The New Tavern, Concord, Washington, Friday 26th March 2010. First time at this venue and a great gig it was. Plenty of floor-space for the band and Richie, who takes the bookings, gave us a warm welcome and a bit chat before ensuring we had full use of the house lights and lasers. Here’s an extract from a review of the gig which refers to our second set of the evening …
It was quite a relaxed little show until the lads started their second set. As the band ripped into an awesome version of Moonage Daydream it was almost as if the audience suddenly crossed the horizon between having a nice relaxed drink and being ‘up for it’ as, out of the blue, their reactions became much more animated and the level of applause grew audibly louder. Follow this on with excellent Doors covers including a ballsy Roadhouse Blues, add a showstopper nod to Cream with White Room and you have one happy audience, while a dip into the Stones back catalogue for a barnstorming encore of Sympathy For The Devil finished a very nice show! … Paul (MOO!pmsbull)
Organisers, Veece and Michelle, caught our gig at The Star Inn on Sunday 28th February 2010 and offered us a slot at this years’ Stormin’ The Castle. It’s the 20th Anniversary of the event and to be invited to play is great news! We last played there in 2005 when we opened on the Friday night. Live music this year is on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th September. The full list of acts and running order is still being formalised. We’ll keep you posted!
Sunday afternoon, 28th February 2010, The Star Inn, Newcastle. Despite the on-off pouring rain outside, the troops still rallied to this gig. Thanks to everyone who made the effort and turned up, not least to bods from as far away as Stanhope, Crook and Durham. The place was packed and the atmosphere electric. Excellent crowd! Excellent gig! … Lenny
The Whitburn Lodge, Whitburn, Saturday 20th February 2010. Our second gig at The Lodge and nice to see a few familiar faces from the Sunderland area and a whole bunch who probably hadn’t caught the band before. Thanks to Kenny for once again dazzling us all with his dancing (never misses a Doors track) and to the audience for a great reception! … Lenny
The Beamish Mary Inn, No Place, Stanley, Saturday 16th January 2010. The Beamish Mary Inn has been reborn and we were there for the christening. The place has been refurbished throughout and looks great. The gig room is warmer with improved heating and a new wooden floor. It’s less cluttered and has had the old delapitated bar taken out leaving more space for punters, plus a little raised stage area elevates at least some of the band for a more interesting view. The Beamish has always been a favourite venue of ours and with its’ new look and a packed house this gig turned out to be one of our best appearances there! … Lenny
Suffragette City & Helter Skelter (2010)
TUBESNAKE recorded live at The Beamish Mary Inn, No Place, Saturday 16th January 2010.
The Mill House, Birtley. Sunday 20th December 2009. Quiet as hell when we first turned up but then patrons, Carl & Deanne McDonald, brought the girls from their other pub just around the corner, The Ship Inn. It was their staff night out and they were dressed to the hilt like glossy front-cover magazine models. As our set played on, they even prompted an instrumental snippet of Molly’s Chambers by Kings of Leon, led by Tom, and a blast of Hot Stuff by Donna Summer. Amazing what a few pretty smiles can drag out of a band. Thanks to them there beauties for partying like it was 1999. One of the barmaids from The Ship, Laura Kerry, stepped up and did the full version of Black Velvet by Alannah Myles with the band. For an off the cuff request, the lads really pulled it off, and she had a great voice too. More bods turned up as the night went on and the end result was another cracking night at The Mill House! … Lenny
Friday 18th December 2009. Our first gig in The Stables Pub & Brewery which is set in the grounds of Beamish Hall, near Stanley. Opened in May 2009 as a bar-restaurant with its’ own brewery, it also hosts live bands every Friday night and has done for a few months now. Hell of a setting for a gig and, due to the festive season, we found our gig shortened to fit in with a pre-booked Christmas feasting party and consequently shared our slot with a DJ who let us make use of his lights and very powerful smoke machine. We still had a blast in this very classy joint and we’ve been promised a return when we can have the place to ourselves so keep an eye on our gig list for next year!
Echo & The Bunnymen. O2 Academy, Newcastle, Monday 14th December 2009. A very atmospheric delivery from Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant and Co. Billowing smoke with lights often directed at the audience, rather than the players, kept the Bunnymen shrouded in a mystical haze which gave the gig a dream-like quality while generating a tremendous atmosphere to compliment Ian’s vocals and the musical excellence of the band. The feeling generated by the performance was extremely positive and created the illusion that time had stood still and that we could all live forever! Bring on the Dancing Horses! … Lenny
The Star Inn, Newcastle, Sunday 29th November 2009. We’ve already played a couple of Saturday nights at this pub over the last year or so but this was our first Sunday afternoon slot which kicked off at 4pm. It’s a really neat venue at the bottom of Westgate Road, directly opposite The O2 Academy, and we love it. We kicked off with Suffragette City and an audience of about 25 in the room, which was a little disappointing considering the excellent attendance we’d had at our previous two Saturday night gigs. We put this down to the atrocious weather outside but we were really up for this gig and went for it anyway. Whatever! Towards the end of the first set the number of bods had ballooned and the place had really filled up. The crowd swell was helped not least by a large bunch of girl/boy youth from Maryport who had a gig to attend at The Academy over the road later that night. Many thanks to them for their enthusiastic participation. The pub remained packed and we ended with a couple of blistering encores and a feeling that all involved had a great afternoon! … Lenny
The Campus Academy, Sunderland, Saturday 28th November 2009. After first seeing Numan in 2008 at The Academy in Newcastle, touring his second album Replicas, I just had to catch this tour which paraded his third album The Pleasure Principle, also from 1979. This album, which was released under his own name rather than Tubeway Army, is widely recognised as the best Numan album of all. The whole album was played out, followed by a selection of Numan new and old. This sort of performance and content transports you to another dimension. “Will you visit me please, if I open my door?” … Lenny
Echo & The Bunnymen. O2 Academy, Newcastle, Monday 14th December 2009. A very atmospheric delivery from Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant and Co. Billowing smoke with lights often directed at the audience, rather than the players, kept the Bunnymen shrouded in a mystical haze which gave the gig a dream-like quality while generating a tremendous atmosphere to compliment Ian’s vocals and the musical excellence of the band. The feeling generated by the performance was extremely positive and created the illusion that time had stood still and that we could all live forever! Bring on the Dancing Horses! … Lenny
The Campus Academy, Sunderland, Saturday 28th November 2009. After first seeing Numan in 2008 at The Academy in Newcastle, touring his second album Replicas, I just had to catch this tour which paraded his third album The Pleasure Principle, also from 1979. This album, which was released under his own name rather than Tubeway Army, is widely recognised as the best Numan album of all. The whole album was played out, followed by a selection of Numan new and old. This sort of performance and content transports you to another dimension. “Will you visit me please, if I open my door?” … Lenny