19th July 2013 - Shaston Social Club, Shaftesbury
The Gig That Was The End of An Earache

So there we go - the end of an earache. With a sigh, the end came and went with a full house at Shaston Social Club in Shaftesbury, including our third dancing Bishop. With true episcopal insight and Shakespearean misquoting, he announced that he come "not to praise the Dogs but bury them" but, in a slight change of literary source material, concluded the gig with "They're not rock stars but very naughty boys". In truth it wasn't our tightest gig but we had a laugh - usually at each other's expense, particularly Laurie. But it was great to have Geoff back with us for half a dozen songs, which he belted out in his usual manner! And another £790 raised for South Sudan. So, there we go ... over 70 gigs and performances in the bag and £40k for charities, especially in South Sudan, and we have put more loos into more churches than anyone else in history ... but the sign off line, just picked up by the microphones was "See you at the reunion ...."

5th July 2013 - The Sealy Suite, Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum
The Gig With The Knitting Lady

It was back to Blandford for the last time, again raising money for South Sudan and Julia's house. And this time with an extra big lighting rig (thank Andy) - Laurie and Tim discussed changing sides at half time to even up the glow on the sides of our heads. It was great to see some old and new friends there, including Keith, a mate of Tim and Graham's from college, who sang some backing vocals on Take It Easy - although the microphone was about a foot too high for him. The lady knitting was a new addition to our list of responses ....

28th June 2013 - Hindon
The Gig With The Crowd That Sung

After the washed out attempt to return to Hindon last year, it was great to go back to one of our favourite venues - an open marquee with a great BBQ (and awesome puds) and an enthusiastic crowd. Led by the chefs, they bopped the evening away - right up until Dave disconnected the speakers to put them in his van. And they sang - in Hi Ho and in Monkees, they really gave it some welly! Not as warm as last time we were at Hindon, but it didn't rain and we had fun ...

7th June 2013 - St Michael’s School Hall, Colehill, Wimborne
The Gig With The Tour T Shirts

Resplendent in their "Don't Put Me Down" tour T-Shirts, the five of us looked like the uncivil partnership of the Church of England that we announced ourselves as. A stunning £1200 was raised for the food programme at the Kibera slum on the edge of Nairobi, a project very close to Laurie's heart. A definitely frivolous evening with a great result!

26th May 2013 - Charmouth Party In The Park
The Gig With the Cardinal and the Nun

For the biggest gig of the year so far (and with 400+ maybe the biggest Doggie gathering of all) we were joined by an assorted bunch of clergy-attired youth from Bristol, including a nun, a monk and a suspicious-looking cardinal. They were brilliant and got everyone dancing on a distinctly chilly night. A gig on the back of a lorry with Laurie having his own ... lorry, and strawbales to ascend to the "stage", it was definitely a Dorset gig and raised a load for local charities. Concluding with fireworks, it was a great night out - thanks for asking us to play!

24th May 2013 - Loders Village Hall
The Gig With the Poshest Nosh

Off to Loders (near Bridport) for a gig for Arthritis Research UK at a great Village Hall with a big stage and the poshest nosh that the Dogs have ever had, with a cheese board, ham and chocolate nibbles of the highest order! The measure fo the success was not the amount of money but a word from the organisers that it was "...success comparable to the curry lunch last October at which Kate Adie spoke." Quite.

26th April 2013 - Moreton Village Hall
The Gig In The Marie Celeste Church Hall

When we all arrived at Moreton (the third time), it was like the Marie Celeste Village Hall with beautifully laid out tables .... but nobody in sight. They all arrived at 7pm and we continued our sell out final tour with over £900 raised towards the new Village Hall. Our host, Maeve, wrote "What a great night - Everyone there thoroughly enjoyed themselves - I don't think we've ever had so many enthusiastic people on the dance floor".

12th April 2013 - St. John's Church Hall, Broadstone
The Gig With Coke and a Complementary Strip

Our visit to Broadstone was yet another sell out gig - the third in a row. Mind you, some people say we sold out years ago. A great evening whith the place full of dancers rigt to the end and a raffle (for which Mrs Clow will be very grateful). The half time band refreshments of hot dogs (literally and metaphorically) was accentuated by the statement by Clive that he was relying on coke to get him through (cans were freely available) and the offer of a complentary strip (of raffle tickets) to each member of the band (Laurie was the only one to win anything - hence Mrs Clows chocolates).

22nd March 2013 - Savill Hall, Maiden Newton (with Cattistock)
The Gig With The Loo On Stage

On a cold, dark and stormy night it was back to Cattistock for one ilast visit. The warnth of the welcome and the chilli baked potatoes and the wall heaters (when they put money in the meter) certainly helped, although Tim's guitar was making some interesting tonal contributions as a result of the temperature. Aftre all our gigs for Church toilets, this was the first with a bucket masquerading as a loo that has appeared on stage with us. Great evening - good dancing - and the quote from Nicky ... "that was a brilliant finale on Friday, just really sad to think that we won't be seeing you all performing again. What a lot of joy you have given everyone - as well as raising lots of funds for the various churches around and about. When does the DWC biography come out!"

1st March 2013 - East Coker
The Gig With the Waiting List

With Government austerity measures taking the toll, DWC saw a 20% cut in numbers with this being the first gig withot Geoff, who handed in his collar over Christmas. The Dogs have decided that this will be their last tour and the set featured half a doxen new songs (well, new to us, anyway) including "Proud Mary", "The Final Countdown", "When I Need You", "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" and "Cool For Cats", which was dedicated to a lady with a birthday yesterday who happened to have the surname "Mogg". We chased her round the hall aftewards. It was a brave new world for DWC but helped by a brilliant dancing and singing audience of 178 - which was the official capacity for the hall. We even had a car parking attendant in a reflective yellow jacket - and, to cap it all, there was a waiting list for tickets .... delusions of grandeur. A great night out!