Join us for a very special evening — a fundraiser gig for Matt Long’s cancer treatment, featuring Del Bromham (Stray), John Verity (Argent), Robin Bibi (The Robin Bibi Band), and, back for more after their hugely successful recent shows at The Bear Club, Connor Selby and Big Wolf Band.
Matt Long is a multi-award-winning guitarist, singer, and songwriter with blues rock band and Bear favourites, Catfish. He is also due to marry the love of his life in a couple of months. He has a lot to live for.
Matt has been battling bowel cancer for just under a year, and despite surgery and chemo, his latest scan shows that the cancer has spread into his liver and stomach lining. His cancer team has said that although there is the option of trying a different type of chemo, they don’t hold out much hope that it will cure him, and it is only likely, at best, to extend his life a little.
Essentially, Matt has almost exhausted the options available on the NHS. But his family and friends aren’t ready to give up on him.
On the recommendation of his cancer team, they have sent away a sample of the tumor to the USA to be genetically sequenced, which will give the maximum amount of information on its makeup. This will then show the cancer team exactly what drugs to use to either slow it down or, with a small chance, kill it.
The only access to this treatment is via the private route, which is going to be expensive. Just the sequencing costs a little under £3k, and any drugs will apparently be about £3k a month after that. The family will fund what they can and have so far raised over £70k in a crowdfunder for a ‘fighting fund,’ but this is potentially a real money pit.
Without any treatment, his cancer team has told Matt he won’t make it past the end of this year. With access to sequencing, if it turns out to be something specific they have drugs for, he may have a 15% chance of survival. That has to be worth a shot.
In addition to the crowdfunder, there are now five benefit concerts being held across the UK in May and June, and we are very proud to be one of them.
Doors 6.30pm / Music 7pm / Tickets £20
All seating/tables are first come first served.