Tubesnake

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.

Third break for 2008. Two weeks this time while Chris da Bass revisits his Jamaican cousins on his third cruise of the year. Meanwhile the rest of us might scrape together enough cash to get a return train fare for a night out in Newcastle. Heh! Heh! Back on the road on 30th November at Bar Luma in Sunderland.

thanks to paul smith for this photo

¡Ay, Caramba! We’ve got a weekend off due to other commitments, seasonal illness, christmas shopping and the “Will to be Weird” but not necessarily in that order. Looking forward to a first appearance at The Royalty in Sunderland on the 14th November (used to drink there when I was a student at Sunderland Poly … Lenny) and a return to Peterlee Catholic Club on the 15th (last time there was 10th July 1999). Wassup?

Sunday 26th October 2008. An explosive late afternoon return to much more than normality at the re-launch of gigs at The Clarendon in Sunderland. We had a full-house with loadza Clara peeps and rock/punk gods from 1977, The Diamond Dogs, The Creepers and The Glammed. Jeff, running the show from behind the bar, was his usual ecstatic self, a joy to behold, and had sprouted some extra fins on his head since we last saw him. The man is ‘Mein Host’ extraordinaire. Woody was at his most relaxed and experimented with fills that even he didn’t know were possible. Fantastic to get back to this particularly intimate venue that continues to blow our sox off! … Lenny

After two planned practice sessions were cancelled this week due to work committments, we’re looking forward to our gig at The Bonny Moorhen in Stanhope tomorrow at 5pm, Sunday 19th October 2008. Tom’s up in Glasgow this weekend checking out Tigers on Vaseline (Bowie Tribute) but he’ll be back tomorrow for a gig at one of our favourite venues and will be celebrating his 19th birthday to boot. Sure he’ll appreciate the odd JD & coke being thrown his way.

Talk about small world experiences (S.W.E.’s). Stumbled across these October 2008 posts on a Dutch Guitar-Forum on the net. A newly formed rock covers band, called Tubesnake, are advertising for a bass-player who can practice once a week in the city of Kampen in the Netherlands:

Rock Coverband Tubesnake uit Kampen zoekt bassist
Hallo wij zijn uit Kampen een gedreven band die zich bezig houd met het spelen van (Classic) Rock Covers. We zijn op zoek naar een gezellige bassist(e) die ons wil komen versterken. De bedoeling is 1x per week oefenen in een unieke oefenruimte met evt opslag. Mag ook uit de omgeving van Kampen.

Someone points out there is already a band called Tubesnake in Durham, England (Yay! That’ll be us):
Je bandnaam is tubesnake, wist je dat er nog een tubesnake bestaat? uit durham england.

They reply that they didn’t know that and that they got their name from the ZZ Top song “Tubesnake Boogie”:
Wist niet dat er nog een band tubesnake was … wij hebben het afgeleid van Tubesnake boogie van ZZ top.

Well so did we, back in 1992. Heh! Not a problem of course but that is just So Damned Weird Man! Will be interesting to see if they spot this and get in touch.

Nikhs Bar, Blyth, Saturday 11th October 2008.
More like a nite-club than a pub so the place had a really different feel about it. Nicky, the owner, greeted us at the door and explained that the bar’s name came from her car registration N1 KHS. We met loads of new people and some old friends I personally hadn’t seen for years.
A very different venue and an excellent night! … Lenny

Good to hear that The Clarendon in Sunderland has once again opened its’ doors to live music and we’re booked to play there on Sunday 26th October 2008 at 4pm. Bring it on!

Friday 19th September 2008, Heart ‘n’ Soul Rally, Silver Ring Bar, Gosforth Racecourse.

What a great night! The only bad thing about it was missing all the other bands on the bill while being on stage. Tubesnake kicked off at God knows what time, and played ’til God knows what time to to an unbelievable audience. We were even joined by a ‘guest bass player’ towards the end of the night for Sympathy For The Devil, which was a first, but what a brilliant night. Would go back anytime!
… Tom

Great venue. Great atmosphere. Great beer. Great bikes. Great hog roast. Really appreciative crowd (especially the stand-in bass player). Be nice to get there next year, hopefully on the main stage! … Chris

From the first gig at The Lambton Hounds, Pity Me on 12th September 1992 to this gig at The Hearts of Oak in Peterlee 16 years have passed and we’re now on our ninth line-up! We’ve had some excellent nights at The Hearts in the past and this gig was no exception. The venue is now back on the circuit and hosting live bands every second Friday. We got to play the first gig there under the new regime. The house was packed, despite the heavy rain. The large room, with its’ raised stage, is class and allowed us to introduce extra stage lights, smoke machine and P.A. with a heavier bottom end. Thanks to everyone who turned up to give their support and help get this reborn venue off to a cracking start! … Lenny

Friday 5th September 2008 at The Ropery in Sunderland.

Despite the heavy rain and flood warnings across the North-East we still had an excellent night with a good crowd in, supplemented by a spill-over from a 21st birthday party going on upstairs.

Chris commented that his night was … “made even better by having one of my guitar heroes present, Peter Barclay (ex Lucas Tyson)”.

Slipped in new song Cold Turkey by the Plastic Ono Band (deep joy) and said goodbye to the likes of Dear Prudence and Don’t Believe A Word.

Chris was back at The Ropery on Sunday afternoon to see The Grumpy Old Men … “Thoroughly enjoyed it. They got me up to play Too Rolling Stoned by Robin Trower, one of my other guitar heroes”. Seems The Grumpies like Tubesnake and asked their crowd to check us out, so cheers for that!

One year ago today our website was launched so Happy Birthday to tubesnake.co.uk and many, many thanks to everyone who checks out the site and especially to those of you who have contributed your comments, photos and artwork. Rock on!

Thursday 28th August 2008 at The Beamish Mary Inn, Stanley.
This venue has hosted hundreds of bands over the years and we were gagging for it after three weeks off. Another classic gig at the Beamish was had by all. We ain’t played a Thursday night there since 31st May 2005 and thanks to all who made an appearance and showed their support for us and this very cool little venue! … Lenny

Second big break of the year and another three weeks off while Woody and Chris circumnavigate the globe.

Good crowd in at Sleepers, East Boldon, tonight, Friday 1st August 2008. Fullest we’ve seen the place. Good gig, good workout, sure I lost a couple of pounds and Woody, who was particularly drenched, gained a free, dry t-shirt from behind the bar. Thanks to everyone who filled those seats! … Lenny

Sunday afternoon 27th July 2008 at The Beamish Mary, Stanley. Great return to The Beamish on what must’ve been one of the hottest days of the summer.

The Beamish Mary Inn in No Place, Stanley.

Historically, this pub is known for great food and real-ale (won many awards) and, at one time, for being an excellent MUSIC VENUE with bands twice a week.

Music has not been a real feature at The Beamish for quite a while now, with just a handful of gigs over the last few years, typically organised by the bands themselves (us included). However, the venue now hopes to re-introduce regular gigs each Thursday and Saturday night, the way it used to be for over 10 years. This may take a little while to establish but we’ve offered our support to this favourite venue of ours that has hosted Tubesnake from its’ first line up back in 1992 through to our last gig there in December 2007.

They’re looking for bands for THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS only, starting from Saturday 2nd August 2008 up to the end of the year.

Because this is just getting off the ground – the pub will pay £50 to add to whatever you take on the door (we’re putting £2 on the door), this of course should improve if bands start playing there regularly.

We’ve already committed to a few gigs for 2008 opening up with a special Sunday afternoon gig there on 27th July at 4pm.