£700 Raised For St.Cuthbert’s Hospice
A very big thanks to everyone who turned out to the Tubesnake gig at The Lambton Hounds, Pity Me, on Sunday 3rd May 2009 which aimed to raise further funds for St.Cuthbert’s Hospice in Merry Oaks, Durham. The whole pub was packed, not just the gig room, and there was a truly fantastic atmosphere at this gig which was dedicated to my mam who passed away in the hospice on the 9th April. Donations raised at the gig, and the bands’ contribution, were added to money collected from the tombola at The Lambton Hounds recent Fun Day, the hospice collection boxes which had been on the bar and a number of personal contributions. The final amount of £700 has been handed over and a certificate of thanks from the hospice has been framed and is now displayed in The Lambton Hounds pub. Thankyou! … Lenny
Band’s rocking Sunday hospice fund-raiser
THE NORTHERN ECHO Thursday 30th April 2009
A POPULAR local rock band is staging a fund-raising gig as a thank-you to the hospice that cared for the singer’s mother.
Durham four-piece Tubesnake, who have built a big following over 17 years with their repertoire of covers of songs by legends such as The Doors, David Bowie, Cream and The Rolling Stones, will be performing on Sunday May 3rd at their local pub, The Lambton Hounds in Pity Me, Durham. The gig will be in memory of Freda McGurk, 65, the mother of vocalist Leonard Mustarde, who died of cancer in the city’s St.Cuthbert’s Hospice.
Mr Mustarde’s brother, Michael, who is organising the event, said the hospice had looked after their mother really well.
“They do a great job and we thought we’d do something as a thank-you. We have raised about £200 at the moment, the guys will be donating their fee, and we’ll be collecting in the bar. It will help us to give something back to them for the care they gave our mother.’’ The gig starts at 5pm and tickets, which cost £2, will be available on the door.
Woody missed our first appearance at The Egypt Cottage back in January (Stephen Wakefield ‘Waka’ stood in for him on the kit) but he was on track for our second visit to the “Valley of The Kings”. Class gig! Class venue!
First time for us at The Three Tuns, Gateshead, Saturday 21st March 2009. Wasn’t too sure what to expect although I’d seen a few pics on various web sites. What a class venue! Black walls with a wall-hugging “Three Tuns” vinyl back-drop behind the band and some nicely supplied in-house lights directed onto a raised stage making way for a “proper” venue feel about the place. Woody had clattered his arm at an ice-hockey re-union the night before so Waka, ex-The Glammed and a former Tubesnake guitarist, stepped in to sort out the beat. We had a decent crowd in and, as always, a new venue means new faces and they passed some canny compliments our way. Best wishes to the dancing lady who fell face down on the floor but then continued to party-on once helped to her feet by the kind gents around her. Certainly keen to return to this venue in the not too distant future! … Lenny
By close of play today, midnight on the 2nd March 2009, we clocked our highest number of visitors in one day since the site launched on the 1st September 2007 … 104 visitors 
Saturday 17th January 2009. What a bloody great gig! First time at The Egypt Cottage next to the now redundant Tyne Tees TV Studios on City Road in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The weather was pretty atrocious so I was worried that we may not get a good turnout, plus the pub ain’t exactly town centre and is a little out on a limb. No worries! We had a near full house and the atmosphere was excellent. Tom and Chris swapped sides so that Tom’s guitar could cut through to the crowd instead of bouncing off the staircase, which incidentally was the best prop I’ve experienced since the lamp-post at The Beamish Mary. That staircase gave me something to hang off and leer at the audience. Stephen Wakefield ‘Waka’, standing in on drums, commented that he hadn’t been behind a kit since he last depped for us at The Star Inn, Newcastle, in June 2008. Well he certainly hadn’t lost his touch and did a brilliant job for us. Thanks for the positive reaction from everyone in the crowd. We return to The Egypt Cottage on Friday 3rd April! … Lenny
Thanks to Marshall and Graeme on the door, for continuing to man their posts while ‘on the door’ sales took the numbers attending to just over the 100 required to confirm this gig as a ‘sell-out’. The Unnamed, put out a very strong 45 mins to kick the night off, my personal favourite being She Sells Sanctuary. Frayed Ends, as a whole, had to pull out due to illness but drummer Ian and guitarist Steve still turned up to form an ensemble with Tom, Chris and Martin from Victims of The Fury to neatly fill the middle slot with some great rock covers as Frayed Victims?. The timing for this year’s event was spot on compared to when we played here last year and Tubesnake were bang on schedule for the first set, a short break and a second set taking everyone to the midnight hour. The crowd were excellent with a good bunch of bods taking to the dance floor. Party nights sometimes bring out a party attitude and I stepped out while Woody, Chris and Tom seared through Misirlou (featured in the opening scene of Pulp Fiction) and a medley of rock ‘n’ roll stuff. I rejoined them for Walking The Dog (early Rolling Stones version) and we closed with Sympathy For The Devil. Thanks to all who attended and helped make it a cracking New Year’s Eve gig! … Lenny
The Lambton Hounds, Pity Me, Saturday 13th December 2008.