Eldon Square didn’t quite know what had hit them when we played there last week during their annual charity fundraising event.

Spot Fungus the Bogeyman

We seemed to go down well with the shoppers, many thanks for your kind donations which go towards new music and other running costs to keep this great community band playing.

Heres what Bebop Spoken Here Blog site had to say about us.

Friday, December 11, 2015
The Tyne Valley Big Band & Santa’s Shoppers @ Eldon Square – Dec 10

(Review by Russell/photo from 2013 gig)
The hordes were out in force with just two weeks to go before…before that day in the year that we ‘bah humbugs’ look forward to with a curry and a bottle of beer. Santa’s shoppers were snapping up everything in sight, much of it to be put in a cupboard and forgotten about. Meanwhile, in the real world – known as the ‘jazz world’ – the Tyne Valley Big Band set up shop on Chevvy Chase. 
The TVBB, led by Dave Hignett, played some great big band tunes; Manteca, Mack the Knife, Minnie the Mooche and Joe Zawinul’s modern masterpiece Birdland. The hordes looked bemused, stopped and listened, some danced, one dude took to break dancing. A big band of twenty three (MD and trumpeter Hignett included) performed with bauble-busting enthusiasm. The band’s effervescent singer almost missed her cue on Sway. The antler-wearing Barbara Hignett had been spotted doing some last minute shopping in an adjacent branch of John Lewis! Shopping bags deposited, our vocalist strolled out front as if she’d been preparing in the (non existent) green room, took the mic and did the job! Boundless enthusiasm (expert use of triangle on Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther) is a key element to Barbara Hignett’s performance allied to a great soulful voice.
Inevitably Let it Snow, Winter Wonderland and Santa Baby made it onto the set list. Doc Severinson’s arrangement of In the Mood made the cut, as did Hayburner and Route 66. The Tyne Valley Big Band – a ten-strong saxophone section, four trombones, three hard-working trumpets and a four-piece rhythm section – is a talented, community-based band in the Tyne Valley, headquartered at Hexham. Catch one of their frequent public gigs as you’re guaranteed a great show. Stay tuned to Bebop Spoken Here for forthcoming dates.
Russell.

Kev even found a handy place to hang his hat and coat while we played.