It all kicked off at As You Like It in Jesmond on Friday. Being the middle of the month and a week before the August Bank Holiday the bar, based just outside Newcastle, was quieter than normal. Luckily just as we started a couple of hen parties sporting fairy wings and wands arrived and filled the dance floor. Our good friend Phil Marshal happened to be on sound duties that night and judging by how well we went down, he must have had us sounding mighty fine. Either that or the hen parties were really drunk.

On Saturday we headed to The Townhouse in Whitley Bay. We’ve recently bought a fancy new sound desk that can be controlled remotely using an I Pad, something we did for the first time on Saturday. We left it to our drummer to set up (that’s a picture of him with the desk above). Drummers aren’t really known for their intellect but after an hour or so of looking confused / constipated Peter had it up and running and we used it to craft a sound so good it could put Phil Marshal out of a job. With a quality sound The Fontains went down a treat and we hope to be back at The Townouse sometime next year.

We’re back to private functions next weekend for the August Bank Holiday which sadly means no drunken hen parties for us but on the plus side we’re looking forward to a nice plateful of buffet food!

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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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