on bass and John Hirst on drums. SwanNek’s seven-piece line-up gives the music a broad acoustic and electric palette.

That instrumentation helps explain why the group sits beyond a conventional small jazz combo. Cello, vocals, guitar, keys and saxophone can move the arrangements between intimate sections and much fuller ensemble passages, while bass and drums keep the rhythmic side anchored underneath.

The Pilgrim setting should make those changes easy to hear. The venue’s smaller room keeps the audience close enough for quieter textures to register, but it still gives a seven-piece band enough energy to make the larger sections feel physical rather than overly polished.

SwanNek have also picked up attention beyond Newcastle. Their live work has been praised by Radio 3’s Soweto Kinch and BBC Introducing’s Shakk, while Jazz North has included the collective in its Northern Line programme. That wider recognition gives the homecoming tag more substance because the group are returning after building an audience outside their immediate local circle.

The music remains rooted in Newcastle, though. SwanNek describe their work as a reflection of the city’s diverse musical identity, and a full-band date at Pilgrim gives that idea a very direct setting.

SwanNek play Pilgrim Newcastle on Thursday 3 December 2026. Doors are at 7.30pm, tickets are £8 to £10 and the event is 14+, with under-18s accompanied by an adult. Check the band and venue channels before travelling for any late changes.

More North East dates are listed in SoundBite North East’s Upcoming Gigs, while the venue programme is on our Pilgrim Newcastle page.