The Tudor Inn – Review

Posted by TTBoom on Mar 3, 2015 in Blog | 0 comments

The last time TTB played the Tudor in Castle Donington seemed like a very long time ago,  we were put into the bar, being the preferred area for bands now as the dining area really wasn’t working,  resembling a private function it sometimes discouraged people from entering,  and the putting on of bands was affecting dining trade.

So we were back having advertised the event on Facebook and encouraged many to attend, but were slightly disappointed in the lack of advertising done by the Tudor, there being no reference to our playing on their website, the last posting being December, or outside the venue, although there were A boards and a chalk board for events,  nothing was showing to say anything other than dining was on.  This was a shame as this is a great place to play and has the potential to become even better.

Like before we set up in the bar area putting the backdrop over the windows and shuffling a few tables about to make more room and create a stage area directly facing the bar.   There were 2 double sockets available,  1 behind the stage area high on the wall, which required to unplug a few things first, the other in the room to stage right which needed a long extension running across the rear entrance, so needed some taping to prevent tripping.

I was taking it a bit easy for this one as I was due to go in for a heart operation on the Monday,  and was advised not to exert myself,  luckily Ruth was there to help me carry things in, and the purchase of the Aldi folding sack truck came in real handy.

We soon got set up and were ready to go,   there were a few people in, although some of them declared that they did not realise a band was on,  followed by a few friends who popped along on the back of our advertising.   Thanks to Andy and Steve for your support.  A nice biker chap popped down from Melton Mowbray with his missus and recommended some venues there that we would go down well at.   We also noticed that Colin Shaw had popped down with his wife armed with his trusty video,  which he used to great effect and posted loads of videos of the gig on You Tube,  for this we thank you Colin.   There were a few more in too and a couple of dancing girls which always adds to the mood.

We cracked through the first set an all went well apart from a few slight boo boos,  the sound was great and those there seemed to really enjoy it.    At half time we were approached by the landlord and asked to finish by 11.30 due to the small crowds, and so we obliged, thinking that we might not be back.  But no – we were invited back to do the Pre- Download Thursday which we were pleased to do, having always drawn a good crowd for that one.   Our advice to the Tudor would be,  ensure your advertising is on the mark.