Eight hours at the Utilita Arena Newcastle, including two spent shoulder to shoulder with fellow content gatherers in a back room masquerading as a red carpet arrivals area, and I was still smiling on the journey home.
That should tell you something about the Mercury Prize 2026.
For the second consecutive year, the eyes of the music world were on Newcastle as the great, the good and the groovy gathered to celebrate 12 of the best albums released in Britain and Ireland over the past year.
It was quite the night.
Hundreds of guests had enjoyed their fancy three-coursers before the arena stands filled up and BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne - the first of two to take to the stage rocking a killer maroon suit – took charge of proceedings back on home turf.
The performances came thick and fast, with all but two of the nominees (Dave and Paul McCartney) belting out a track from their shortlisted long player.
But while the judges tipped in RAYE’s direction (once again going against the bookies’ predictions which had Olivia Dean and Nia Archives neck and neck at the top of the probability league), it would be remiss of us not to start by taking a look at those who were playing at home.
South Shields superstar JADE, nominated for her debut solo album That’s Showbiz Baby!, renewed her collaboration with musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia, which began with an incredible BBC Proms concert at The Glasshouse last year.
Their beautiful orchestral accompaniment provided the backdrop to a suitably big performance of Angel of My Dreams, a song enjoying another burst of attention after Kylie Jenner recently walked to it wearing the $50m Fantasy Bra at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Strange old world, isn’t it?
Thankfully, JADE’s soaring career doesn’t appear to have taken her feet too far off the ground.
On the red carpet, she talked about squeezing in mince and dumplings at her sister’s house, fish and chips from Colman’s and a walk along South Shields beach before Tuesday night’s big gig.
She also revealed that work has begun on her second album, with a trip to Los Angeles planned in the coming weeks to get back into the studio.
And while she would clearly have loved to take home the Mercury, there was no suggestion that a different result would spoil her evening.
In fact, she revealed plans to join forces with fellow North East nominees Knats for a post-ceremony party in Newcastle.
The jazz collective, meanwhile, were embracing every minute of their Mercury experience.
Comfortably the longest-serving residents of the red carpet, they were determined to make the most of the occasion - and its profile-raising legacy - whatever the result.
Their performance of Wor Jackie, featuring poet Cooper Robson sporting a replica Jackie Milburn Newcastle United shirt, was another proud moment for the home crowd.
Elsewhere, there was plenty to savour.
Florence + The Machine delivered One of the Greats (Florence was the second to go for a maroon three-piece) joined by IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen; Kojey ‘baggiest-trousers-in-the-arena’ Radical performed Conversation; and Suede, Mercury winners back in 1993, returned with The Europeans from Antidepressants.
Pulp, who were nominated in their own right last year, were back to represent War Child’s HELP(2) album with Begging for Change; Olivia Dean sang Let Alone the One You Love from The Art of Loving; Nia Archives performed Boys in Blue; and Dove Ellis gave us To The Sandals.
And then there was RAYE.
When her name was announced as the winner for This Music May Contain Hope, she looked genuinely overwhelmed before using her joyful speech to champion the artform of the album.
Having collected the prize, she returned to the stage to perform I Hate The Way I Look Today for a second time, acknowledging that its sentiment couldn’t have been further from how she was feeling. Quite right too.
Resplendent in an olive-coloured opera coat, complete with billowing sleeves, extravagant ostrich feathers and her trademark bouffant bob, RAYE was serving old-school Hollywood glamour with a theatrical twist. Classy lassy.
Of course, the Mercury Prize is about far more than who takes the winner’s trophy home. For the second year running, Newcastle proved itself a fitting host for one of the biggest nights in British music.
And after the MOBO Awards and the first Newcastle Mercury ceremony in 2025, the region has demonstrated that it can welcome major national music events and give them a character all of their own.
The benefits reach well beyond the arena too.
This year’s Mercury Prize Fringe - organised and delivered by Generator and Newcastle City Council - offered more than 30 events across the city during the week leading up to the ceremony.
From a premiere screening of Sam Fender’s London Stadium concert film at Tyneside Cinema (a nod to the North Shields star’s 2025 Mercury triumph) to an evening with Knats at the John Marley Centre, the programme also included gigs, workshops, talks and listening parties.
Crucially, it offered musicians and emerging talent from across the region opportunities to perform, learn from industry professionals, make connections and develop their careers – benefits that should last long after the last bit of canon confetti had been hoovered up.
Imagine what venues, promoters, musicians and cultural organisations could build around it if they knew the Mercury Prize was a Tyneside staple for the next five years or so? Just saying.
The cultural contingent was out in force on Thursday night, alongside familiar political faces including North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and MPs Chi Onwurah and Catherine McKinnell.
These are the people who spend much of their working lives championing the region’s cultural ambitions. Nights like this offer a chance to see those ambitions realised on a national stage.
Manchester hosted the BRIT Awards this year. Newcastle has now welcomed the Mercurys twice. Surely conversations are already happening about making it a hat trick in 2027?
Because while nights like this should feel special, they really shouldn’t feel unusual.
The North East has the venues, the talent, the audiences and the appetite. And after another joyful Mercury Prize, there’s every reason to keep making the case for more.