About
T-Bar Cruisers is a cover band for hire in Lennox Head, NSW.
Rollicking piano, wailing harmonica and blues-country guitar over a rhythm section built for foot-stomping. The T-Bar Cruisers are five experienced players from Lennox Head, with three lead vocalists who can go from a growl to something warm and mellow. Blues is the root, but the branches take in jazz, jump blues, latin rhumbas, rock and roll, rockabilly, shuffles, swing and soul, drawn from Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Booker T, Creedence, Daddy Cool, Bondi Cigars and plenty of other Australian names. You may have caught them at the Bangalow Markets. Song lists get customised to the event. A typical night is three sets across three hours, roughly 25 to 30 songs. They bring PA and basic lighting for events up to 200 guests, and need a covered stage with room for five and an hour to set up. Insured.
Watch
The show
Good time music with a stomp in it, played by five musicians who have been at this a long while. Pat Breen is on electric piano, harmonica and lead vocals, Murray Hand on harmonica and lead vocals, Steve Cooke on electric guitar, Glen Whitehurst on bass and backing vocals, and Peter Burge behind an acoustic four-piece kit, also singing. Nothing comes out quite the same twice, because the band prefers to let a song go where it wants on the night. Set times and length get built to your schedule, and a standard three hours means at least 45 minutes of playing in each. They arrive when they said they would, the gear works, and they play sober.
On the day
A covered stage big enough for five, including an electric piano and an acoustic drum kit. They carry their own PA and basic lighting, which covers most events up to 200 guests. Using the house system instead? Then it needs twelve channels and at least two foldback wedges alongside the front of house speakers. Power is 240 volt mains, with enough outlets for the PA and four amplifiers. Give them an hour before the start time to set up and run their checks, and ask about anything you're unsure of when you book.
Performance options
The booking is the five piece electric band, and it includes every instrument, the PA, the lighting and the travel. Playing time is at least two and a quarter hours split into three sets across a three hour window, usually 25 to 30 songs. Extra sets can be added by the hour up to three hours of performing in total.
Insurance and paperwork
Public liability insured
Song list
Albert Collins, Albert King, Andy Cowan (Aus), BB King, Backsliders (Aus), Bo Diddley, Beatles, Big Joe Turner, Blackfeather (Aus), Booker T & The MG’s, Bondi Cigars (Aus), Bryan Ferry, Canned Heat, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daddy Cool (Aus), Doors, Dynamic Hepnotics (Aus), Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Fleetwood Mac, Freddie King, Gary Moore, Howlin’ Wolf, JJ Cale, Jeff Healey, John Mayall, Jimmy Reed, Junior Wells, Little Walter, Mighty Reapers (Aus), Muddy Waters, Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, Samantha Fish, Sonny Boy Williams, Steve Earle, Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker and Tracy Chapman.
Set 1
Help Me (Sonny Boy Williams)
Give Me One Reason (Tracy Chapman)*
Little Red Rooster (Sam Cooke)
Spoonful (Howlin'Wolf)
Before You Accuse Me (Eric Clapton)
Call Me The Breeze (JJ Cale)
Flip Flop Fly (Big Joe Turner)
The Chicken & The Hawk (Big Joe Turner)
(Say It's Your) Birthday (Beatles)
Set 2
T-Bone Shuffle (Albert Collins)
Nadine (Chuck Berry)
Who's Been Talking (Samantha Fish)
Crosseyed Cat (Muddy Waters)
Green River (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
I'm Tore Down (Eric Clapton)
Blue Suede Shoes (Elvis Presley)*
Messin' With The Kid (Junior Wells)
Howling At The Moon (Bondi Cigars)
Set 3
Red Headed Woman (Canned Heat
Elvis Is King (Andy Cowan)*
