The words of a haunting ballad, set to the melody of the House of the Rising Sun, drifted out of a shop selling Newcastle United memorabilia and down Leazes Park Road. Smoke billowed wistfully from a pipe above the door. Fans made their way past, towards the Gallowgate Stand, around the corner.
At Stack, in the lee of the hulk of the stadium that sits atop its hill like the city’s cathedral, there was a different kind of energy.
The sound of White Stripes came from inside. ‘I'm gonna fight 'em off,’ they were singing.