The Bridge Archives - North East & Newcastle Wedding & Function Band

Best Men

admin — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:08:26 +0000

As wedding season winds down we find ourselves playing more and more public shows. On Friday the 13^th we headed down to Pearl Bar in Hartlepool’s Best Western Hotel. We’ve played several gigs there over the years but with our new sound desk and its ability to sound check using an I Pad we got our best sound yet and went down a treat!

Saturday saw us back at The Bridge in Annitsford, a small village just outside of Cramlington, Northumberland where randomly we have a really good following. Luckily everyone turned out and the gig didn’t disappoint although we were a little disappointed not to see any moves from local legend, The Dudley Dancer. He’d been out the night before and feeling rough from it left early having not thrown a single shape! We hope it was down to his hangover and not our playing!

This Friday saw us a back at Mr. Lynch a once regular haunt we hadn’t visited since spring (too many weddings) It was good to be back although the lack of students and more importantly their loans meant it was a quiet night by Mr. Lynch standards. We are back there on the 25^th of next month. Hopefully the loans will have cleared by then!

On Saturday we played for one of our good friends and his partner at their wedding at Dissington Hall just outside Ponteland. We were only on for an hour much to the relief of our front man Phil who was also on Best Man Duties that day and well-oiled by the time we came to play. Despite that we were well received by the guests which was to be expected given the amount of friends and family in the audience!

This Friday we are back at As You Like It in Jesmond, five minutes outside Newcastle. Our diary for 2014 is getting busier and busier so if you’re considering us for your wedding, function, party, then why not come down, have a drink and check us out. If you do make sure you say hi!

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Over Enthusiastic Dancing

admin — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 12:18:39 +0000

This weekend saw us play our first wedding at the fabulous Alnwick Garden in Northumberland. The torrential rain didn’t take anything away from the marvellous setting nor did it dampen the spirits of Bride and Groom’s guests who were up for a party. Despite a leaky roof soaking Peter’s drum kit and a drunk girl trying to play his drums using a half drunk bottle of Corona as a stick the night was a success and we’d like to thank the very helpful staff at the venue!

On Saturday we left Newcastle and headed down the A19, through the smog of Teeside and onto the slightly more picturesque Runswick Bay near Whitby for the wedding of Rich and Caroline. The wedding was a marquee affair but within the grounds of the Cliffemount Hotel which overlooked the stunning Runswick Bay (check out the picture above to see what we mean) Tight space in the marquee meant we didn’t get set up till late but we were well received. Over enthusiastic dancing to The Jam’s Going Undergrond by one of the guests almost brought our night to a premature end when they fell into the band but luckily only a guitar lead was damaged and with the aid of the spare we were able to see out the night.

On Sunday we were back at The Annitsford Irish Club in Cramlington, Northumberland, quite possibly the smallest club in the country. The place was packed (it doesn’t take much) and we had an absolute blast. Just the end we needed to a long weekend.

Next weekend it’s all about the public gigs with Friday at Hartlepool’s Pearl Bar and Saturday back in The ‘Ford but this time at The Bridge. Hope to see you out.

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The Ford

admin — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:40:44 +0000

When you regularly play amazing weddings for really sound people at some of the North East’s best venues it’s sometimes hard to impressed by a Saturday night pub gig. However, the people of Annitsford blew us away as usual when we played The Bridge. The place was rammed and everyone up for a great night. It broke our hearts to turn down so may offers of drinks but we were all driving that night and Phil’s a bad enough driver sober let alone hammered! A big thanks to everyone there, it’s great to see the same faces coming back and must mean that we are doing something right. Thanks also to the management and the staff ! Hope to see you all soon!

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The Camera Never Lies

admin — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:28:16 +0000

Not much happens in winter and it’s no different on the gig scene which is why we played just a few private functions but a lot of public shows. We headed down to Stockton and despite our Geordie accents received a warm welcome at The Mitre thanks to its sound landlord and equally sound punters. We stayed closer to home the week after with a retirement party at The Blue Flames in Longbenton. “No rubbish from the 60’s or 70’s” was the surprise brief given to us by the two retirees so a night of music from 80’s and more recent it was. The next night we were just down the road at The Corner House in Heaton. The pub is under new management but it seemed to be the same as before; a proper good pub.

We were back at Mr. Lynch in Jesmond the week after. Modesty aside we always go down well here and the night was no different! Phil picked up a parking fine but determined to put a positive spin on it we decided it was actually an open ended parking ticket so once we’d finished playing we threw the gear in the back of his car and returned to Mr. Lynch to have a Pina Colada or two.

Away from the gigs we’ve been busy too. We had a photo shoot at As You Like It in Jesmond for our new site. Credit to the photographers Phil and Stephen (www.stephenbeecroft.com) who spent six hours trying to disprove the myth that the camera never lies and make us look cool! We had the privilege of playing AMV Live Music’s Battle of The Wedding Bands the next night which was also at As You Like It (we actually just slept there). It was a good night and a rare opportunity for us to enjoy watching some other bands.

This weekend we are at The Three Mile Inn in Gosforth and back at The Bridge in Annitsford on Saturday. Both 9pm starts. Comic Relief is in on tonight which is normally rubbish and any money you donate would be better spent on beer to drink as you watch The Fontains.

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