We headed to the coast on Friday where we played the wedding of Simon and Heather at The Grand Hotel in Tynemouth. We set up and sound checked with our volume controls at a modest level only for the house DJ to come and blast David Guetta so loud the vibrations could topple the cakes and scones of the high teas being eaten above us in the lounge. As usual the ceremony ran a little late so Heather and Simon agreed that we should start after the buffet which worked a treat as people were fed, watered and ready to dance. Our sets went down a treat and after we finished we retired to the lounge for a Peroni or two and left the DJ to deafen the guests (who to be fair did enjoy his set).
Saturday was the big one for us with two gigs packed into one day. Both were for NHS Fleet Services with the first taking place outdoors at their family fun day held at Gosforth Race Course, Newcastle. We shared the bill with another North East based wedding and function band, The Gatecrashers. They are top guys and you can check out their website here. We were first on with a 10:30 start. As a band it’s not often you walk on stage and greet the audience with “good morning, Gosforth”. The weather held and our sets were appreciated by the crowds sitting around on the grass, enjoying the day.

That evening we ditched the black shirts and red ties in favour of Hawaiian shirts and headed up the road to the Gosforth Park Hotel for the company’s Hawaiin beach party. VW Beetles, camper vans, surfboards, palm trees and even a steel band were just some of the props used to theme the room. We followed on stage the brilliant UK Beach Boys whose apt set got the party going, ready for us to carry it on. Tired and exhausted we left the venue at 3am, happy in the knowledge that Bruce “The Boss” Springstein would surely be proud of our four hour stint.
Sunday saw us back in Bish Vegas (Bishop Auckland, County Durham) at The Cumberland Arms. The pub was a little quieter than normal for us, why we aren’t too sure, but the people there enjoyed our sets and it was good to see some familiar faces.
We’ve got two public shows this weekend. The first is As You Like It in Jesmond, Newcastle. It’s a great venue and we are on at 10pm playing three sets till 1am. Saturday see’s us back at The Townhouse in Whitley Bay from 9pm, which was a great gig last time played there so we are hoping for the same again!

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The first was a public gig at The Marquis of Granby, a pub that sits at the side of the A692 between Lobley Hill and Sunniside in Gateshead. It’s isolated location gives the pub a certain charm but means it’s a bit of a trek for the punters. We managed to round up 10 or so friends with nothing better to do and got them down for the night and when added to the 10 or so other customers in the pub you could almost say we had a crowd. Regardless of the numbers we had a good night, it was good to be back doing a pub gig in the North East and it looks like we have scored another wedding after talking to a couple at the end of the evening!

Saturday saw us trek down to Barnard Castle for Simon and Nicola’s wedding at Lartington Hall, a new venue on the wedding circuit. We were really impressed with the venue which is as beautiful they come. Equally impressive was the owners, John and Shona’s enthusiasm for their new business. It’s not often you see the owners of a venue like Lartington Hall rolling up their sleeves and being quite so hands on like the rest of their staff in an effort to ensure a great day. If you are yet to book your venue then certainly check them out here.

On Sunday we swapped the high tea and champagne of Lartington for the larger and pork scratchings of Byker Bottom Club but we couldn’t be happier. We dusted off some old classics from The Jam, The Clash and the like and rolled them out for a highly appreciative audience.

Next weekend is another triple for us with two functions before finishing at The Cumberland Arms in Bishop Auckland, County Durham on Sunday evening. See you Sunday Bish-Vegas!

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