Tubesnake

Saturday 31st January

Eighth Line-Up: Lenny (Vocals), Dave Lunn (Guitar), Woody (Drums), Chris (Bass)

If ever I’ve been biased on championing a particular group, then it’s Tubesnake. Simply because they are such a brilliant band, yet don’t seem to get the public exposure & attention that they so richly deserve. Even after 10 years of slogging their guts out, they remain a virtually unknown quantity anywhere North of the Tyne. The band rarely venture much further north than Sunderland, and only occasionally creep in to the South Tyneside area. They are essentially a Durham based outfit that play extensively within that local region, but at long last they seem to be spreading their wings and travelling further afield. This can only be to the benefit of this area as the band are presently on stunning form! Tubesnake have had a few upheavals over the last 3 or 4 years, but this now stable line-up is working magnificently. In particular the rhythm section of Chris on bass and Woody on drums are clicking together like never before. And of course you still have the superb combination of Len on vocals and Dave on guitar. I’ve always raved on before about how good Len was as a frontman, but now the whole band seem to have upped their game, and are becoming his equals. I’ve seen this line-up a few times now, but this was their best gig yet at the Office. At last they’ve become a true band, in the sense that they now come across as a “team”. They have decided to stick with their 4-man format with Dave becoming the sole guitarist in the band, but after a good 6 month period they’ve adjusted to this well and perhaps even excelled themselves with this smaller outfit. The set has been altered to include more Doors, more Bowie, and more Stones numbers, but as they do these all so well then it makes total sense to exploit these tastes to create their own personal niche in the market. It wasn’t a great turnout for the last Saturday in January, which wasn’t their fault as it ended up being a disgustingly miserable and wet night. Yet everybody who came along STAYED all night long, and EVERYONE raved on about how good the band were. They did bring down a bunch of regulars who came especially to see the band (and they brought their friends too), but many of those who saw the group for the first time were surprised at just how good they really were. I got loads of “where have this lot been hiding” kind of questions. Tubesnake simply are the best-kept secret in South Tyneside. The band deserve to be as highly rated as the likes of the R.T.B., yet they seem to escape the attention of those live music fans beyond the Durham area. Try and catch Tubesnake shortly as they are currently performing at an excellent level, and are a “must” to see.

… Colin Smoult, posted on Riffsonline website, Feb 2004

Lets start by saying what a tremendous gig, the best I’ve seen this year so far! But hey, the local pub gigs just keep on getting better, how lucky we are! At first we thought the singer was a bit stand offish and aloof, how naive of us, the penny eventually dropped, this was part of the act, hey if you’re gonna sing Jim Morrison songs may as well get into character!! He just gets lost in his music and gives 100%, his casualness is what makes him so good. Saw this band a while ago when they did more glam rock, the glam rock is still there and brilliant it is, but they do more rock now and in our opinion are a better band for it, and some lead guitar, a tad good or wot! The bass player and drummer let the other 2 take centre stage with a low profile and did what they do best, just played damn good. When have you heard anyone cover Diamond Dogs, not for this band the straight forward covers, oh no that will just not do, they are not afraid to tread where others dare not, so fair play to em! Highlights (and there were many) had to be the Doors covers, but then again how many bands would even attempt The Stones’ Wild Horses? The band oozed confidence and are a no gimmicks no nonsense band of few words, they let their performance do the talking, they saved the best till last though and Gimme Shelter had the crowd up and rocking in the aisles. After 3, no 4, or was it 5, the audience finally let them pack up and go home. Another band to add to the well worth going to see list!

… Paul & Bernie, posted on DavysRockPage website, Feb 2004