It's been a pleasure playing there...
Last night we played what could have been the last time at this 'special' venue, I say 'could' because you never know what the future holds but Lee & Nicole have decided they will hire the 2 rooms upstairs out as function rooms rather than open up as a club to the public, they own the bar underneath so they still keep the drinkers anyway. It just makes sense from a business point of view and we fully support their decision.
I remember when Lee/Nicole first came onto NWB and decided to start having bands on, in which some were sceptical with the Cricketers being literally accross the road but thats by the by, however most welcomed the opportunity and Coolers (as it were known at the time) has seen bands like Straighten Out, The Fix, Out of Town, Dresden North End, Whatever, Twin Lizzy, TFL, Kingpin, Anthem and many more bands from NWB take the stage.
The venue itself as you know is a late-night club which meant bands started later than the usual 'pub' gig...this was defintely no "tucked up at midnight" gig....the night had only just got started. The one thing that can't go unnoticed for the band is the size of the stage, oh no there was no cramming into a corner here...once everything was set up..banner, drums, stacks, lights etc I'd just stare at the dimly blue lit stage from a distance and proudly think "yeah I'm part of that"....oh apart from those feckin stairs. Last night was no exception.
The locals there are just mad (in a nice way lol). A mostly younger crowd out 'clubbing' after a night in the pub...but always appreciated the live bands...play a song they know and feck they're mad fer it...yes even to a classic Punk song. In our time playing there, there's always been a group of local 40 somethings come see us which complimented the nights indeed...so funny watchin this bloke take his shirt off and throw it around when we start playing a song, then he'd put it back on again at the end of the song...next song and wham, the shirts flying again haha.
I'm sure you'll agree Lee & Nicole are down to earth and bloody hard workers...they always helped us load/unload our equipment (how many LLs do you know do that?) and kept things in the club running smoothly from the minute the band turn up till the second they drove off home. Always a pleasure to catch up the goss with them and happy to call them our friends.
As I say this may not be the very last time a band graces the stage at 'The Venue' Shaw, but for now business is business and we wish them all the best for the future.
Thank you for the opportunity....it's been a pleasure.
Dean, Mike, Gaz, Phil
THE SUGAR BULLETS