Bubbles Bar & Nightclub - 22nd May
A last minute booking, no problem at all. The famous Bubbles Bar and Nightclub has finally been refurbished and the Grand Re-opening was booked for the 22nd May. All was going well until the band booked to open the place split up 3 days before. After a frantic phone call from SKA Monkeys Tony and Tony, we said we could do the gig, and what a night!!!
The old venue has been transformed by the new owners, but still holds the charm and history of such bands as the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page and a host of other HUGE acts who have passed through. By the time we went on, about 10.30, the whole place was packed, even the beer garden was crammed with everyone who knows and loves music in the North East.
After two sets of non stop rocking lasting over 2½ hours, Bubbles was effervescing! Everyone was dancing and jumping and we loved every minute of it, quite fantastic!! We can't wait to go back, and I'm sure it won't be long before we do. Cheers to all the staff for the welcome and the Guinness – went down a treat.
Next stop, a Charity gig in Seaham, outdoors in a marquee, lets hope it doesn't rain!!
Cheers,
Snagsby
Seaton Lane Inn, Seaham - 26th May
Well, it didn't rain but it sure was cold! This was a gig in aid of raising money for the local Cancer Trust and it was a great turnout, raising more that £1000.00 in the process.
Marvellous!!
Cheers,
Snagsby
The Three Tuns, Gateshead - 29th May
The one we were waiting for, and it was a blinder!!! Its Walshy's local music venue so we had to be on top form. Judging by the feedback from the bar staff, John - the superb sound engineer - and the people who poured in, we managed to pull it out of the bag. This was a showcase gig where we played for free with the hope of more gigs in the future. The manager, another Paul, is a hard guy to impress so we hoped we had delivered enough to get a weekend gig, and we did. Another solid set with plenty of confidence and the crowd dancing and getting into it. You can see from the photos (thanks to Steven) that we all had a right good laugh. Even the sound engineer John, was dancing in his lofty PA position by the second set. What a guy! What a sound and what a great place to play, one of the old school venues where the real music still exists. A return was swiftly booked for November 28th (his first weekend opening!!!) Since the gig we have now been booked to play on July 19th due to a cancellation and we can't wait!!! If you can get along you should, its superb!!!
Cheers,
Snagsby
The Elephant, Ashington - 6th June
Back to the old place with another SKA Monkey night in store. Free entry this time and it seemed to work well, the place was fairly full with a lot of the usual faces. No support band so we just played a bit more, nearly 2½ hours and we loved it. The Elephant is an unknown jewel in the music venue crown of the North East. Booked again for the 18th July so get yourselves along, no excuses!!!
Herrington Park Amphitheatre, Sunderland & Sleepers, Boldon - 8th June
Two gigs on the same day, nothing seems to be normal where Snagsby are involved. First to the outdoors of Herrington Park, home not too long ago to the Foo Fighters and the Radio One Roadshow. This was booked via Sunderland Council to promote live music in the area and it was a nice pleasant afternoon, eventually. There were PA problems and their inflatable roof kept deflating, but at least it was hot, and I mean HOT!!! We were exhausted and we had only played for an hour. After the roof was deflated on top of us for the last time, we were off to Sleepers for the second leg of the tour.
Sleepers is very similar to The Three Tuns, a real music venue full of musicians scrutinising your every move, even T-Rex had turned out!! By the time we had set up and sound-checked it was 9 o'clock and it was still sunny outside and the room was warm to say the least. Now this place gets full and it was a great crowd and we had a good crack during and after we played. Again, it was the stock two 45min sets and another encore, brilliant!! We seem to be going down well everywhere and Sleepers was no exception. The Manager and Manageress thought we were "bloody brilliant" and a return booking is under discussion now so check out the gig pages for updates!!
Cheers,
Snagsby
The Ropery, Sunderland - 13th June
After a nightmare day of Walshy's car breaking down, running late along with Marazzi, the last thing we wanted to hear from the barman was, "its normally pretty quiet here, if you get more than 7 people in you'll be lucky". Great. As there were 2 in already we stood waiting for the other 5 to turn up, and boy did they, along with about 100 of their friends!!! It was packed, and I mean packed. By the sound-check at 9.30 we could barely get to the stage and we had to start straight away (well, we managed to get a bar run in - just) and the whole place was bouncing!! The manager stood open mouthed at the sheer amount of people dancing and singing and most importantly to him, drinking!!!! This was a superb night and every song was sung along to and jumped about to, what a cracking night!!! More free beers followed courtesy of the manager and they were welcome because it was very, very hot! We played until well after midnight and a great night was had by all. Watch this space for the next night there, it's one not to be missed!!!
Cheers,
Snagsby