It was great to be back playing at Haydon Bridge Festival. This was one of our very first gigs when we first formed so some good memories!

No mud this year! Made change to be able to walk around without wellies. On the flip side the blustery wind proved challenging at times but hey ho, that’s Jazz.

Always a great day out we have been attending this fabulous annual event since we first formed the band!

This year we got a nice late afternoon slot giving us time to eye up the other bands.

Many thanks to the organisers and adjudicators who put in so much time and effort to make this such a successful event.

We got some nice adjudicator comments and a great write up from Russell at Bebop Spoken Here.

The tenth and final band of the day featured the mighty Tyne Valley Big Band (MD, Dave Hignett). In excess of twenty musicians on stage, the TVBB doesn’t do things by halves. Dave Connolly‘s arrangement of Hoyt Curtin’s much-loved theme tune The Flintstones kick-started the set (Tom Cantwell, guitar, Niall Armstrong, tenor sax). The TVBB marked the 30th anniversary of the global touring phenomenon Riverdance in typical style – all sections giving it some. And to close, local hero Sam Fender’s People Watching was given the big band treatment, vocalist Barbara Hignett giving it her all alongside MD  – and trumpet ace – Dave Hignett blowing the roof off the place. If you’re listening to the Tyne Valley Big Band you cant be having anything other than a Yabba-dabba doo time! 

It is tradition to avail ourselves of a curry at the end of a busy term. The lovely Valley restaurant in Corbridge being a band favourite.

The proprietor Daraz always looks after us with our own special room, to keep us out of the way?

Here we see the handing over of the Whisky to the band MD ceremony

We huddled together to keep warm and dry and end our Summer at the now annual Music by the Riverside arranged by Prudhoe Community partnership.

Keeping the microphone dry with a niftily constructed umbrella stand!

Phew what a logistical struggle to get us all through or over the mud and powered up for our slot completing a fabulous day of local live music at the Northumberland County Show.

Days of torrential rain had led to a quagmire scenario and quieter crowds than normal but we had a good day.

The worldwide Corona virus pandemic has forced us into exile along with many other bands.

We have however used our time wisely to create our very own lockdown Video.

VEHICLE

Thanks must go to our MD Dave Hignett for coordinating the project with our great friend  and “resting” keyboard player Kevin Wright who did the spadework creating the video from a multitude of parts and lockdown videos.

Thanks also to Caroline Guirr and Tom Cantwell who laid down the backing track to keep us in harness.

We are looking forward at some point in the future to resuming activities but this seems unlikely to happen until at least after the summer break. Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

As always a great day out for the band in Sunderland/Chester le Street.

We got some lovely feedback from the audience and adjudicators.

Well done to all concerned!