‘Pete tell the yank to shut the f*** up!’ These were the words of Dean after this poor unsuspecting American had wandered in to the Yorkshire House to watch my band ‘Bushpig’ play a gig. Well the yank had been there a while and in typical yank style could be the only voice heard above the humdrum on a cold December Tuesday night in Shrewsbury. This says more about Dean himself though, as if anything needed to be said and more often than not didn’t need to be said then he would say it. What Dean lacked in physical stature he more than made up for with his voice, especially with his sharp sarcastic wit that got him in trouble countless times. I remember at a Christmas party at my old house Dean was persistently winding up Rick (not renowned for his patience at the best of times) until Rick just eventually punched him and laughed. Dean just toddled off back to his seat struck dumb, but not for too long…..

The last time I saw Dean was the morning after my ex’s 30^th birthday. He tried to blag a lift to his mums to show her his new one off Mohawk. He had a crashed out at my place and was rather the worse for wear to say the least. Anyway off he toddled with roll up in mouth grumbling and swearing as he left.

A couple of weeks later I got the call from a mutual friend saying Dean had fallen off his bike and had serious head injuries. He had been transferred to North Staffs Serious Head Injuries Unit and was kept on a life support machine for a couple of days. The decision was made to turn the machine off and unfortunately Dean didn’t come too, dying at the tragically young age of 29.

A few months later Sam Harding and I are sitting in the Wrekin Tap having a pint. It was fair to say Sam was Deans best friend and wanted to show his respect in some form or another and has come up with the idea of doing a Christmas gig for charity in his honour. Sam has decided to even reform his old band ‘Mustard’ for the occasion as Dean was a massive fan. This was 2005 and the first year the event was held in Brileighs Oakengates. It was a fantastic night with all proceeds going to the Serious Head Injuries Unit in Staffs.

We decided to keep this event going and every subsequent Christmas have done our little bit for those less fortunate than ourselves. Last year was particularly poignant as all funds raised went to Skin CancerAwareness Research Fund after the death of one of the bands family members to skin cancer.

This year will be the biggest one yet and will be taking place at The Buttermarket Nightclub in Shrewsbury on Monday 29 Dec. As well as ‘The Smoking Aces’ and ‘Guttersnipe’ playing we have the legendary ‘Goldblade’ headlining. Between acts we have burlesque dancers so there is definitely something for everyone this time.

Come along and be entertained!

Further details

Brian (Guttersnipe)