Hi All, hope you like the new site, and are as excited about the first gig as we are.

The first gig is at Subterfuge rock night (www.subterfuge.biz), so you get a night of classic and modern rock, and we'll be playing for an hour or so from 9. Check on our songs page, download some lyrics, and get practising for your momment on stage!

It's going to be a bit of a learning experience for us too - we've all gigged plenty of times in regualr bands, but this is a whole new game, and we can't wait to see how it works. Letting the audience up on stage means that every song is unrehersed, and on the edge. It should be a blast.

Wow! That was a lot of fun! Big thanks to subterfuge rock night for giving us some stage time, and an even bigger thanks to the dozen or so people who had the courage (dutch or otherwise) to get up and rock with us.

We learnt a couple of things - mainly that it's a total blast for everyone involved, and that the audience had a good time, encouraging the singers to go for it. We also got some good song sugguestions for next time.

We're not sure where or when next time will be, but it will be soon. Check back here and we'll let you know...

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the Rock Kareoke night at the Green Room!
It was great fun playing live with lots of budding singers!
A big thank you to all who helped to organise the event.
Also thanks to Pete of QED fame for helping out on guitar!!
Looking forward to the next one whenever that might be.
Rock on.
Little Mattie B
PS Attendees have commented on needing lots more song-list books to go around please....

It's taken a while, cause we're all busy with our other projects, but we're finally gearing up for the next gig at the Lord Nelson next month. We've added a load of new songs - check the "songs" page, and download the lyrics so you can practice!

Hopefully we should sort something out at the Gander fairly soon...

Ian, Rob and myself would like to say many thanks to Johnny (and family!!!)of QED fame for coming to the practise session at the weekend to provide us with quality vocals. That boy certainly can hit the high notes! Newtown Conservative Club are currently invoicing Houseband for replacement wine glasses behind the bar!!!!
Thanks Johnny!Great stuff!
Matt

Hi there!
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came down and supported the gig at The Nelson this evening.It was great to see so many friendly faces.
The 'ringers' in the audience came up and did a splendid job and the REAL first-timers did superbly. It was fantastic to see the excitement on the faces of all you wanna-be rock stars!! Well done to all for just taking a deep breath and getting up there to belt it out!
I do hope to see you all again at the next HOUSEBAND gig. Watch the website for news about the next one.
Thanks also to Ian and Rob for doing an stirling job at covering up my mistakes!!!!!
Keep on rockin'
Matt

What Matt said!!!!

We had a great time at the Nelson last night - huge thanks to every one who came down. Extra special mentions to the stars of the show: johnny, Neil, Cathy, Jenny, Rich, Martin, Steve, Daz, Naomi, Carol, Lisa, Victoria and sister, Andy, Brian and of course "the boss" Anna. It would have been very dull without you all.

We're back at the Nelson in October, but we'll sort something out before then, and let you know - check back here for new dates (If you know a venue you think we should play, then tell us), so get practising (lyrics are on the "songs" page). If you didn't get a chance to sing, or if there's a particular song you really want to sing, then just leave us a message, and we'll learn it especially for you...

Personally I've gotta say thanks and praise to Matt and Rob for making the whole thing possible - those guys are just awesome.

Ian

Gents,

Thanks for a great evenings entertainment at the Lord Nelson on Wednesday night. Really enjoyed singing along to your excellent musicianship!
Maybe see you again next time I'm down in Poole.

Rock On.

Steve.

Just back from the Lord Nelson Gig...

A bit of a slow start, when it looked like we were going to have to play a few instrumental numbers, but then people arrived, and some of them could really sing. Neil was the only "ringer" - the rest were all picked from the audience, and they were GREAT... Neil is going to have to up his game if he wants to hold the PV slot ;-)

HUGE thanks to everyone who sang. Slightly less huge, but still big thanks to to everyone else who made it down. Regular bands can play to an empty room - if we don't have you guys turning up to support us, we don't have a show.

Personal thanks to Rob and Matt for being awesome as always, and to the Lord Nelson for giving us the space.

We don't have anything booked for the future, but with a bit of luck we'll sort something regular out for next year...

Ian

Hi everyone,
Echo Ian's thoughts and would like to say a big thank you to Larry, Mick and Dee, Ted, Rach and Val,Craig's wife and Craig(from Roughcut), John from Devon,Pete and Vicki and everybody else who helped by supporting the event.
See you all very soon I hope.
Rock on...
Matt
PS My personal faves were Black Night, Black Velvet and Oochi Coochi Man...

P.P.S Huge thanks to Larry from Total Recall for helping me with all the transport and my gear this evening. Cheers mate!!!

It's that time again!!!

Only a week to go. The band are rehersing, so get over to the songs page, and start practising.

Hope to see loads of people down at the Lord Nelson next Monday - yes MONDAY. Thats their regular karaoke night, so we're stepping in to make it a special one.

Ian

Another HouseBand session over, and once again thanks to everyone who came down (I'm sure Matt will remember ALL your names). It was great to see lots of new faces getting up and having a go. It's always a lot of fun, even if it ends up being a bit rough and ready at times.

Special thanks to Verena for bailing us out whenever we needed someone to fill in for a few songs, and to Anna at the Lord Nelson for giving us such a great place to play.

Ian

The Tatnam rocks!

Thanks to every one who sang tonight - you were all awesome. We hope you had as much fun as we did. We're still sorting out details but it's looking like we'll be back at the Tatnam on a regular basis (something like the second monday of each month -weird, but that's what seems to fit right now). We'll have the confirmed dates here asap. Hope to see some familiar faces next time.

Don't forget we're at the Nelson in a few weeks too, so get practising, and if there's a song we don't know that you just have to sing in front of a pub full of your friends, backed by a loud rock band, then et us know what it is, and we'll see what we can do...

Ian

Another gig been and gone - back at the Nelson this time. As always a HUGE thanks to everyone who sang. We had a few regulars, but it was great to get a few new faces up on stage for the first time. It's so much fun to watch a newbie start out a bit unsure... then some time around the second chorus they suddenly "get it" - they're singing in a band, at a real gig! After that that they're hooked.

We've now get regular dates till the end of the year at the Nelson, and Tatnam so we're starting to get into the swing of things. A few new songs in this time (and a few new ones for next time too). I'll get the new ones listed on the songs page asap, so you can all start practising.

See you at the Tatnam in a few weeks!

Ian

When I get chance next, I'll be down!! Taking pictures of all you singers too!! I'm very trigger happy with a camera, so be prepared!! =D

Great to be back at the Tatnam last night - plenty of singers keeping us busy all night. Thanks to you all... we're back there in a few weeks and we can do it all over again!!!

Edited by author 07-03-2008 06:22 AM
We've got pictures! Check out the photo's page to see some of Monday nights singers (and check back cause there are probably a few more that aren't on there today). Thanks for those Kristina!

Tatnam Vs Nelson!!!

The Tatnam must have been pretty quiet last night, because you were all down the Nelson. It was packed, and totally rocked! Thanks to everyone for making the effort to come down and sing, and making it a great night. Some Pic's should be appearing some time tonight.

Following the GREAT night we had at the Nelson a couple of weeks back we've now got confirmed dates there for next year. We're going to be playing at the Nelson more or less the first Sunday of every month. If they're as good as the last one, we're going to have a great year!

Meanwhile don't forget we're back at the Tatnum this Monday... All singers welcome!

Hey hey one and all!

Another date is added! Halloween night down The Plough Inn at Tiptoe!! Come one and come all, sing, dance and be scared by the numerous costumes, including the bar staff!

Not to be missed!!

I'm personally putting all my effort into this night, so make sure to be there and experience one very haunting halloween!

P.s band members may very well be dressed up too!! ^^

Wow - I'm so glad to be out of that cat suit... No... really I was dressed as a cat. Couldn't see a THING all night. Most of the night I was rocking out completly blind. Halloween at the Plough was a blast - at least I think it was, cause I couldn't see, but it sounded like every one was having a good time, and the photo's look good. I'll get them posted here, and on facebook soon. Hopefully we'll get back there next year.

Meanwhile it's back to the nelson at the beginning of december. See y'all there!

The cat...

A great big thankyou to all the extremely talented musicians who played. Well done Matt, Ian and Rob. Halloween was enjoyable especially the smoke machine on stage that was fun too and a great choice of classic rock songs on the list plus a powerful craft of musicianship and power from the band.

Look forward to rocking and stomping again soon. Hope you play locally in Christchurch too if its possible for the band.

Keep on rocking. See you again.

All the best Dan.

hi Dan,

thanks for singing again. A gig in Christchurch would be great - we've got a couple Poole-way so more on the other side of Bournemouth would be usefull. Any ideas for specific venues?

Some pic's of Halloween are up. (there is one of you Dan, but it's not appearing at the momment. Check back an it will appear). There are also a whole load on facebook in the "tiptoe to the plough" group.

Hi again.

Ideas of venues for live band karaoke, what about o-neills in bournemouth and the Thomas Tripp late and live place.

Surfed the Tiptoe to plough on facebook. Its nice to have the photos on there to remember that evening.

Rock on everyone.

My first booked band and it was F**KIN AWESOME!!! I fully enjoyed myself, plus was totally in my element bringing a whole new meaning to the word "special" - hahahaha!! We totally burnt everyone out that night! It's the best Halloween I have ever been to!! Even if I was working!

Another gig been and gone. Monday at the Nelson was a strange one. Slow stat, and then at half time everyone piled in, and we were swamped with singers. We had to turn people away when we finally called time at midnight.

We also had a bit of a Blame George momment, as Cathy filled in on bass (thanks!), and George took over on drums.

If that wasn't enough for you, we're at the Tatnum on the 15th... See you all there.

Wow!! I'm totally wrecked from a solid weekend of gigging. Saturday night with PV, then an all day session at the Nelson on Sunday: Banned in the afternoon, and a HB to round out the weekend (on the plus side the equipment was all set up!).

It was a great HB with lots of regulars (Becky, Dave, Dan, Ian, Verena, Anna, Kristina), plus a nice bunch of new faces - a few whose singing may (or may not!) have been impaired by a little too much birthday drink, but some really impressive performances by people we hope to see back.

We even had a guest drummer - that can be a bit hit or miss, but in this case it was a big hit! Sorry I didn't catch your name, but you totally rocked. You're definatly welcome back, and WILL be sitting in for a few more numbers next time.

Next time is a few months, as our regular Nelson/start of the month slot is messed up by the bank holidays, but we'll be back 5th July (I know thats AGES), so see you then.

Big thanks to everyone who sang...

Another spectacular evening and musicianship from the band. The audiences rocked too. It was great to see all the familiar attendees of the evening. My ears have recovered now after all the fun.

Its a shame theres a longer wait for the next one but its something to look forward to when it comes.

All the best to the musicians of houseband and with their respective bands, tours, gigs etc. Rock on lads.

Daniel.

A great big thankyou to the Houseband Cavalry, Matthew the master of riffs and vibrato, Ians pounding bass and powerful rhythms and Rob's powerhouse drumming and a chance to do two songs jointly together before the journey home back to sleepy town Highcliffe. Just about settled down after a rocked up evening. Matt and Ians backing harmony vocals added some calibre to the songs too.

Cheers all. Keep it real. Rock on to the next one.

Dan.

Cheers Dan - was a fun night, with some new singers (the Tesco's mob?). As always we had a great time. Thanks to everyone who got up and sang.

The other good news is that we have another date added, so our next gig is back at the Plough in Tiptoe (Sway) on the 7th of August. We haven't been there since last Halloween - No I won't be playing the set wearing a Sylvester mask this time, but is should still be a good night.

Hope to see some familar faces there!

IAn

Ah super. Is the smoke machine playing a role in the evening like last year at Halloween?

I forgot the smoke machine (and the bubble machine!), but otherwise we had a great night. Loads of great singers - too many new faces to mention. Thanks to all of you. Special recognition goes to Ogri-Jr and Ogri-ette for their Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! They new it better than we did!!!

Thanks for hosting us again Tom, and hopefully we'll be back "real soon".

As usual, check the website for updates.

Ian

Hi all,

Another superb evening by Houseband. Thankyou for playing locally. Its nice to be able to stay and see it all from start to finish without rushing off. Come back again soon.

Hope the PV gig went well at Woolston too. Cheers guys. See you all live again soon.

Fixing another date at the Plough this year didn't work out as we simply couldn't find a date that would fit in everyone's diaries. However we're now sorting dates for next year, and it's looking like we'll be back at the nelson regularly again, and the Plough is next on the list to call...

watch this space for more dates!